Large, ornate chandeliers, red flocked wallpaper, and vintage prints added to a nostalgic grandeur. Marshall joked that it cost $250 for the doors and two grand to adapt the Belle’s front entrance to accommodate them. The heavy bronze entry doors were salvaged from the Palace Hotel in San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake. The restaurant was as famous for its Western memorabilia as for its food. Color postcard showing the old Liberty Belle restaurant in Reno It replaced the Li’l Red Barn in a prominent location in front of what now is the Reno-Sparks Convention Center. His grandsons, Marshall and Frank, came to Reno and opened a restaurant in 1958 called (what else?) the Liberty Belle. The “bar” symbol we recognize today was introduced to slot machines at this time and was based on the stylized company logo of Bell Fruit, designed to resemble a stick of chewing gum.īack to Charles Fey, the designer of the Liberty Bell slot.

The machines now spilled out packs of gum, the flavor matching the winning fruit symbol. Card numbers and suit reel symbols were replaced with fruit images such as cherries, plums, oranges, lemons, and watermelons. turned the devices into dispensers of Bell Fruit Gum’s chewing gum. To circumvent the laws, manufacturer Industry Novelty Co. Nevada also instituted a prohibition in 1909. San Francisco banned all 3,300 slot machines within the city in 1909. It was a natural to dub the machine the “Liberty Bell.” Other manufacturers happily followed into this lucrative market.īy the early 1900s, lawmakers cracked down on cash-paying slots and public gambling. The device featured three spinning reels, using five symbols: hearts, diamonds, spades, horseshoes, and the famous Liberty Bell. In 1887, San Franciscan Charles Fey - remember that name - designed the first mechanical slot machine. The answer is buried in slot history and ultimately is connected to a long-popular restaurant in Reno, the Liberty Belle. Fruits, bars, and the Liberty Belle, oh my!ĭid you ever wonder why slot machines, the quintessential symbol of Nevada, feature fruits and bars? If you, like me, write about local food history, this question is inevitable.

Bell fruit gum slot machine red lion