1948 (jukeboxes); 1954 (vending machines); and 1980s (slot machines)
Fate
Divestment (jukeboxes); divestment and merger (slot machines); and acquisition (vending machines)
Successor
Mills Novelty Co. Restores & sells violanos and other Mills products
Headquarters
Chicago
Key people
Herbert Stephen Mills (deceased); Robert W. Brown CEO
The Mills Novelty Company, Incorporated of Chicago was once a leading manufacturer of coin-operated machines, including slot machines, vending machines, and jukeboxes, in the United States. Between about 1905 and 1930, the company's products included the Mills Violano-Virtuoso and its predecessors, celebrated machines that automatically played a violin and, after about 1909, a piano. By 1944, the name of the company had changed to Mills Industries, Incorporated.[1][2] The slot machine division was then owned by Bell-O-Matic Corporation. By the late 1930s, vending machines were being installed by Mills Automatic Merchandising Corporation of New York.
The origins of the business lie with Mortimer Birdsul Mills, who was born in 1845 in Canada West (today's Ontario, Canada)[3] but who later became a citizen of the United States, resident in Chicago, Illinois. Mortimer Mills would have 13 children.[4] One son, Herbert Stephen Mills, was born in 1872 when his father was about 27.[3] In 1892, Bert E. Mills, the youngest of Mortimer Mill's children was born.[4] In about 1895, Fred L. Mills, the first of Herbert Mills' sons, was born.[5][6] Ralph J. Mills, Herbert's second son, was born in July 1898.[6] In about 1900, Herbert Mills, the third son of Herbert Stephen Mills was born. His younger brother, Hayden ("Bill") Mills, was born two years later in about 1902.[6] The Mills brothers were raised in Oak Park, Illinois, and continued to live in that area until at least the mid-1930s.[6] In 1929, Herbert Mills had died aged 57, leaving a fortune to his wife and eight children.[7] The business was continued with Fred L. Mills, Herbert's first son, taking over as president[8] while his three brothers, Ralph, Herbert, and Hayden held other top management positions.
History
Mortimer Mills was granted United States patent 450,336 on 14 April 1891 for an improvement in "coin-actuated vending apparatus". The improvement allowed the purchaser to select the product being sold and manipulate it so that it was carried to the point of delivery.[9] Focusing on the devices covered by the patent, Mortimer Mills founded the M.B.M. Cigar Vending Company sometime between 1891,[3] and 1895.[4] Over half a century later, the company would promote itself as having been founded in 1889, two years before the date of the patent, and by H.S. Mills rather than his father.[10]
Mortimer B. Mills's patented 1891 contribution to cigar vending
In 1897, the company launched the Mills Owl, which was the first mechanical upright cabinet slot machine. The machine's design included a circle of owls perched on a lithographed tin wheel. The machine was a great success and the company would later adopt an owl motif as its trade mark.[11]
In 1898 , Mortimer Mills sold a controlling interest in the company to his son, Herbert S. Mills,[4][7] and the name of the company was changed from M.B.M. Cigar Vending Company to Mills Novelty Company, Incorporated.[3] At that time, the company was located at 125-127 West Randolph Street, Chicago.
In 1906, Bert Mills left school at the age of 14 to work for Mills. He would later establish a separate company, Bert E. Mills Corporation, and, in 1946, help to develop the first vending machines to sell hot coffee.[4]
In 1907, Herbert S. Mills collaborated with Charles Fey, the inventor of the slot machine, to produce the Mills Liberty Bell.[13]
In 1926, the company had moved to a plant of 375,000 square feet (34,800m2), comprising a factory and administrative building, at 4100 Fullerton Avenue in the northwest of Chicago.[10] Mills would distinguish itself by being one of only a few firms to manufacture both machines for gambling and vending machines.[4]
In 1928, Mills entered the market for coin-operated radios and multi-selection phonographs.[3] Between 1929 and 1948, the company manufactured and sold jukeboxes by the names of Hi-Boy, Troubadour, Dancemaster, Do-Re-Me, Swing King, Zephyr, Studio, Throne of Music, Empress, Panoram (a film-playing jukebox), and Constellation.[14]
By May 1935, the company was run by the four sons of Herbert Stephen Mills: Fred L. Mills was President, Ralph J. Mills was Vice President in Charge of Sales, Herbert S. Mills Jr. was Treasurer and manager of the plant, and Hayden Mills was Secretary. The family's wealth included a private yacht named Minoco, after the family firm.[6]
In about 1935, Mills was engaged by Coca-Cola to produce a standing dry automatic cooled vendor for bottles. The result, the model 47, was the first of its kind for Cola-Cola.[1] By the late 1930s, gum vending machines were being installed by Mills Automatic Merchandising Corporation of New York. The machines made use of technology protected by United States patents assigned to Mills Novelty Company, including number 1,869,616.[15][16]
In 1940, the Mills company introduced Soundies, short 16mm musical films played in a coin-operated movie jukebox, its projection and sound mechanism made by RCA. Wartime restrictions curtailed manufacturing of the jukeboxes, but the Mills company continued to produce and distribute new films for them into 1947.
During World War II, Mills received authorized federal funding to use its industrial facilities to produce bomb carriers, directional antenna, hand control slip rings, and poppet valves.[17] The company changed its corporate name from the Mills Novelty Company to Mills Industries, Incorporated on September 1, 1943 to better reflect their wider manufacturing output initiated by the United States entry into World War II.[18] In 1944, Mills representative D. W. Donahue was appointed to a planning committee of the coin machine manufacturing industry which would explore the transition of the former coin-operated machine factories from wartime manufacturing to their prior business.[2] Before the end of the year though, the President of the organization Fred L Mills died of a stomach ailment at age 49 in St. Charles, Illinois.[5]
On 1 April 1946, Bell-O-Matic Corporation was established as the exclusive distributor worldwide of all Bells and related products manufactured by Mills, and employed all of the former personnel of the Coin Machine Department of Mills. The stated rationale for the change was that the market for the products of the Coin Machine Department and the markets for the other products of Mills were quite distinct.[10]
The last jukebox produced by the Mills Novelty Company was the Constellation (model number 951). By some mechanism, it appears that the front grille medallion from the jukebox ended up being incorporated in the 1948 Tucker Sedan, as a horn button.[19]
By January 1948, the company was financially troubled and had petitioned the federal court for time to pay its debts. In December 1948, the company sold all of its phonography inventory to H. C. Evans of Chicago.[19]
By the end of the 1940s, the Chairman of the Board of Mills was Ralph J. Mills and the President was Herbert S. Mills. Both men were Vice Presidents of Bell-O-Matic Corporation, whose officers included President V. C. Shay and Vice President in Charge of Advertising Grant F. Shay. Both companies were still located at building in Fullerton Avenue, Chicago.[10] The Bell-O-Matic Corporation would later relocate to 135 Linden Street, Reno, Nevada.
In January 1951 it was reported that the industry manufacturing slot machines in the United States, then almost entirely based in Chicago, had suffered a major blow. A bill had been signed which banned slot machines from federal property and prohibited their shipment in commerce between states. At that time slot machines were allowed only in the states of Nevada, Montana and Maryland (where they were allowed in only four counties) but were operated illegally throughout the country.[20]
In October 1954, F. L. Jacobs Company, a manufacturer of automobile parts based in Detroit, announced that it had acquired both Mills Industries, Inc. and Selmix Dispensers, Inc. of Long Island City, Queens (another manufacturer of equipment in the vending and dispensing industries). At that time the main products of Mills Industries were commercial ice cream freezers, frozen custard and milk shake machines and all types of vending machines. During 1953 and 1954, the company had added a coin-operated coffee vending machine, a three-flavor beverage bottle vendor, a citrus fruit juice vendor, and an ice cream package vendor to its product line. The intention of F. L. Jacobs Company was to operate Mills Industries as an independent subsidiary. However, component parts for the equipment were to be produced in the factories of F. L. Jacobs in Detroit, Traverse City, Michigan and Danville, Illinois.[21] By September 1954, the controller of Mills Industries was James A. Pound.[22] In November 1955, Mills Industries announced a project to consolidate, over a number of years, most of its operations in Traverse City, Michigan.[23]
In November 1955, Mills Industries, Inc. announced a coin-operated vending machine, developed jointly with H. J. Heinz Company, that would dispense a tin can of hot food (one of a selection of six soups or dinners), a can opener, and a spoon. The cans were maintained a constant temperature of 150°F (65°C). The machine was intended for use in factories or large offices, and the company claimed that it was a first of a kind in the United States.[24]
By the early 1960s, there were five major manufacturers of slot machines in the United States. The table below sets out their approximate comparative percentages of sales:[25]
Leading United States manufacturers of slot machines in early 1960s
TJM Corporation was run by Tony Mills and his brother John Mills. The merged company failed to compete successfully with the electro/mechanical models produced by Bally and also suffered because it had not protected its intellectual property rights in Japan. The company ceased trading in the 1980s.[27]
The name "The Mills Novelty Company" still survives today, in the form of a business that installs digital player systems in the Mills Violano Virtuoso.[28] The registered owner of United States trade marks 78625380 (the Mills Novelty Co. prize ribbon) and 78625372 (the Violano Virtuoso Self-Playing Violin and Piano laurel wreath, lyre, banner and ribbons) is Robert W. Brown of Wisconsin.[29]
Mills Violano-Virtuoso
Mills Novelty Company's automatic violin and piano playerHenry K. Sandell's patented 1905 contribution to self-playing violins
The main inventor of the Mills Violano-Virtuoso was Henry Konrad Sandell, a contemporary of Thomas Edison, who was born in about 1878. Henry Sandell arrived in the United States from Sweden at the age of about 10 in about 1888. He was granted his first United States patent on the mechanism at the age of 21, in about 1899 and put his proposals and patents before the Mills Novelty Company in about 1903.
Mills Novelty Company DeLuxe Violano VirtuosoThe DeLuxe model has two independently playing 64-note violins and a 44-note piano
On 27 March 1905 Henry Sandell filed an application for a United States patent for an electric self playing violin. The patent was granted, as number 807,871, on 19 December 1905 and assigned to Mills Novelty Company.[30] This forerunner of the Violano-Virtuoso was known as the Automatic Virtuosa. It was marketed in 1905. At the time player pianos and mechanical coin-operated devices were extremely popular.[31]
Subsequently, a piano mechanism was added to the violin mechanism, and the combination came to known as the Violano-Virtuoso.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office had a display of several significant inventions at the Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition in Seattle in 1909, including an early Violano-Virtuoso.[31] The company used this event to promote the Violano-Virtuoso as "Designated by the U.S. Government as one of the eight greatest inventions of the decade" on all subsequent machines.
The Violano-Virtuoso was not available to the public until 1911.[31] Technology used in the instrument was patented on 4 June 1912, under United States patents 1,028,495[32] and 1,028,496.[33] Early Violan-Virtuoso's have a glass divider between the violin mechanism and the piano mechanism. Machines with two violins are known as the De Luxe Model Violano-Virtuoso or the Double Mills.
Production seems to have finished in 1930.[31] Henry Sandell died in 1948, aged 70. By his death he had been granted over 300 patents, many for the technology used in the Violano-Virtuoso.
The exact number of machines produced is not known. Estimates are between 4,000 and 5,000.[31] Today, some sources estimate that only about 750 of the single machines and fewer than 100 of the Double Mills still exist, while other sources estimate that several thousand machines survive. However, the Violano-Virtuoso have the highest survival rate of any type of player piano; they required little maintenance when they were first produced and that is still the case for those that survive.
A common player piano operates pneumatically. The Violano-Virtuoso was all electric and all the moving parts were set in motion by electric motors or electromagnets. A company catalogue states that they ran on "any electric lighting current" and used "no more than one 16-candle power light." They were designed to operate on 110 voltsdirect current. In locations that had 110 volts alternating current (or other types of power supply) the instruments were used with a unique converter unit.
The violin had four strings, with an octave available on each string, and could reproduce 64 notes. All four strings could be played simultaneously. This allowed the possibility of four-part independent counterpoint. A vibrato could be produced.
The strings were played by small electric powered rollers, which were self-rosinating, and a chromatic set of metal 'fingers'. The violin had no finger board. A small metal "finger", activated by an electromagnet, rose from under the string lifting it in a V-shaped slot thus stopping off the string. The strings were bowed by four small wheels made of discs of celluloid clamped together in a dish-shaped form. These applied just the right pressure to the strings and were driven by a variable-speed controlled motor. This and a mute allowed the volume of sound produced to be varied. The violin produced a full tone and was able to sound 1/2 note double stops at ragtime tempi. The staccato coil allowed the bows to leave the string a fraction of a second before the 'fingers'. The violin stayed in tune by a sophisticated array of tuning arms and weights. The vibrato was produced by using an electromagnet to shake the tail-piece of the violin.
The piano had 44 notes, half the number of keys found on a normal piano keyboard. It was played by regular hammers using a standard player piano action. The hammers were activated by electromagnets. The piano frame was made of iron, shaped like a shield, and symmetrically strung. The bass strings were at the centre of the frame and the treble strings radiated out to the edges from the centre. This arrangement distributed the string pressure more evenly across the frame and helped keep the piano in tune.[31]
The machine plays with the insertion of a nickel in the slot
The Violano-Virtuoso was coin-operated and its mechanism was capable of holding up to 15 coins. Some models were made for domestic use and did not have the coin mechanism.
The instrument used rolls of perforated paper. Most of the rolls had five tunes on them, the popular tunes of the day. Individual tunes could not be selected. Over time, the Mills Novelty Company produced approximately 3,121 different rolls. Each arrangement of a song was identified by a unique number. Some songs appear on more than one rolls. Attempts have been made to produce a complete "rollography" for the Violano-Virtuoso. A list has been produced that covers more than half of the different rolls that were ever produced. Rolls 1 to about 1000 and 1800 to 2500 are well documented. Information between rolls 1000 and 1800 is very sparse and it may be that these roll numbers were never used.
The Violano-Virtuoso was a heavy object. The first page of the Violano Virtuoso manual stated that to lift the instrument from the delivery wagon would need "3 good men".
The Violano Virtuoso was designed for public places. The wooden cabinet in which the mechanism was housed could be oak or mahogany.
In addition to the Violano-Virtuoso, the Mills Novelty Company developed a variety of other automatic musical instruments. These included the Viol-Cello, the Viol-Xylophone, and the Mills String Quartette.[31]
Related Research Articles
A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that plays a patron's selection from self-contained media. The classic jukebox has buttons with letters and numbers on them, which are used to select specific records. Some may use compact discs instead. Disc changers are similar devices for home use; they are small enough to fit on a shelf and can hold up to hundreds of discs, allowing them to be easily removed, replaced, or inserted by the user.
A soundie is a three-minute American musical film displaying a performance. Soundies were produced between 1940 and 1946 and have been referred to as "precursors to music videos". Soundies exhibited a variety of musical genres in an effort to draw a broad audience. The shorts were originally viewed in public places on "Panorams": coin-operated, 16mm rear projection machines. Panorams were typically located in businesses like nightclubs, bars, and restaurants. Due to World War II, Soundies also featured patriotic messages and advertisements for war bonds. More adult shorts, such as burlesque and stripteases, were produced to appeal to soldiers on leave.
A vending machine is an automated machine that dispenses items such as snacks, beverages, cigarettes, and lottery tickets to consumers after cash, a credit card, or other forms of payment are inserted into the machine or otherwise made. The first modern vending machines were developed in England in the early 1880s and dispensed postcards. Vending machines exist in many countries and, in more recent times, specialized vending machines that provide less common products compared to traditional vending machine items have been created.
WMS Industries, Inc. was an American electronic gaming and amusement manufacturer in Enterprise, Nevada. It was merged into Scientific Games in 2016. WMS's predecessor was the Williams Manufacturing Company, founded in 1943 by Harry E. Williams. However, the company that became WMS Industries was formally founded in 1974 as Williams Electronics, Inc.
The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments from Germany for resale in the United States. Wurlitzer enjoyed initial success, largely due to defense contracts to provide musical instruments to the U.S. military. In 1880, the company began manufacturing pianos and eventually relocated to North Tonawanda, New York. It quickly expanded to make band organs, orchestrions, player pianos and pipe or theatre organs popular in theatres during the days of silent movies.
A currency detector or currency validator is a device that determines whether notes or coins are genuine or counterfeit. These devices are used in a wide range of automated machines, such as retail kiosks, supermarket self checkout machines, arcade gaming machines, payphones, launderette washing machines, car park ticket machines, automatic fare collection machines, public transport ticket machines, and vending machines.
The Graphophone was the name and trademark of an improved version of the phonograph. It was invented at the Volta Laboratory established by Alexander Graham Bell in Washington, D.C., United States.
The Vendo Company is a large manufacturer of cold beverage vending machines. Since its founding in 1937, Vendo has come out with many innovations that now exist in nearly every beverage and snack vending machine in use today. In 2005, Vendo moved its headquarters to Dallas, Texas, and was renamed SandenVendo America, Inc.
Bulk vending is the sale of unsorted confections, nuts, gumballs, toys and novelties selected at random and dispensed generally through non-electrically operated vending machines. Bulk vending is a separate segment of the vending industry from full-line vending — i.e., the snack and soda vending industries — and involves different products and strategies. Bulk vending represents less than 1% of the total vending industry.
Seeburg was an American design and manufacturing company of automated musical equipment, such as orchestrions, jukeboxes, and vending equipment. Before it began manufacturing its signature suite of jukebox products, Seeburg was considered to be one of the "big four" of the top coin-operated phonograph companies alongside AMI, Wurlitzer, and Rock-Ola. At the height of jukebox popularity, Seeburg machines were synonymous with the technology and a major quotidian brand of American teenage life. The company went out of business after being sold to Stern Electronics in 1982.
Panoram was the trademark name of a visual jukebox that played short-filmed musicals popular within the United States during the 1940s. It was conceived and produced by the Mills Novelty Company under several patents, including 123,473 and 2,286,200, which involve the cabinet design and endless reel workings. Development took place in the late 1930s with production and sales beginning in 1940. A Grand Premiere took place on September 16-19, 1941, in Hollywood, California. The company wrote over $3 million in Panoram orders that week. The Panoram used RCA projectors, amplifiers, and speakers. The successful launch of the Panoram allowed for the largest single order of these RCA products up to that time.
H. C. Evans & Company of Chicago was once a leading manufacturer of casino equipment and supplies - both honest and crooked - in the United States. It was established in 1892 and collapsed in 1955. It was succeeded by Evans Park & Carnival Device Corporation, which was still in business in June 1961 but no longer trades, and by Evans Supply Company, which was trading in 1962 but no longer trades.
DeBence Antique Music World is a museum in Franklin, Pennsylvania whose collection contains more than 100 antique mechanical musical instruments, including music boxes, band organs, player pianos, a nickelodeon piano, as well as a number of other antiques. Many of the collection's mechanical instruments are rare; a number are among only a few manufactured, and a few are among the last in existence. Although the collection's value cannot be measured, an offer for a sum of multiple millions of dollars was once rejected.
Jennings & Company was a leading manufacturer of slot machines in the United States and also manufactured other coin-operated machines, including pinball machines, from 1906 to the 1980s. It was founded by Ode D. Jennings as Industry Novelty Company, Incorporated of Chicago. On the death of its founder in 1953, the company was succeeded by Jennings & Company.
The Rock-Ola Manufacturing Corporation is an American developer and manufacturer of juke boxes and related machinery. It was founded in 1927 by Coin-Op pioneer David Cullen Rockola to manufacture slot machines, scales, and pinball machines. The firm later produced parking meters, furniture, arcade video games, and firearms, but became best known for its jukeboxes.
A virtuoso is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability in a particular art.
A stamp vending machine (SVM) is a mechanical, electrical or electro-mechanical device which can be used to automatically vend postage stamps to users in exchange for a pre-determined amount of money, normally in coin. Most SVMs were positioned in public places to provide a useful service to customers when other sources of postage stamps, such as Post Offices were closed. The term is often applied to the entire object as found attached to a pillar box or sited in a wall. The name Stamp Vending Machine only applies to the internal mechanism, the housing is described by the UK Post Office as a "case" and was supplied, installed and maintained separately. Many postal administrations around the world have used automatic stamp vending machines including the United States, where private manufacturers began vending stamps from coils in 1908. Most countries of the Commonwealth of Nations have issued stamps for use in Stamp Vending Machines, including Hong Kong, New Zealand and Malta.
Pleasant Home, also known as the John Farson House, is a historic home located in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, United States. The large, Prairie style mansion was designed by architect George Washington Maher and completed in 1897. The house was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on June 19, 1972. Exactly 24 years later, in 1996, it was declared a National Historic Landmark by the United States Department of the Interior.
Gulbransen Company was a musical instrument manufacturer of player pianos and home organs in the United States. It also made reed organs. It was originally established in 1904 by Axel Gulbransen as Gulbransen Piano Company.
The Detroit-based Caille Bros. Manufacturing Company along with Chicago-based Mills Novelty Company, were one of the most successful companies in the United States coin-operated machine industry during the 19th century and early 20th century. They became popular releasing not only slot machines, but grew the company to encompass arcade games, weight scales, strength testers, gum machines and Bagatelle-style games. They also produced a popular line of outboard motors. Once penny arcades began to decline Caille even built coin-operated "moving picture'' machines, sometimes called nickelodeons. Following the death of company President A. Arthur Caille in 1916, the company continued to release mainly trade simulators and gambling machines, but with little variety in their mechanical game output, were overtaken by newer players such as A.B.T, Erie Machine co., Chester Pollard and Exhibit Supply, eventually leading Adolph A. Caille, the surviving brother, to sell the business to Fuller Johnson in 1932.
↑ "Owl". International Arcade Museum. Retrieved 2006-08-28.
↑ Richard Bueschel (1992-06-15). Jennings Slot Machines 1906-1990: Illustrated Historical, Maintenance and Repair Guide to Jennings Mechanical and Electromechanical 3-Reel Bell Machines.
Bowers, Q. David. The Encyclopedia of Automatic Musical Instruments. ISBN0-911572-08-2 Vestal, New York: The Vestal Press, 1972.
Kitner, Michael L. and Reblitz, Arthur A. The Mills Violano-Virtuoso...the famous self-playing violin and piano...how it works, how to service and rebuild it, together with a fascinating collection of previously unpublished pictures concerning its history, its inventor, and its manufacturer.ISBN0-911572-33-3 Vestal, New York: The Vestal Press, 1984.
Reblitz, Arthur A. The Golden Age of Automatic Musical Instruments. ISBN0-9705951-0-7 Woodsville, New Hampshire: Mechanical Music Press, 2001.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
