It was on St. Patrick's Day (Friday, March 17) 2006 that Reno's Liberty Belle Saloon closed its doors after 47 years in business. It was opened on the site of the former Little Red Barn bar by brothers Frank and Marshall Fey, grandsons of Charles August Fey, inventor of the modern three-reel slot machine in San Francicso back in 1895 (see QoD 11/2/2005).
The machine was called the Liberty Bell and the brothers displayed one in the bar (the name of which they feminized to "Libery Belle"). It would go on to form the centerpiece of a collection of antique slots, some of which were available to play, plus guns, posters, wagons, chandeliers, a bar, and other items of historic interest which came to be worth millions of dollars.
From an interview with Marshall Fey we came across at Casino City Times, it sounds as if it wasn't a lack of profitability, but rather a lack of inclination to run the joint on the part of Frank and his son, who opted to cash in on the collection and retire young, rather than put in the kind of work that the restaurant business requires. Frank was evidently not happy about the decision, but it was beyond his control.
When it closed, many of the old Saloon's historical treasures was auctioned off after it closed, but the cream of the slot collection was retained by the Fey brothers and Assembly Bill 551, enacted on June 2, 2007, providec "to the Division of Museums and History of the Department of Cultural Affairs the sum of $505,092 for the purchase of new and replacement equipment, including tables, chairs, cabinets, racks, a dry-mount press and vehicles, and for the purchase of a portion of the Liberty Belle antique slot machine collection," which now resides in the Nevada State Museum in Carson City, in an exhibit that features 24 historic mechanical gaming machines dating from 1895 to 1937. The museum is open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Weds.-Sat., and admission is $8 for adults.
Images appear courtesy of Liberty Belle Books and roadsidepictures, respectively.
