The Toll of the Slot Machine
Chicago's coin-in-the-slot devices said to be swallowing two million dollars a year
An 1897 editorial exposes how gambling and vending slot machines were quietly draining millions from ordinary people in Chicago, arguing both kinds should be outlawed—an early warning about a technology that would haunt American cities for a century.
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Mesa Free Press · November 19, 1897 · Page 2
1 min readChicago, Ill.
It is estimated that in one city, Chicago, the coin-in-the-slot machines are devouring more than two million dollars a year. There are two kinds of the machines: Those that have a slot for petty gambling operations, and those that are supposed always to give something in return for the slot investment. Those who put money in the gambling slot take their chances of getting something out, and the makers and buyers of the machines take care that these chances are none too good. Those who drop coins in ostensibly vending slots are not gamblers, but they are frequently dupes; the contrivance swallows the coin, yields nothing worth having, and seems to ask, "What are you going to do about it?" There is practically no choice between them, and both classes of slot machines should be avoided by all save millionaires, and outlawed by the State.
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