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In no part of the world did gambling take place so openly and on such a large scale than in San Francisco during the Victorian era. San Franciscans wagered in nearly every possible manner, including horse races, sporting contests, card games, wheels-of-fortune, and impromptu barroom arguments on every conceivable subject. At the beginning of the twentieth century, more than 3,000 machines operated freely, enticing customers from busy sidewalks into the saloons and cigar stores that proliferated throughout San Francisco. The play concept has changed remarkably little in the more than one hundred years since San Francisco inventor Charles Fey introduced the first automatic-payout, three-reel slot machine—payment is inserted, the handle is pulled or the button is pressed, and the reels, now simulated, spin to a stop to determine the outcome. See "#GamesofChance: Gambling Devices of the Mechanical Age" and our accompanying photography show, "The American Saloon: Historical Photographs from the Collection of Roger E. Kislingbury", on display, post-security, in Terminal 3. http://bit.ly/GamesofChance
This image was posted on December 22, 2016.