High top jackpot glass

[**sixshooter**]

I just got my Mills high top back from restoration. Question for all of you...
Did the window jackpot glass have the "777 pays $50" on it? Or was that added later, by a casino or private owner? What if anything was on there originally? I've scoured the internet to no avail...

[TheFatman]

If my memory is correct, the 25 cent machine that has a working jackpot for 3 bars.... drops the jackpot for 3 bars. 3 # 7's will get a hand pay for 50$ if that is what the casino wanted. I am sure someone with more knowledge than I have will chime in. Do you have 7's on your wheel strips? Usually with a JP that is not there they will place the cardboard in the window to show just that and you cant see anything open. But your payout card as I can see shows a 3 bar payout and it looks like you have a working jackpot with an open view-able window to show the coins in the JP.
Dave F

[**sixshooter**]

Thank you for the info. Yes, the reels have 7's on them. My JP window is now filled with coins. Three bars is JP + 20 coins. So you think three 7's (special award) is paid out by hand?

[TheFatman]

that i do unless you have the chutes and mech ... very much like a gold award for a token award that drops 1 special coin for each 777 combination. They you can turn it in for $50 to the cage or an attendant.
Dave

[**sixshooter**]

The chute and mech isn't in there to drop the token (too bad, because my grandpa gave me three of the 777 tokens. Three generations worked for Mills in Chicago & Reno) I was handed down lots of Mills goodies; machines, books, monthly magazines and parts. I still need to go through everything. Not sure what all machines I have. I guess I'll leave the glass alone. Thank you again Dave.

[nvmos2]

You will find the "21 Bell" with a multitude of cards in the upper half of the jackpot window.
Oftentimes it simply says "Jack Pot" in big bold letters.
Or it could say whatever the location wants to put there.
I am looking at an original Mills advertising flyer and the card in their advertising says "7-7-7 Pays Grand Prize $10."
So that is probably the standard way they left Mills; pretty mush repeating the Special Award in the upper casting.
Of course, the grand prize varied by denomination/odds; this advertisement is for a 5 cent machine.

The 21 Bell was designed to dispense a token (but no coins) when 7-7-7 was hit; the token was redeemed for the Grand Prize.
Today, the token dispenser is often missing from these machines.
Perhaps they were removed by operators who wanted the player to call an attendant to pay the grand prize (so they could visually verify the win and check the coins in the escalator window for slugs).
I suspect many were moved by "restorers" taking short cuts.
If you find a source for the token dispenser, I could use one as well.

Looks like you have a fine example of this machine;
Are you the same guy I had an exchange of msgs with over on ebay?

[**sixshooter**]

Hey J,

Yes, we chatted on eBay. Thank you for all of the useful info, it helped me out tremendously! Looking forward to chatting more once I get all of the Mills history from dad. Like we talked about I have a lot of Mills stuff handed down from three generations working for Mills. He sold a lot of Mills parts at a swap meet in Pomona, Ca in the mid to late 80's. No telling what I missed out on getting handed down. Curious and excited to hear about and document all of it. He has a functioning Mills machine that his father gave him called "Gold Eagle" he said it was a prototype that never went into production. I believe it is a dollar machine, although I might be wrong. It has an eagle that has its wings spread on each side of the payout tray, the claws too and top of the head is right below the reels window. The eagle is either polished brass or gold plated, not sure tho. It was pretty shiny. I think it was built in the early to mid 20's. I remember seeing it as a kid, but he wouldn't let me play it or touch it. He's told me a little about it over the years. He built a wood crate for it and had it stored away. I'm going to try to see it when I head up there at the end of this month. I'll let you know. Here's a few pics I thought were kind of neat from my Spinning Reels magazines. Lots of information and neat photos of machines! Not sure what the "airplane" slot is...have never seen one until flipping through all these. I noticed they put a LOT of pin up girls in them!
Thank you again for all your help!

[sam2002]

Great stuff !

[nvmos2]

sixshooter;

Really glad you've joined the forum;
I think you have some really interesting information you could share here.

You mentioned you had Mills parts;
you may already have a token dispenser for your 21 Bell.
(I can send you a photo if you'e not sure what it looks like).

You'll notice this forum has headings called Pictures and another called Articles.
PLEASE take your camera with you when you visit your Dad and bring back some photos of the Gold Eagle (including inside- if he thinks you're old enough to touch it now) and share them here (look for serial numbers on the machine and any info on stickers inside the case).
Once you've got the family history drafted up, please post under Articles;
we don't need to know any family secrets, just the part about 3 generations working at Mills.
You may very well have some insights never before revealed.

There may be some good articles in the Spinning Reels worth posting as well;
actually, you may want to consider copying them and selling the reprints on ebay.

The Dial (the airplane machine) is part of the Mills QT series, only this model is not a payout slot machine and is more properly called a trade stimulator.
It is a very desirable/collectible machine; do you happen to have one up in the attic somewhere?

Looking forward to hearing more of what you discover in your family archives,
Jim

[**sixshooter**]

Thanks again Jim! We'll do!
Talk soon.