industry slot machines vending machines and juke boxes fate divestment jukeboxes ; divestment and merger slot machines ; and acquisition vending machines successor mills novelty co. restores & sells violanos and other mills products founded 1891 as m.b.m. cigar vending company defunct 1948 jukeboxes ; 1954 vending machines ; and 1980s slot machines headquarters chicago key people herbert stephen mills deceased ; robert w. brown ceo website millsnovelty.com the mills novelty company incorporated of chicago illinois 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 . contents 1 family 2 history 3 mills violano virtuoso 4 references 5 external links family edit the origins of the business lie with mortimer birdsul mills who was born in 1845 in 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 edit 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 1 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 1904 mills novelty company was an exhibitor at the louisiana purchase exposition the 1904 world s fair in st. louis missouri . its pavilion was run by ode d. jennings who would later establish a competitor to mills . 12 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 34 800 m2 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 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 during world war ii and by 26 april 1944 the name of the company had changed from mills novelty company incorporated to mills industries incorporated . on 26 april 1944 a representative of the firm d. w. donahue was appointed to a planning committee of the coin machine manufacturing industry . the committee was concerned with the transition of the coin machine factories from war production back to their former use . 2 in july 1944 it was reported that fred l. mills the then president of mills industries had died at the age of 49 of a stomach aliment in st. charles illinois . 5 during world war ii mills received authorised federal funding to use its industrial facilities to produce bomb carriers directional antenna hand control slip rings and poppet valves . 17 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 . 18 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 . 18 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 illinois 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 . 19 in october 1954 f. l. jacobs company a manufacturer of automobile parts based in detroit michigan 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 new 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 michigan traverse city michigan and danville illinois . 20 by september 1954 the controller of mills industries was james a. pound . 21 in november 1955 mills industries announced a project to consolidate over a number of years most of its operations in traverse city michigan . 22 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 degrees fahrenheit 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 . 23 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 24 leading united states manufacturers of slot machines in early 1960s manufacturer location share of market jennings & co. a division of hershey manufacturing co. chicago 40 % mills bell o matic corp. chicago and reno 35 % ace manufacturing co. maryland 15 % buckley manufacturing co. maryland 5 % las vegas coin machine co. las vegas 5 % 100 % by the early 1960s the bell o matic corporation was being run by tony mills . he sold the company to american machine and science inc. amsc owned by wallace e. carroll later the chairman of katy industries inc. reportedly for usd500 000 . amsc had also acquired o. d. jennings & company and the two companies were merged to form tjm corporation . amsc would later merge with crl industries inc. subsequently renamed crl inc. . 25 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 . 26 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 . 27 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.