Mortimer Mills was granted United States patent 450,336 on 14 April 1891 for an improvement in 'coin-actuated vending apparatus'. Mills, Herbert's first son, taking over as president while his three brothers, Ralph, Herbert, and Hayden held other top management positions. In 1929, Herbert Mills had died aged 57, leaving a fortune to his wife and eight children. The Mills brothers were raised in Oak Park, Illinois, and continued to live in that area until at least the mid-1930s. His younger brother, Hayden ('Bill') Mills, was born two years later in about 1902. In about 1900, Herbert Mills, the third son of Herbert Stephen Mills was born. Mills, Herbert's second son, was born in July 1898. Mills, the first of Herbert Mills' sons, was born.

Mills, the youngest of Mortimer Mill's children was born. One son, Herbert Stephen Mills, was born in 1872 when his father was about 27.

The origins of the business lie with Mortimer Birdsul Mills, who was born in 1845 in Ontario, Canada but who later became a citizen of the United States, resident in Chicago, Illinois.

Mills novelty company slot machine