Reno auction provides unique treasures: antique slot machines
Published July 8th, 2006
Collectors and lovers of the Old West are in Reno, Nevada, today to bid on antiques from the unique, but now-closed, Liberty Belle Saloon.
The 600 items include vintage slot machines, antique arcade games and brass cash registers, some around a hundred years old, collected by Marshall and Frank Fey.
Their grandfather, Charles Fey, invented the first three-reel slot machine in the 1890’s, calling it the Liberty Bell. Two dozen machines from his collection will go to the state museum.
When the brothers opened the saloon in 1958, they feminized the word “bell” by adding an “e” at the end, and the Liberty Belle Saloon became a landmark for decades.
But it closed four months ago, overwhelmed by the expanding Convention Center, which will tear down the Liberty Belle for a parking lot.
