If you
are like many Americans, and for that matter, most people around the world, you
have spent many a day at the local arcade. There you have been challenged by
the many machines surrounding you, but especially by the pinball machines.
As
popular as pinball machines are today, it probably has never crossed your mind
when and how they were first developed.
Well,
think no longer.
Pinball
machines were said to have first gotten jumpstarted in the 19th
century. A table, called a Bagatelle Table was used, which resembled a pool
table. Players would try to hit balls with cue sticks, into pockets or slots
surrounded by nails and pins.
That
was followed by a device called a “ball shooter”, which was invented by
Montague Redgrave, and was based on a steel spring. Games based on the spring
were played in the United States and France. Soon, money was exchanged for
balls, and if a player scored high enough, he or she would be given food,
drinks, or tobacco.
The
first coin-operated pinball machine was called “Whiffle Board”. It was invented
by Automatic Industries in 1931. Shortly thereafter, a game called “Ballyhoo”
was invented by Raymond Maloney, who later started the Bally Manufacturing
Company. It is believed that the word “pinball” was used because all of the
machines at the time had holes and pins in them. Batteries were added to the
machines in 1933, and in 1939, a “clock” counter scoring mechanism was
introduced, as well as chime, bell, and buzzer sounds.
Pinball
machines were very popular in the 1930s, as the masses of people in the United
States needed some type of low cost entertainment to help them through the
Depression years.
Chicago
was the center of pinball manufacturing in the 1930s. At one time there were
more than 145 companies manufacturing pinball machines in the United States,
but the number declined significantly, and by the 1940s only a dozen or so
remained.
After
World War II, pinball machines soared in popularity. In fact, the period
between 1948 and 1958 was referred to as the “Golden Age” of pinball. The
popularity was due in part to the invention of flippers in 1947 by the D. Gottlieb
Company. The game “Humpty Dumpty” was the first pinball machine game with
flippers.
In the
mid-1940s some America cities outlawed pinball, calling it a game of “chance”,
not skill. However, that was changed after World War II ended. The advent of
flippers on such games as “Spot Bowler” and “Triple Action” increased the
popularity of pinball machines during the “Golden Age”.
In the
late 1980s Williams and Bally merged to become the dominant manufacturer. The
Bally Company produced some of the most popular games ever produced, including Medieval
Madness, Theatre of Magic, Monster Bash, and Tales of the Arabian Nights.
However, their most popular game of all is the Addams Family.
Since
the early 2000s, there has been only one major designer and manufacturer, Stern
Pinball.
Despite
the lack of competition, pinball machines are coveted by high-profile
celebrities, as well as baby boomers and executives. Personal home game rooms
will often have pinball machines.
Of
course, collectors have not forgotten about pinball machines. Not by a long
shot. And most collectors don’t care if the machines are in working condition
when they acquire them, because they can be repaired.
But
recent auction sales include the following, an Alice in Wonderland pinball
machine from 1948 made by Gottlieb was sold at auction for $3500 in 2014.
A
Beatles pinball machine from 1966 was sold at auction in 2008 for slightly more
than $4000. That would be a unique item for any Beatles fan. An Indiana Jones
machine from 1993 went for $5500, and a Bally Safe Cracker pinball machine from
1996 sold for $7000.
Pinball
machines are still very popular nowadays.
But
playing pinball on Sundays in Ocean City, New Jersey is still illegal.
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