Ode D.Jennings Company
- Jennings Governor Slot Machine
- Jennings Slot Machine Repair
- Jennings Slot Machine Cover
- Craigslist Jennings Slot Machines
$1 Jennings Governor Baby Buckaroo Slot Machine. Estimate $3,000 - $4,500 May 2, 2015. See Sold Price 19 bids. Sell a Similar Item. Dan Morphy Auctions. Denver, PA, USA. Ask a Question Follow Auctioneer. Discover Items You'll Love.
1874-1953 Logo
Ode Jennings was born in Kentucky in 1874. In his late 20's he went to work for the Mills Novelty Co where his natural engineering ability soon made him an expert on coin-operated machines. So much so he was given the task of running the Mills Spectatorium at the 1904 World Fair in St Louis . This was a massive building, partly designed by Thomas Edison , and featured (what was said at the time to be ) hundreds of Mills slot machines, it was the only free attraction at the worlds fair but probably made more money than any other. The building was brightly lit at night (Edison's contribution) and attracted a huge number of visitors.
The Mills Spectatorium at the 1904 worlds Fair,St Louis
Two years later in 1906 he left Mills(seemingly on good terms) and founded the Industry Novelty Co Inc whose business was refurbishing Mills machines.
By 1923 the company was called O.D.Jennings & Co and was doing very well despite a misguided attempt to revive the Garbell Typewriter Corp which he had bought out of liquidation, the attempt was a total disaster. In the same year, he was granted a US patent for an improved coin selecting device which could discard coins that were too small. In 1925 he invented and was granted a patent for an anti coin jamming device
In 1925 Ode bought a large house/farm in Schaumburg Illinois and like another country boy turned factory owner, Henry Ford, spent the rest of his life escaping from the factory whenever possible to be a part-time gentleman farmer breeding cattle and horses
By 1936 the company, was, like Mills, making a large range of slot machines in different styles, including a very unusual payout pin table called the Sportsman. This was more like a slot machine that a pin table
Ode Jennings died on 29th November 1953 at the age of 79 having personally run the company for 47 years. Having no children he left everything in trust to his wife on the proviso that it passed to the town and hospital on her death but she seems to have got round that as far as the company was concerned by setting up Jennings and Co in 1954 which purchased the assets of O.D.Jennings and Co from the estate of Ode Jennings.
Jennings and Co were merged with theHershey Manufacturing Co in 1957 although 80% of Hershey's production was Jennings machines. By the early '60s Jennings was the top producer of slot machines in the US with 45% of total sales.
By the mid '60s with laws in the US cutting slot sales to a fraction American Machine and Science Co acquired the failing Jennings Co along with Bell-o-matic (the remains of the Mills Slot division) and merged them to become TJM Corp run by Tony and John Mills but a failure to come to grips with the new electromechanical slot machines Bally had grabbed the market with plus the failure of Mills to protect their business rights in Japan caused the company to close in the 1980s
Ode Jennings wife Jeannette died in 1963 and, as proposed in Ode's will, left the house and lands to the town and donated $500,000 to the local hospital for the building of the O.D.Jennings wing which opened in 1966.
A selection Of Jennings Machines
Most slot machine collectors want at least one Jennings machine in their collection. The early models are always interesting and the later ones are often considered THE classic mechanical slot machine. The Indian Chief figurehead is instantly recognisable even to those not involved in the history of slots. They were always well made with great build quality and the designs have stood the test of time. Here are just a few of Jenning's amazing machines.
For a more complete list click the green button at the top of the page
1920 5c Play 1925 25c Counter model
Dutch Boy Century
4 star Chief One star chief
Dixie Belle Dixie Belle
Century 'Bull Durham' Triple Jackpot
Peacock 'The Witch/Black cat'
Quality Mint Vendor Silver Club
BronzeChief Fortune teller gum Ball Vendor
The 'Little Duke'
The 'Little Duke' was an attempt at something new and did have considerable success. The totally new mech bares no resemblance to the standard Bandit mechs of the day and the machine is much sort after today
The Little duke inside the little Duke
'Little Duke' Patent 1933
Being totally new in design considerable effort was put into educating potential customers as to the Little Duke
Jennings produced a surprising number of different 'Golf Ball Vendors' The console on the left allowed the player to select which type of ball he wanted
Puritan Girl Trade Stim Triplex Chief
Fortune teller gum ball vendor Penny Play
Rockaway The Favorite
Club Consoles
Jennings were always keen on console style machines, this was most likely due to there large upper-class market in clubs.These machines represent some of the most luxurious machines ever made
Cigarola Club console
Plain Case Club Console The Long Shot
Deluxe Club Console 'Prospector' Console
The low level 'Silver Moon' console was another unusual style that had some success
Jennings Governor Slot Machine
This silver moon boasts a rather ugly raised totalisator and gum vendor !!
The silver moon simply mounted the standard chief mech in a low case and the result was read from the top
The 1946 Challenger Console allowed the player to play 1 or 2 coins at different odds
Victory Chief Target Drop
Jennings made a big thing of this feature so perhaps they were the first to come up with it.
In 1939 Mills introduced the single cherry payout for the first time, Jennings had followed suit by 1941,
The Silver club (shown above) was one of the first to pay on a single cherry
Silver Chief Early silver chief
The 'Modern Vendor'
The very advanced but not very pretty 'Modern Vendor' which used some electronic parts was made in 1940 for use in states that didn't allow gambling but wasn't in production for very long.
The Sportsman Jennings always produced good quality
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In 1948/9 Jennings looked to produce the first of a range of machines that were
to become their most iconic and recognisable machines, Based on the
slightly earlier, more rounded design these had straighter crisper lines and
although many different variations followed they all retained the same basic look and shape.
The first was the 'solid front'
A Selection of the Classic later machines
Governor Tic-Tac-Toe
1946 Standard Chief 1947 Chinese Front
Prospector(Monte Carlo) Buckaroo 4 reeler
For me at least, its hard to find any make of slot machine that looks as good as the Jennings Standard
Prospector and its console-mounted brother. If you were told you couldn't win I would still play it
Constellation ( Nevada Club ) Sun Chief(closed front,ribbed)
Governor (light up front) Sun Chief (light up front)
Thanks to Paul Olsen for allowing us to use these two photos of his 'Buckaroos' the one on the left is labelled as a 'Midget Buckaroo'
Tikki Aku Aku Limited edition specially made for the Stardust Polynesian lounge in Las Vegas, by Slim Ewing at Ewing Enterprises. The machine pictured here has been very carefully restored to its original condition by the owner, Larry Zeidman, a leading collector and casino machine expert in the USA. and we thank him for letting us use the photos and providing the information on the machine. The Handle is the right 'ear' of the head
The Last Of the Jennings machines
The Galaxy
Some Galaxy's had UV tubes and florescent
reel strips which worked quite well
Jennings Slot Machine Repair
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The 400 Series (sometimes fitted with 'the Skill Stop' buttons) & 'The Olympic(?)'
in production in 1980
These 400's were found packed like this 30 years after they were made, they appear to have been well used before storage
(this photo and that of some of the 400/700* series courtesy of the owner of the machines John Spina)
The 400 /700 series was a valid attempt at a circuit board controlled hopper payout machine to meet the new market dominated by Bally but was unreliable and too late on the scene and marks the end of the line for Jennings named machines
700 series 400J
*
This 400j and the 700 next to it clearly saw service in the big Vegas hotels
Jennings Slot Machine Cover
Operators Instruction Sheet (1960's)
Craigslist Jennings Slot Machines
company flyers
- JENNINGS CHIEF INDIAN FRONT SLOT MACHINE.
Dime slot machine with nickel plated front. Marquee also reads “Tic Tac Toe”. SIZE: 29” t. x 16” w. x 15” d. CONDITION: Back cover missing, nickel and paint trim ... [more like this] - 1946 Indian Chief 74ci with SidecarFrame
no. CDF6595 Imagine the impact the new owner of this magnificent Indian made when he cruised into his neighborhood for the first time, immediately following the cease of ... [more like this] - 1948 Indian 74ci ChiefEngine no. CDH849 In
1916 Indian introduced a new 61ci (1,000cc) ‘flat head’ v-twin - the Powerplus - to replace the original ‘F-head’ type that had been around since 1907. A smaller model, ... [more like this] - The ex-Steve McQueen1940 Indian 74ci ChiefFrame
no. 341248Engine no. CDO2863B Chain drive had been one of Indian's advanced features right from the start, when Oscar Hedstrom and Oliver Hendee, both active in the cycle ... [more like this] - 1947 Indian 74ci ChiefFrame no. 3471934Engine
no. CDG1934B In 1916 Indian introduced a new 1,000cc ‘flat head’ v-twin - the Powerplus - to replace the original ‘F-head’ type that had been around since 1907. A ... [more like this] - 1947 Indian 74ci ChiefFrame no. 3431176Engine
no. CDG1900 In 1916 Indian introduced a new 1,000cc ‘flat head’ v-twin - the Powerplus - to replace the original ‘F-head’ type that had been around since 1907. A ... [more like this] - 1947 Indian 74ci ChiefFrame no. 3471934Engine
no. CDG1934B In 1916 Indian introduced a new 1,000cc ‘flat head’ v-twin - the Powerplus - to replace the original ‘F-head’ type that had been around since 1907. A ... [more like this] - 1948 Indian ChiefFrame no. CD85226Engine
no. 3485226 In 1922 the Indian range was extended by the introduction of a new, Scout-based 61ci (1,000cc) ‘flat head’ v-twin - the Chief - the first of a line that would ... [more like this] - 98.5 point Davenport judged1947 Indian 74ci
ChiefFrame no. 3473211Engine no. CDG3211 In 1916 Indian introduced a new 61ci (1,000cc) ‘flat head’ v-twin - the Powerplus - to replace the original ‘F-head’ type ... [more like this] - 1929 Indian-Crocker 45ci Overhead-Valve ConversionEngine
no. GB OHV 01 Created by master bike-builder Gwen Banquer, this motorcycle is an Indian 101 Scout fitted with a copy of Al Crocker’s famous overhead-valve conversion kit. ... [more like this] - 1929 Indian-Crocker 45ci Overhead-Valve ConversionEngine
no. GBOHV05 Created by master bike-builder Gwen Banquer, this motorcycle is an Indian 101 Scout fitted with a copy of Al Crocker’s famous overhead-valve conversion kit. ... [more like this] - 2004 Indian 100ci ChiefFrame no. 5CONNCAJ33G009438Engine
no. 130802 Following the demise of the original Indian company in 1953, there were sporadic attempts to revive what had been one of America’s foremost motorcycle marques. ... [more like this] - 1937/1947 Indian 74ci Chief ‘Hollister
Special’Engine no. CDG9971 Mike Corbin commissioned this unique motorcycle to celebrate the rebirth of the Hollister rally in 1997, 50 years after the notorious ‘Hollister ... [more like this] - 1928 Indian 101 Scout Engine no. DGP477 In
1923 Indian rolled out its 250,000th motorcycle, and in the same year debuted the Scout in 600cc displacement (and later in 750cc). The Scout earned and kept the reputation ... [more like this] - 1946 Harley-Davidson 61ci KnuckleheadEngine
no. 46E6289 Harley Davidson made a major departure from their conservative, but very sound motorcycle designs when they introduced the overhead valve ‘knucklehead’ in ... [more like this] - 1926 Excelsior Super XEngine no. 2914 The
famous American Excelsior motorcycle was produced by the Excelsior Motor Manufacturing Company of Chicago, Illinois from 1907 until 1931, latterly under the ‘Super-X’ ... [more like this] - 1970 Indian 499cc Velo ThruxtonFrame no.
VMT-901CEngine no. VMT 901C The Indian company had kept itself afloat after the demise of its traditional v-twin Chief - and the ill-fated parallel-twin models – in 1953 ... [more like this] - Ex-Arnold Schwarzenager, From the movie Terminator
3: Rise of the Machines2002 Indian 100ci 'Police' ChiefFrame no. 5CDNNCAJ82G005918Engine no. BMW50201 When the Gilroy Indian Motorcycle Company heard the famous words, 'I'll ... [more like this] - From the movie Terminator: Rise of the Machines2002
Indian 100ci 'Police' ChiefFrame no. 5CDNXCAJ626006012Engine no. 001402 When the Gilroy Indian Motorcycle Company heard the famous words, 'I’ll be back!' they knew a certain ... [more like this] - 98 point AMCA 1940 Indian 45ci ‘Bonneville’
Sport ScoutFrame no. FD023MEngine no. FD023M A marque at the very forefront of motorcycle design and technology in the opening decades of the 20th Century, Indian nowadays ... [more like this]