The BAR symbol was and still is a common symbol found on traditional 3 reel slot machines today. The reward, being a gum pack with the letters BAR on it was the best prize you could get out of a slot machine which must be why the feature was so prominent on slot machines. The flavor gum you received would depend on the type of matching fruit symbols you managed to land on the reels. This helped all slot machine operators stay clear from transgressing on the strict anti-gambling rules and laws of the time. Instead of winning real cash, players were given multi-flavored gum as payment for winning on a slot machine. But slot machines or one-arm bandits as they were called at the time, along with many other forms of gambling was frowned upon at the time.īut, an organization named the Mills Novelty Company thought about ways to destigmatize slot machines, by firstly making it a none cash payout game. We have reason to believe that the letters BAR printed on a bubblegum pack were the logo of a company that existed back in the early 1900s.

Well, we’ve been curious too, and so we did some research to find out exactly what this odd, but famous BAR symbol means, and how it came about.

The use of fruit symbols on a fruit slot machine isn’t very surprising, but it’s the BAR symbol that leaves many wondering – what does BAR mean on slot machines? But you may also visualize gold blocks, and the infamous BAR symbol. When you think about a traditional slot machine and the symbols it displays you might visualize various fruit like cherries, watermelon, peaches, grapes, and bananas.

Bar symbol on slot machine