7/24/2022

Jennings Sun Chief

During the 1950’s and early 1960’s the Jennings Sun Chief was the primary type of machine used in the casinos. Jennings made a number of sub-models of the Sun Chief and would install different color light panels on the lower front as well. These panels would come in red, green, orange, clear and even blue. Original STD CHIEF WITH NO J/P V1-222 $75.00. JENNINGS TOP CASTINGS Reproduction GOOSENECK SKIL STOP HOLES V1-3 $45.00 Reproduction GOOSENECK V1-3R35 $35.00 Reproduction 4 STAR V1-74 $50.00 Original TODAY VENDOR TY-1 $75.00 JENNINGS BACK BONNETS Reproduction 4 STAR V1-76 $50.00 Original TODAY VENDOR NONE $50.00 JENNINGS SUB BASE PLATES.


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25 Cent Jennings Sun Chief Jackpot Light-up Slot Machine:
$4,000

1949 Jennings Sun Chief 25c SlotMachine!

This is an authentic 1949 Jennings Sun Chief slot machine.Not only is this machine one of the true classics, it is in very hard to findquarter play. In addition, this machine lights up giving it a truly classicappearance during the day or night.

Chief


This professionally restored machine is the very same that were seen in thebackground during the original Ocean's Eleven with the Rat Pack. The JenningsSun Chief was the work horse of Las Vegas casino'sduring the late 40's and 50's and was very reliable (and still is). Not until the electromechanical Bally machinesof the 1960's came out did the Sun Chiefs become old technology, regarded asthe last of the truly classic antique machines, even the non-collector willappreciate this machine!

It’s sometimes easy to forget thatthese machines originally operated in some fantastic locations around theworld. In most cases the history of the machine is lost, but on occasion amachine will turn up with just enough clues to let us know where it came fromand possibly who could have played it – like Danny Ocean himself!

One of the very cool features of this specific machine is the drink holder andash tray. Located on the bottom edge along with the large coin bowl, thesereally give the machine a great added vintage look. The bright red panels shine bright when themachine is plugged in. All new lights and power cord were installed making thismachine safe to keep on for long periods of time. Overall, this machine makesfor a great conversation piece and very fun to play or just admire!

This 25 CentJennings Sun Chief has a TIC-TAC-TOE Console. The machine’s mechanism has asmooth action and pays out as it should. There is an instruction sheet locatedon the metal back cover. The back cover has its lock and I have a key includedin this sale. The front plate is very clean with no dings in the upper levelaround the coin slot and coin window area. The console cabinet is in very goodcondition. The original Jennings back door with old paper instructionsheet is still present on the inside.

All mechanisms are working.

The chrome and decoration are all in great shape.

There is a key

The base and machine are solid not wobbly.


Castinto the top bonnet are the following U.S.A. patent numbers: 1659878 – 1912802,1403932 – 1562775, 1923945.


ALL COINS will beREMOVED from the machine after purchase and before pick-up. To be clear, thissale does not include the coins pictured in the Jackpot Area nor any coins inthe machine itself. This sale is for the slot machine without coins.


Solidwood cabinet is handcrafted in the USA using the finest of materials, fullyassembled


IMPORTANT INFORMATION
'Due to laws regulating the sale of antique slot machines, I, as theseller, will not sell to members in the states of Alabama, Connecticut, Hawaii,Indiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, and Tennessee. offers from members residing inany of these states will be canceled. Buy It Now transactions with buyersresiding in these states will be considered void.'


25 Cent Jennings Sun Chief Jackpot Light-up Slot Machine:
$4,000





Jennings Sun Chief Slot Machine




Ode D.Jennings Company

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

Jennings Sun Chief Quarter Slot Machine

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

Jennings Sun Chief Console Slot Machine

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

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

Jennings Sun Chief Slot Machine For Sale

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

*

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)

Slot

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

Operators Instruction Sheet (1960's)

company flyers