The mints stayed in the machine unless a button was pushed, which it rarely was. In other words, if the patron really didn’t want mints but wanted to gamble (which was nearly always the case), he or she did not have to bother accumulating the mints. These mints were of poor quality, and in addition, some instruments were equipped not to dispense a roll of mints after a nickel was put in, but, rather, to make it possible to dispense a roll of mints after the nickel was put in if the patron then pushed a button on the mint dispensing device. However, it had two alterations or modifications to make it appear not to be such, so as to be legal in certain areas or at least to give the owners of these machines a talking point with law enforcement officials.įirst, attached to the slot machine was a vending device which dispensed wrapped rolls of mints bearing the trade “Vens,” and available in different flavors. The O K Vender was basically a gambling machine. Such devices were popular in the 1920s and 1930s, and apparently tens of thousands of units were made. Question: I have a nickel-size brass token marked “PROPERTY OF O K VENDER.” To what does this refer?Īnswer: This token was produced for use with the O K Vender, a three-reel slot machine manufactured by the Mills Novelty Company in Chicago, Illinois. Dave Bowers published a nice Stack's Bowers blog article on an unusual old token.
