Slot Deco
September 12, 2006
Last week I paid a visit to the Gambling Museum in Virginia City, Nevada, home to a fabulous collection of old-time slot machines.
The evolution of the machines seems to tell the story of American industrial design, from the clunky cast iron cash register-style gizmos of the late nineteenth century to the beautiful Art Deco "goose neck" slots of the 1930s and 1940s, to the more familiar-looking computerized fruit machines of recent decades.
The old machines have an appealing mechanical integrity, like adding machines or manual typewriters. They are handbuilt, diligent workhorses - taking your money one nickel at a time - a world away from the ruthlessly efficient microchip boxes that slurp up your $20 bills on the modern casino floor. Time was, the machines had to work for your money.
File under: Personal
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GLUT:
Mastering Information Through the Ages
New Paperback Edition
“A penetrating and highly entertaining meditation on the information age and its historical roots.”
—Los Angeles Times
