Loheide Mfg. Co. Wizard Clock Trade Stimulator, nickel play. Loheide Mfg bought the "DeSoto" black mantel clock from Waterbury and modified it to dispense chits for redemption. At the turn of the last century, trade stimulators were common throughout the US in cigar stores, confectionaries, general stores, and just about any other point of sale location. The logic is as follows: say you stopped at the corner store for eggs, as that was all you needed. Seeing this clock, there might be a sign touting "win two packs of gum for the price of one, 5 cents". Now you don't need the gum, but the thought of getting 2 for one is irresistible, so nearly every patron would drop in his nickel and get at least a chit for one pack of gum [the standard retail transaction]. A small percentage of patrons got two packs, and were always noisy about it, adding to the excitement, c1907

Loheide MFG. Co., St. Louis, Mo., "Automatic Sales Machine" clock and trade stimulator (often called a gambling clock). 8 day, time and token dispenser, spring driven in a black enameled wood case. The clock has a coin slot at the top. When a nickel was deposited, it triggered the strike train of the clock which drives a token dispensing system. A modified countwheel will dispense one, two, and on rare occasion, three tokens in the tray mounted to the side of the clock. Tokens were then exchanged for small items at the retail location.