Historic Landmarks of San Francisco

San Francisco is known as the site of a number of technological and culinary advancements: the cable car, Irish coffee, television (see Landmark No. 941), and chicken tetrazzini, for example. But few people would include, or even know about, the invention commemorated at this site. To the information given on the historical marker (see below) the following may be added:

• Inventor Charles August Fey was born on 9 September 1862 in Bavaria.
• He built the Card Bell, the first three-reel slot machine with automatic cash payouts, in 1898.
• The top payout on the Liberty Bell machine, invented in 1899, occurred when three bells showed in the display window.
• More than 100 Liberty Bell machines were produced and distributed in San Francisco. Most were destroyed in 1906.
• Fey was unable to legally protect his inventions due to laws against patenting gambling devices, so competitors were free to produce similar machines.
• Slot machines like the Liberty Bell were commonly referred to as one-armed bandits; their electronic, computerized descendents are still to be found in casinos around the world.
• As a young man Fey was diagnosed with tuberculosis and spent some time in Mexico for the drier climate. He later returned to the City and eventually was cured of the disease.
• Fey married in 1889 and fathered four children. He died in 1944.