Fun find: 1897 San Francisco slot license tag

[ReneRondeau]

According to Marshall Fey's classic book, San Francisco licensed slots quarterly from 1894 to 1909, and he illustrates a brass tag from the second quarter of 1897. I can only assume that tags were not used for the entire time frame he mentions or there would surely be more of them. When he auctioned his tag in 2010 (see here), Fey said that only two were known to exist.

Well, now there are three -- one was found at the site of a long-gone Gold Rush town in the Sierra Foothills by a metal detectorist. I was very happy to get it.

It was heavily encrusted, and corroded, as would be expected after more than a century in the ground. It took a lot of time to very carefully clean off all the scaly crud. I ran it through an ultrasonic cleaner 6 times, brushing it with a soft toothbrush in between each session to remove bits of crud. I was very surprised at the end to find very clear traces of old nickel plating. I expected raw brass as on Fey's, but this is definitely nickeled. A lot is lost to corrosion, but it cleaned up well. I will not over-polish it as that would look jarring against the pitting that remains. Still, it looks vastly better than it did in as-found condition, and I believe it will display very nicely -- and appropriately -- in my Reliance Novelty drop-card poker machine.

[MikeB]

Don't forget a little thing called the Great 1906 San Francisco earthquake and FIRE.

Quite a few slot companies bit the dust, or roasted in the fires right after, including probably plenty of these tags.

[ReneRondeau]

True, but that wouldn't explain the lack of tags from 1907 to 1909.

Has anyone seen any? I'm very curious.

[ReneRondeau]

I went ahead and mounted the tag to my machine.

I did not want to drill any holes in the machine. I hate to make permanent alterations. So I cut off the heads of two tiny rivets and glued them into the mounting holes with water-soluble glue just for appearance. Then I used "museum wax" to attach the tag to the metal plate inside the machine, in the center of the front window. Museum wax is a product used to secure fragile items to shelves, something like 'earthquake tape' only higher quality and stronger. It holds objects incredibly firmly, like strong glue, but the bond is very easily broken if desired, and any residue can be cleaned with mineral spirits. So it makes for a very secure mounting but one which is 100% reversible if ever desired. Great stuff that comes highly recommended by my friends at the Ford Museum.

The tag is a small detail but in my opinion it really 'makes' the machine.