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Preparing to paint my Bursting Cherry machine. You see these online in every color under the rainbow. What colors did these come from the factory? I think the base on mine was original though it is so old and dirty it is hard to identify it’s true color and sheen. Would love to see some pics of original color combos.

Best,

Shane

Here is my mills brown front cherry.

Looks great... are those colors representative of factory original? I know they are sometimes called Brown Fronts - did all come out of the factory brown?

Is that a matte or gloss finish on the base color?

Shane;

You are probably aware that the Mills Cherry Bell ("Bursting Cherry") and the Mills Brown Front were sold as 2 different models (the cabinets look the same) and had different color schemes.

The Brown Front was sold as a more clandestine machine so that it didn't stand out. It may have been even more subdued than the example shown above. For 2 other examples of the Brown Front, see Cherry Restorations web site; there are 2 there; one under machines for sale and the other is under the gallery. He is a well respected restorer and, IMO, will come closer to original colors than most.

However, from the single photo of your machine, it appears to me that you have dark blue original paint and may not have a Cherry Bell, you may have a Brown Front that was revamped by Mills during the war and painted blue; Mills called it, of all things, the Brown Front Blue!

Recommend you search this site and others on how to tell the difference between a Cherry Bell and a Brown Front (and a Melon Bell) and go from there.
Nice find!

Its a semi gloss and the color was re painted as it had the original finish on it.

nvmos2 - Good info - much of it I did not know.

Besides the color, what is the difference between a Cherry Bell and a Brown Front?

What makes you think my is a Brown Front Bell and not a Cherry Bell? One thing I have noticed is my machine has a pop-out for Gold Awards (although I don't have the internal hardware to support it).

The red trim on mine was hand painted and not original. Do you know what trim color traditionally went with the dark blue base?

Appreciate your help.

Shane

Shane,
The Bursting Cherry Brown Front, "Bursting Cherry Brown Front Blue",(which is the original name for it), and Melon Bell all share the same castings.
The Melon Bell has the additional hand load center jackpot on the front.
They also share the same mech's.
The Brown Front I have is all original and has no "Drill Proof Plates" on the inside. It has original paint, early dark wood and pull handle.
My "Brown Front Blue" has the drill proof plates just on the sides, and not on the inside front. It was repainted a darker blue, lighter blue shows through some chips.
My Melon Bell has the full set of drill proof plates installed. It has original paint.
Bob

Most, if not all of the vintage slots go by more than one name; the “official” name used by the manufacturer and one or more nicknames used by operators back in the old days and/or by collectors today. It can be confusing.

If you research available literature, you will find the following:
Mills did not call these machines Bursting Cherry; that is a nickname which probably originated by operators back in the day when the Cherry Bell was first produced due to the bright colors and central cherry, virtually bursting to draw the players. Today, Bursting Cherry is widely used (and misused) in the hobby for the cabinet style under discussion. This cabinet style was used by Mills for the three different models shown in Bob’s photo.

Mills called these models the Brown Front, Cherry Bell and Melon Bell.
They each had a different “standard” Mills color scheme, although there may be variations for special orders, etc. I believe Bob’s photo is an excellent representation of the correct 3 “standard” color schemes. Note how the Cherry Bell really stands out when they are lined up like that, and the Brown Front literally fades into the background; that's what it was designed to do.
If you check Bob’s other postings, if I remember correctly, you will find an interesting discussion on these 3 machines.

So, today, when someone says “Bursting Cherry” we all know what cabinet style he means, but not which model it is. To me, it’s a little silly to call a Brown Front a “bursting cherry”; a correctly restored one will not have bright paint/shiny castings bursting into your face; "Disappearing Cherry" would be more appropriate. Even more silly to call a Melon Bell a bursting cherry since the cherry is no longer there, replaced instead with the visible jackpot (some guys call this version the Diamond JP Front, but that hasn’t really caught on (there’s a different model called Diamond Front) and Mills never used that name).

The Brown Front and Cherry Bell are often confused. The Cherry Bell was introduced first with none of the improvements that came later with the Brown Front.
The Brown Front introduced the club handle (another often confused term, but that’s what Mills called it); which was human engineered for easy play. It also introduced the drill proof plating, an improved money cup to prevent “spooning”, and probably other improvements to the mechanism.
To keep things confusing, the early Brown Fronts did not have drill proofing and may not have the other improvements, and since the Cherry Bell continued to be produced along side the Brown Front, later model Cherry Bells will have incorporated these improvements.

If you have an early serial number from before the Brown Front came out, say about 404xxx or earlier, it most likely came from Mills as a Cherry Bell. However, since most of the production overlapped, maybe the best way to tell a Cherry Bell from a Brown Front is to find traces of the original paint. Unfortunately, some of the less careful “restorations” around stripped the castings and turned Brown Fronts into Cherry Bells because they are so striking in appearance. In fact, the Brown Front outsold the Cherry Bell and was produced longer, so there should be more of them around today.

A bright blue Cherry Bell is not a Brown Front Blue. Brown Front Blue is not a nickname; that is a little known/used name that Mills called their wartime revamps of Brown Fronts. Bueschel (RIP) wrote about this and implies they were also subdued like the Brown Front and probably painted a different shade of blue than the Cherry Bell. During the war, Mills probably revamped many machines including Cherry Bells, I don’t know if anyone can say for sure what they looked like.

I’ve gotten far too carried away here; I don’t have my reference material available, but I’m sure there is a coin slot guide that covers all the “bursting cherry” models and would be helpful in your restoration.

GREAT EXPLANATION OF THESE SLOT MACHINES!
You did a fine detailed description of them!
Something us Old Guys know about but can't put into easily understood words for the new collectors/restorers!
Kudos To You!
MONTI