If you’ve previously used slot machines, you will know the relationship between slot games and fruits. Fruits are used as symbols that can be matched in a game and represent the different levels of prizes available.
So, where does this link between fruits and slot machines come from? Why do so many devices still use fruits today?
There are multiple theories about why fruits are used in these games. What we know for sure is that in the early 1900s, slot machines had become pretty popular, and some of the manufacturers faced the wrath of new gambling laws and legislation. Some outlawed gambling altogether, and others prevented using imagery like the liberty bell.
One famous example was a slot machine that had to convert from giving cash prizes to dispensing sweet treats when someone actually won. Those sweet treats came in the form of chewing gum.
It is thought that the players would win flavored gum instead of money and that the prizes inspired the specific symbols.
There were even “scatter” symbols in the form of cherries, which won no matter where they appeared as long as there were three in a row. We still have fruits within the games, but there are also many other types of symbols and mini-games, from wild symbols to full bonus games.
Before fruits, the games often used card symbols, which meant they had a lot in common with poker and other table and card games that people were a bit more familiar with, and certainly associated more with a chance to win money.
Starting in the early 1900s, Industry Novelty was another company to start making slots, along with Mills Novelty Company and Bell Fruit Gum slot machines. All of these featured fruit symbols, including cherries, oranges, apples, and more.
A lot of these also included the “bar” symbol. Did you know that these bar symbols actually were originally designed to look like little packs of chewing gum?
Why Did Fruit Stick?
When, in some locations and parts of the world, it was legal for people to gamble again, the machines that were being produced were primarily these fruit machines dispensing sweet treats.
It was a simple adjustment to change the symbols from representing chewing gum to representing the different kinds of prizes that people could win.
There are also some other theories regarding why fruits were still such a popular option. In many cultures, fruit is seen as a sign of wealth, or certainly a success. This even dates back to Greeks and Romans using sweet fruits and fruit baskets as symbols and icons of wealth.
Also, there is very unlikely to be any copyright challenge if using fruits as symbols. Nowadays, we have such a huge amount of choices when looking for different slot games to play online, and a lot of these have used licensing to get characters from movies, and other designs that they use as exciting icons. It may be more fun, but fruit symbols were a way for people to avoid getting into any sort of trouble for using the likeness of a celebrity or other symbols people may hold the copyright to.
It is also proof that we are creatures of habit. People quite like continuity, and having the fruits of games for so long meant that most people became familiar with them and what the prizes meant. When they launched again with cash prizes, people didn’t have to make such a big adjustment.
Summary
In an industry with many different innovations and a need for new types of slot machines, you can still find plenty of slot machines that use fruits. This is unlikely ever to change; whether you are playing at an in-person casino or you are going to gamble on an app, fruits are ever-present.
Now you know the story of slot machines, their history in the 1900s, and why fruits are still used, even today.
