The Father of Slots; Charles Fey

You are sitting in front of the wheel. You pull on tight and everything is spinning. You hear the ring and you won a little amount which is just about to be used for more spinning. The slot machines have both fascinated and intrigued many people from around the world and from all walks of life. Unlike other gambling games, the slot machine has only one single creator; Charles Fey. And it is to him and his descendants that we have to give our gratitude of random slot machine wins and sleepless nights.

When other manufacturers copied Charles Fey's slot machines, little tribute was left for Charles himself. We never got to know the father of slot machines as a person and thus we will tell you of his life and further achievements. Charles Fey was born in Vohringen, Bavaria on February 2, 1862. He first discovered his passion and love for mechanical devices at the age of 14 back in Bavaria, Germany. When he was faced with the risk of joining the German army, Charles Fey decided to head to America where his uncle had successfully settled.

The father of slots could not quite pay for the trip to the United Stated yet, so he went for a detour to France where he was working as an equipment manufacturer at the age of 15. He eventually saved enough money to go to the United Kingdom, thus he lived in London for about five years therein where he worked as a marine device maker.

Once the father of slots was able to pay for the trip to America, he left London and traveled to New York and from New York farther to California, where he finally settled in San Francisco in 1885. He soon found permanent employment in San Francisco at the California Electric Works Company, and that just with the age of 25. It was also in San Francisco where Charles Fey married and had three children.

There were already some nickel-in-the-slots machines which inspired Charles Fey to build his own three reel slot machine. Fey eventually quit his job and moved away from San Francisco to Berkeley. It was in Berkeley where he built his second slot machine. This slot machine was called 4-11-44. These games quickly became popular and it was then when Fey decided to devote his full time into building slot machines. The father of slots has taken on his destiny and formed a factory in San Francisco.