Last Updated on May 28, 2025 by Nala Thorpe
The sights and sounds of a busy casino floor can be an assault on the senses – the clamor of slots, flickering lights and excited chatter. Yet amidst the modern cacophony, hints of the past remain in the form of classic slot machine symbols.
While today’s slots feature advanced graphics and bonus rounds, the game’s essence goes back over a century. And those fundamental icons – BARs, fruit, bells, stars, 7s – carry decades of history and symbolism. Their simplicity belies a depth of meaning.
To understand why these modern symbols on such sites as SpinagoCasino persist, we must rewind to slots’ beginnings. Their longevity and universality speak to humanity’s timeless penchant for games of chance and the stories we tell ourselves through meaningful icons.
Bar Symbols Trace Back to Early Machines
Below is a table showing the history of the BAR slot symbol:
| Year | Event |
| 1887 | The first slot machine was invented by Charles Fey in San Francisco. |
| Early 1900s | Fey’s Liberty Bell slot used a bell symbol along with horseshoes, spades, hearts, and diamonds. |
| 1908 | The BAR symbol debuted in Herbert Mills’ slot machines made by the Mills Novelty Company. |
| 1910s | BAR became a standard slot symbol, given its simplicity to stamp on reels. |
| 1980s+ | BAR remains widely used in slots today — often as part of larger iconography. |
The iconic BAR symbol has its roots in the early mechanical slots designed by pioneers like Charles Fey and Herbert Mills in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
As an abbreviation for “bar” in pubs and taverns where the first slot machines appeared, BAR likely emerged as a symbol on Mills’ 1908 slot reels due to the simplicity of stamping the straight rectangular shape. BAR proved convenient for early machining and caught on across subsequent slot machine development.
Over a century later, the BAR remains integral to slots as a classic symbol, often integrated into more elaborate iconography like Lucky 7s and double/triple BAR combinations. Its longevity speaks to the nostalgia and tradition interwoven into slot machine design.
Fruit Symbols Hark Back to Chewing Gum Prizes
Fruit symbols also have their origin in early slot machines from the Victorian era. Back then, novelty vending machines known as trade stimulators enticed customers to insert a coin for things like chewing gum and candy.
This tradition paved the way for the first slot machine in 1902, offering mint-flavored gum as a prize for lining up winning symbol combinations like card suits and horseshoes. Herbert Mills named it the Operator Bell.
Following its success, fruit symbols became widely incorporated into slots by the 1910s for their familiarity. Vibrant icons like cherries, oranges, lemons and plums have endured over the decades for their bright colors and nostalgia factor. They remain amongst the most prevalent classic slot symbols today.
So the next time you play slots, fruit symbols can transport you back to the novelty machines of yore dispensing chewing gum to customers. Their sweet beginning gave rise to an iconic facet of slots entertainment we now take for granted.
Lucky Horseshoes and Bells
Beyond BARs and fruit, two more symbols rife with history and mythos adorn classic slot reels:
-
- Horseshoes – Considered good luck charms since ancient times, horseshoes symbolize prosperity and protection. Blacksmiths turned upward to “catch the luck” before nailing them to horses. Herbert Mills incorporated them into his seminal Operator Bell slot machine in 1902.
-
- Bells – Bells signal excitement and winning in slots. They trace back to Charles Fey’s groundbreaking Liberty Bell machine, named after the bell symbol that lined up for the top payout. Bells remain integral to slots, often indicating big wins and features. Their ringing generates a thrill today as in days past.
Though horseshoes and bells seem ordinary, their storied symbolism contributes lasting appeal across generations. Sound and fortune beckon players, just as they did in Fey and Mills’ era over a century ago.
7s Affinity Spans History and Cultures
Of all symbols, 7s share a special worldwide significance that fuels their popularity in slots:
-
- Historic Significance – The number 7 held mystical sway in ancient cultures like Egypt, Greece and Babylonia concerning math, science and the cosmos. This affinity spans theology, folklore and symbolism through modern times.
-
- Cross-Culture Prevalence – The allure of 7 transcends borders, woven into Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and other faiths concerning holy days, prophets, virtues and artifacts like the Seven-Branched Jewish Menorah.
-
- Lucky Number 7 – Cultures associate 7 with fortune, divinity, creation myths and life virtues. God rested on the 7th day per Genesis. 7 features in African, European, Native American and Australian indigenous folklore.
-
- Numeric Quirks – It’s the only number besides 1 divisible by itself and 1. It has special mathematical properties like being the maximum number of folds with paper or geometrical shapes with equilateral triangles.
This rich history fuels 7s mystique and ubiquity across slots. One can dabble for a lucky 7-7-7 combination, directly descendant from centuries-old numerology. What seems mundane hides a depth of cultural memories and mystique awaiting slots explorers.
Icons That Stand the Test of Time
In closing, while today’s slots dazzle with advanced features and media, the classic symbols endure. BARs, fruit, bells, stars and 7s form the primordial essence of slots play. Their simplicity allows gamers to imprint histories, myths and nostalgia traced back to the games’ 19th-century beginnings.
Beyond sheer familiarity and visual pop, sound historical strands connect us to humanity’s attraction and common beliefs around luck, the cosmos and fortune.
So as you pass by the busy slot bank and glimpse lemons dancing across the reels today, they carry whispers and memories that still captivate across centuries. This timeless magic helps transport the modern casino floor back to slot machines’ earliest days.
