1 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:12,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:15,440 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 3 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:18,759 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with iHeart Podcasts and how the 4 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:23,040 Speaker 1: tech are you? So? Just this past weekend, I was 5 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:27,639 Speaker 1: invited to attend an event called the Southern Fried Gaming 6 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:31,960 Speaker 1: Expo here in Atlanta, Georgia. I attended as media. So 7 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:35,000 Speaker 1: big thanks to the Expo for allowing me to come 8 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:38,720 Speaker 1: in and check it out. I really appreciate it. This conference, 9 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:44,040 Speaker 1: this convention, this gaming Expo is founded in twenty fourteen 10 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:48,360 Speaker 1: by a group of pinball and arcade enthusiasts, and it's 11 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:52,599 Speaker 1: an annual event in which gaming fans from across multiple 12 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:56,960 Speaker 1: platforms and genres all come together and they can trade 13 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:00,640 Speaker 1: and buy and sell and play games. That includes all 14 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:03,160 Speaker 1: sorts of games like you've got your pinball and your 15 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:07,479 Speaker 1: arcade machines. Many of those arcade machines are quite obscure, 16 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:11,240 Speaker 1: like you could call them classic titles because they date 17 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:14,320 Speaker 1: back to like the seventies and eighties. But good gollie, 18 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:17,680 Speaker 1: I ran into ones that I had never heard of before. 19 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:20,880 Speaker 1: And I've played a lot of arcade games, but you 20 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:24,200 Speaker 1: also have console games there, you've got tabletop games. It's 21 00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:28,800 Speaker 1: kind of a mecha of gaming and a great community too, 22 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:32,920 Speaker 1: really interesting group of folks who are wandering around and 23 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:37,640 Speaker 1: playing different games, and the expo includes many different activities. 24 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:39,600 Speaker 1: You know, of course, you can do all the playing 25 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:42,080 Speaker 1: and buying, selling and all that sort of stuff, but 26 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:46,160 Speaker 1: they are also panel discussions ranging from history lessons to 27 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:49,360 Speaker 1: advice on how to maintain a machine of your own 28 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:53,040 Speaker 1: or even design one if you were so inclined and 29 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:56,840 Speaker 1: like elements of game design, which is pretty cool. They 30 00:01:56,880 --> 00:02:01,360 Speaker 1: had musical performances and occasionally professional wrestling. There are vendors 31 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:05,920 Speaker 1: selling game adjacent stuff like clothing or dice towers, or 32 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:09,320 Speaker 1: source books or jams and jellies. It was a fun event. 33 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:12,839 Speaker 1: I really did enjoy my time there, but it got 34 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:14,960 Speaker 1: me thinking I should do an episode on the evolution 35 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:19,400 Speaker 1: of the pinball machine. Now I have done an episode 36 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:22,360 Speaker 1: about pinball. There was a classic episode of Tech Stuff 37 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:25,440 Speaker 1: where I covered it, but I feel like the subject 38 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:28,280 Speaker 1: actually needs a deeper dive and we'll need a couple 39 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:31,760 Speaker 1: of episodes to cover because pinball has a history that's 40 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:36,480 Speaker 1: really fascinating. You've got the evolution of mechanical, like purely 41 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:41,640 Speaker 1: mechanical machines to electro mechanical pinball machines up to modern 42 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:46,120 Speaker 1: day electronic and computer based pinball machines. When I say 43 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:50,000 Speaker 1: computer based, I mean the micro controllers and stuff are 44 00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:54,359 Speaker 1: overseen by a fairly simple computer, but a computer nonetheless 45 00:02:54,639 --> 00:02:57,880 Speaker 1: in some modern pinball machines. But obviously you also have 46 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:03,080 Speaker 1: pinball games that are computer games, right, like simulations of 47 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:06,200 Speaker 1: pinball machines. That's kind of a different thing. I'm not 48 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:08,959 Speaker 1: really going to talk about that. So let us dive 49 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 1: into the fascinating story of pinball, because it's also got 50 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:17,880 Speaker 1: a lot of politics and crime and moral panic wrapped 51 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:20,920 Speaker 1: up in it. Now. The story itself is tricky to 52 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:23,520 Speaker 1: tell because pinball is one of those things that evolved 53 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 1: rather organically from other activities, and I maintain it's largely 54 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:31,720 Speaker 1: a matter of opinion as to what constitutes the first 55 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:35,680 Speaker 1: pinball machine, Like there are a lot of contenders that 56 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:38,440 Speaker 1: could potentially claim that title, and I think it all 57 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:42,400 Speaker 1: depends on what components need to be there for you 58 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:45,240 Speaker 1: to call it a pinball machine, Like what does a 59 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:48,920 Speaker 1: pinball machine actually need to have for it to be 60 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 1: considered an actual pinball machine. Would it need to have pins, 61 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:55,960 Speaker 1: not all pinball machines do. Does it need to have flippers? 62 00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:59,320 Speaker 1: Does it need to have a ball presumably a coin 63 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:03,520 Speaker 1: slot like a score keeping system? What is it? But 64 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:08,680 Speaker 1: whether we can definitively proclaim a specific instance as the 65 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:12,560 Speaker 1: first pinball machine or not, we can still talk about 66 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:17,320 Speaker 1: its origins. So before there were pinball machines, there were 67 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:21,320 Speaker 1: lawn games. Now, some of these games shared a resemblance 68 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:24,719 Speaker 1: to golf, which required an awful lot of land to 69 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:27,120 Speaker 1: play on. Most people did not have a lawn large 70 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:30,480 Speaker 1: enough to have a golf course on. Golf dates back 71 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:34,599 Speaker 1: as far as the fifteenth century, with King James the 72 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:39,000 Speaker 1: Second of Scotland famously outlawing the sport in fourteen fifty 73 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:42,240 Speaker 1: seven because he really needed to get the Scots, you know, 74 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:45,600 Speaker 1: trained up for war, but they were too busy golfing. 75 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:49,640 Speaker 1: So golf was seen as a distraction and something that 76 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:55,080 Speaker 1: unseerious people would pursue, and Jimmy's ban on golf would 77 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:58,200 Speaker 1: serve as one of the earliest, if not the actual 78 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:03,080 Speaker 1: earliest record of the sp itself golf getting banned. So 79 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:06,119 Speaker 1: it really is like pinball, But that's that's getting ahead 80 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:10,880 Speaker 1: of myself. Anyway, lawn games became popular, and there were 81 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:15,320 Speaker 1: lots of different variations, like you had bowls, you had croquete, 82 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:18,479 Speaker 1: you had baci. But these games still required you to 83 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:21,560 Speaker 1: actually have a lawn and they weren't great options if 84 00:05:21,640 --> 00:05:24,359 Speaker 1: the weather happened to be unpleasant, which it could be 85 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:27,880 Speaker 1: in places like northern Europe. So what if you could 86 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:31,960 Speaker 1: create games that evoked certain elements of lawn games, but 87 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:34,000 Speaker 1: they were designed in such a way that they could 88 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:38,000 Speaker 1: be played indoors, Then you'd have a Eureka moment. This 89 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:41,640 Speaker 1: was what inspired the invention of parlor games like bagatel. 90 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:46,880 Speaker 1: So in many ways, bagatel is similar to billiards or pool. 91 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:50,560 Speaker 1: It'splayed on a table. Those original tables were quite large, 92 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:53,279 Speaker 1: they were level, they were flat, right, they had no 93 00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:57,480 Speaker 1: mechanical elements at all. So the table had little divots 94 00:05:57,520 --> 00:06:01,240 Speaker 1: in it, and you would play bagatell with balls, and 95 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:04,600 Speaker 1: you would use acoustic similar to billiards or pool, and 96 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:09,640 Speaker 1: you would hit the ball toward these little divots, each 97 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:12,400 Speaker 1: of which had an amount of points associated with them. 98 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:15,760 Speaker 1: In some ways, I think a bagatel is similar to darts. 99 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:19,480 Speaker 1: You've got a playing field with specific areas representing specific 100 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:22,880 Speaker 1: point values, and your goal is to accumulate points by 101 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:27,120 Speaker 1: firing a projectile at that playing field. Now, toward the 102 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:29,800 Speaker 1: end of the nineteenth century, a chap with the name 103 00:06:30,279 --> 00:06:35,240 Speaker 1: Montague Andrew Elijah Redgrave came up with an idea to 104 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:39,719 Speaker 1: enhance the old bagatel design and to miniaturize it. You know, 105 00:06:39,839 --> 00:06:43,640 Speaker 1: not everyone had space in their parlor for a dedicated 106 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:46,840 Speaker 1: gaming table that was close to the size of a 107 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:51,880 Speaker 1: billiard's table that just wasn't within everyone's you know means. 108 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:55,039 Speaker 1: So Redgrave thought it might be keen to make a 109 00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:58,240 Speaker 1: Bagatelle table that was small enough to fit on a 110 00:06:58,279 --> 00:07:01,039 Speaker 1: normal tabletop, kind of like one of those small pinball 111 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:03,680 Speaker 1: kits you sometimes see that are like a fifth the 112 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:06,640 Speaker 1: size of a normal pinball table. Like a toy pinball 113 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 1: game is kind of similar to that. So this begatel 114 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:13,880 Speaker 1: board would be played on an incline, so the top 115 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:18,600 Speaker 1: of the playing field is an inch or two higher 116 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:22,160 Speaker 1: than the base of the playfield. So the player would 117 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:24,280 Speaker 1: need to shoot a ball, which would now be a 118 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:28,080 Speaker 1: little marble sized ball instead of like a pool ball 119 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:31,600 Speaker 1: sized ball. Shoot a ball up the playfield and then 120 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:35,920 Speaker 1: the ball would naturally roll down this incline, and this 121 00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:38,520 Speaker 1: time you would have little holes in the playfield that 122 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:42,800 Speaker 1: would represent points, but you would have pins pi ns 123 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:47,600 Speaker 1: pins surrounding these holes and only allowing the ball to 124 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:49,800 Speaker 1: pass through in certain points. Otherwise the ball would just 125 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:53,000 Speaker 1: bounce off the pins and go somewhere else. So the 126 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:56,320 Speaker 1: pins are kind of guarding the holes, and only a 127 00:07:56,960 --> 00:07:59,080 Speaker 1: ball coming in at the right angle is going to 128 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:02,760 Speaker 1: actually make it into the whole and thus score whatever 129 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:07,160 Speaker 1: the points happened to be. Redgrave created a plunger in 130 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:11,200 Speaker 1: order to propel the little marbles up the playfield, and 131 00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:16,080 Speaker 1: he used a metal spring for the actual plunger. So 132 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:19,640 Speaker 1: if you pull back on the plunger, it would either 133 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:24,120 Speaker 1: compress a spring or it would stretch out a spring, 134 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:27,000 Speaker 1: depending upon how you designed the plunger. But this way 135 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:30,800 Speaker 1: you store potential energy. Right once you release the plunger, 136 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:35,120 Speaker 1: the spring quote unquote wants to get back to its 137 00:08:35,160 --> 00:08:41,000 Speaker 1: normal shape. It'll spring back to its normal shape and 138 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:44,679 Speaker 1: thus pull the plunger forward, strike the ball, and knock 139 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:48,199 Speaker 1: the ball up the playfield. These boards were very simple 140 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:53,200 Speaker 1: and purely mechanical systems. The only mechanical element actually was 141 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:55,800 Speaker 1: just the plunger. That you would use to fire the 142 00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:58,280 Speaker 1: ball up the incline to start the whole process. Everything 143 00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:03,000 Speaker 1: else was passive. There were no flippers, there were no bumpers, 144 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:06,320 Speaker 1: there were no crazy gimmicks. There was no progressive score 145 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:09,240 Speaker 1: a keeping system. There was no way to manipulate the 146 00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:11,640 Speaker 1: ball once you release the plunger, unless you were to 147 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:14,560 Speaker 1: nudge or tilt the table. You could do that, but 148 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:17,520 Speaker 1: you weren't supposed to, and so you could argue that 149 00:09:17,559 --> 00:09:20,280 Speaker 1: this game was largely a game of chance. Now you 150 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:22,440 Speaker 1: could have a general feel for how far back you 151 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:25,480 Speaker 1: should pull the plunger before releasing, so there was some 152 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:28,120 Speaker 1: skill involved, but that was the best you could do, 153 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:31,000 Speaker 1: and the wild wins of fortune would carry the game onward. 154 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:36,000 Speaker 1: Monty Redgrave would file a patent for his tabletop bagtel 155 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:39,120 Speaker 1: game in the eighteen seventies. It would be a bit 156 00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:41,520 Speaker 1: before we get to something really resembling what we think 157 00:09:41,559 --> 00:09:44,720 Speaker 1: of his pinball, but some basic components, like the pins, 158 00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:48,640 Speaker 1: the balls, the plunger, those were already present in this early, early, 159 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:52,920 Speaker 1: early iteration. Again, keeping score was the responsibility of the players. 160 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:55,400 Speaker 1: There was no progressive score keeping system, so you had 161 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:58,600 Speaker 1: to like write it all down because the wooden board 162 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:01,480 Speaker 1: could not do that for you. One thing that would 163 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:05,439 Speaker 1: be a contributing factor to pinball eventually becoming a scandalous 164 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:09,520 Speaker 1: activity is that some bars and pubs and things of 165 00:10:09,559 --> 00:10:14,000 Speaker 1: that nature, some shops would have bagatel boards where you 166 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:16,920 Speaker 1: could play and you would pay a certain amount of 167 00:10:16,920 --> 00:10:18,680 Speaker 1: money and you would get a certain number of balls 168 00:10:18,679 --> 00:10:21,400 Speaker 1: for however much you paid. Typically we're talking like pennies 169 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:24,920 Speaker 1: for like five balls or something, And if you were 170 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:27,240 Speaker 1: to rack up a high enough score, you might win 171 00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:31,319 Speaker 1: yourself a free drink. So you'd pay the bartender, get 172 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:34,400 Speaker 1: a bunch of balls, try and get your best score. 173 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:37,400 Speaker 1: And this element of chance in the game made it 174 00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:40,640 Speaker 1: lean a little bit on the side of gambling. So, yes, 175 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:44,880 Speaker 1: there was some skill to this too. It wasn't entirely 176 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:47,600 Speaker 1: up to chance. Using just the right amount of finesse 177 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:49,440 Speaker 1: to plunge a ball so that it's more likely to 178 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:52,120 Speaker 1: go where you wanted it to go was part of it. 179 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:55,920 Speaker 1: But a lot of that stuff really was up to chance, right, Like, 180 00:10:56,640 --> 00:10:59,440 Speaker 1: you could be really careful and still things might go 181 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:02,679 Speaker 1: poor simply because of maybe there's a defect in the ball, 182 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:05,280 Speaker 1: maybe there's a chip in the playfield. There could be 183 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:08,160 Speaker 1: anything like that. So this means the games were tiptoeing 184 00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:11,520 Speaker 1: up to being classified as gambling, just as slot machines 185 00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:14,800 Speaker 1: would turn out to be. Okay, we're going to take 186 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:16,880 Speaker 1: a quick break to thank our sponsors, but when we 187 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:19,800 Speaker 1: come back, we'll talk more about the early days of 188 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:35,080 Speaker 1: proto pinball. We're back now. I'm sure there were no 189 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:39,480 Speaker 1: shortage of folks who created variations on Bagatel, like there 190 00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:45,079 Speaker 1: were probably lots of knockoffs and copies and iterations of Bagatel. 191 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:47,560 Speaker 1: But the next bit that I feel is really important 192 00:11:47,679 --> 00:11:52,040 Speaker 1: for our exploration of pinball is the inclusion of coinslots. 193 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:55,400 Speaker 1: So Bagtel for the longest time meant that you would 194 00:11:55,440 --> 00:11:57,840 Speaker 1: have to go and pay somebody who would keep the 195 00:11:57,880 --> 00:12:00,680 Speaker 1: balls like locked away, and they would give you the 196 00:12:00,679 --> 00:12:03,040 Speaker 1: balls for a game of Bagatel, and then you would 197 00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:05,480 Speaker 1: bring the balls back afterward, like you would write down 198 00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:08,440 Speaker 1: your score, maybe bring the bartender over to see your score, 199 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:12,320 Speaker 1: and then try and get some beer out of it 200 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:16,600 Speaker 1: or whatever. But this was an activity that would benefit 201 00:12:16,720 --> 00:12:19,840 Speaker 1: from automation. We talk a lot about automation on this 202 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:22,240 Speaker 1: show and how it can be bad, but sometimes it's good, 203 00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:24,520 Speaker 1: you know, if you don't want to have to keep 204 00:12:24,559 --> 00:12:28,120 Speaker 1: track of a bunch of marbles while your clientele are 205 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:32,640 Speaker 1: playing Bagatel. Then this is a good development, which is 206 00:12:32,679 --> 00:12:37,960 Speaker 1: that the introduction of the coin operated slot game. I 207 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:40,640 Speaker 1: did an episode about the history of vending machines which 208 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:44,120 Speaker 1: stretches back surprisingly far. There are records of an ancient 209 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:47,800 Speaker 1: design by Hero of Alexandria back in the first century 210 00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:50,720 Speaker 1: of the Common era. For example, a hero proposed a 211 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:53,680 Speaker 1: device that, in exchange for a deposited coin, would dispense 212 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:59,600 Speaker 1: holy water. Some pretty clever system of a pan and levers, 213 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:03,160 Speaker 1: and so when you inserted a coin, that coin would 214 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:06,280 Speaker 1: fall onto a pan and weigh it down, and this 215 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:08,959 Speaker 1: would put pressure on a lever. The lever would open 216 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:12,200 Speaker 1: a valve and let the holy water out, but then 217 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:14,960 Speaker 1: the pan would eventually tip over far enough for the 218 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:18,319 Speaker 1: coin to slide off of it into a repository, and 219 00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:20,920 Speaker 1: when freed of the coin's weight, the pan would come 220 00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:23,920 Speaker 1: back up again and the lever would close the valve 221 00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:26,120 Speaker 1: and the water would stop flowing, which is pretty neat. 222 00:13:26,559 --> 00:13:28,959 Speaker 1: We don't know if anyone ever built one of those things, 223 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:32,640 Speaker 1: but the design seems like it would work. But the 224 00:13:32,640 --> 00:13:36,320 Speaker 1: real era of the coin operated vending machines would be 225 00:13:36,400 --> 00:13:40,000 Speaker 1: the nineteenth century. The eighteen hundreds, folks began to build 226 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:43,400 Speaker 1: machines that would dispense stuff ranging from books to stamps 227 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:46,680 Speaker 1: to later on stuff like postcards and food. Finding a 228 00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:48,960 Speaker 1: way to connect the insertion of a coin with the 229 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:51,719 Speaker 1: operation of the device was the real trick, but by 230 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:54,480 Speaker 1: the late nineteenth century it was really becoming a thing. 231 00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:56,800 Speaker 1: One company in the United States that was in the 232 00:13:56,880 --> 00:14:00,800 Speaker 1: coin operated machine business was a Detroit Bay Least operation 233 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:07,920 Speaker 1: called Kale Brothers Manufacturing Company. That cillle So Kale became 234 00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:12,439 Speaker 1: known as an amusements manufacturing company, building coin operated devices 235 00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:17,560 Speaker 1: like test your Strength games, gum vending machines, slot machines, 236 00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:22,480 Speaker 1: and yes, coin operated Bagatel tables. So again, early on 237 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:26,120 Speaker 1: we see an association of proto pinball machines and less 238 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:30,680 Speaker 1: respectable means of amusing oneself. So the Kale brothers themselves, 239 00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:34,960 Speaker 1: August and Adolph, they formed the company in the early 240 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:39,760 Speaker 1: nineteen hundreds, though August had previously operated his own company, 241 00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:42,280 Speaker 1: and some of his work kind of bleeds over between 242 00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:46,920 Speaker 1: these two organizations, including this Bagatel game. I'm sure they 243 00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:50,800 Speaker 1: made many more models than just one. The one I 244 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:55,160 Speaker 1: could find was called log Cabin, which itself went through 245 00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:59,200 Speaker 1: several iterations. The first version of log Cabin was kind 246 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:01,600 Speaker 1: of boxy. It looks sort of like a picture frame, 247 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:04,480 Speaker 1: like it was a rectangle. Later versions, however, would have 248 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:07,400 Speaker 1: an arched upper border, so you'd have a curve at 249 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:10,640 Speaker 1: the top instead of you know, hard angles, and that 250 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:12,760 Speaker 1: curve was a nice curve that a ball could follow 251 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:15,720 Speaker 1: if you were to plunge it up the playfield. Now, 252 00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:18,000 Speaker 1: the game was kind of like plinko. You know, you 253 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:20,360 Speaker 1: would launch a ball to the top of the table 254 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:23,800 Speaker 1: and again the ball. The table was an incline so 255 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:26,840 Speaker 1: that the ball would roll toward the bottom of the playfield, 256 00:15:27,160 --> 00:15:30,080 Speaker 1: and there were pins all along the way, which would 257 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:34,160 Speaker 1: you know, change the way the ball would fall. Eventually, 258 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:36,960 Speaker 1: a ball would nestle into a slot at the base 259 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:38,880 Speaker 1: of the board, and there was also a hole at 260 00:15:38,920 --> 00:15:40,920 Speaker 1: the very top of the board. If you got a 261 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:44,040 Speaker 1: ball in the hole, you would win yourself a dollar. 262 00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:48,720 Speaker 1: The bottom pockets had values ranging from absolutely nothing up 263 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:51,680 Speaker 1: to fifty cents, and it cost five cents to play 264 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:54,360 Speaker 1: the game. You would get one shot per play. But 265 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:56,560 Speaker 1: we still don't have any flippers. We don't have any 266 00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:59,960 Speaker 1: electro mechanical components to talk about. Heck, with log Cabin, 267 00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:03,120 Speaker 1: it was a lot about luck, so we're definitely close 268 00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:06,040 Speaker 1: to gambling here. What's more, this is how things would 269 00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:09,120 Speaker 1: stay for around three decades. It wouldn't be until the 270 00:16:09,160 --> 00:16:13,360 Speaker 1: nineteen thirties when we'd actually get the word pinball at all. Like, 271 00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:16,880 Speaker 1: you could argue that log Cabin was a pinball machine 272 00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:21,680 Speaker 1: even though there was no like flippers or other mechanical elements. Besides, 273 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:26,200 Speaker 1: you know, the plunger and flippers would take like half 274 00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:29,000 Speaker 1: a century to get there. So in the nineteen thirties 275 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:31,520 Speaker 1: we're skipping way ahead. Because while there were lots of 276 00:16:31,640 --> 00:16:35,960 Speaker 1: other tables made over the following decades, they weren't different 277 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:40,000 Speaker 1: enough to really merit inclusion. So by the nineteen thirties 278 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:43,000 Speaker 1: you get to a company called the Bingo Novelty Company, 279 00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:48,280 Speaker 1: which produced a purely mechanical proto pinball machine called, fittingly enough, Bingo. 280 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:51,200 Speaker 1: The game had a coin slot, it had a plunger, 281 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:54,040 Speaker 1: It had no other mechanical components, at least none that 282 00:16:54,080 --> 00:16:56,040 Speaker 1: I could see, And if you put a coin in 283 00:16:56,080 --> 00:16:58,600 Speaker 1: the slot, it would give you the chance to shoot 284 00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:02,400 Speaker 1: five balls up the playfield. And these balls could settle 285 00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:05,960 Speaker 1: into one of five holes surrounded by pins, so you 286 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:07,639 Speaker 1: had to have the ball land just right to go 287 00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:10,440 Speaker 1: into these holes. Otherwise they'd bounce off and rolled down 288 00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:12,359 Speaker 1: to drain at the base of the playfield and you 289 00:17:12,359 --> 00:17:15,560 Speaker 1: would lose them. The promotional material for Bingo proclaimed it 290 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:17,919 Speaker 1: to be a game of skill. I suppose if you 291 00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:20,280 Speaker 1: were very, very good with the plunger, you could make 292 00:17:20,320 --> 00:17:22,520 Speaker 1: the argument that it was a game of skill, and 293 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:24,679 Speaker 1: maybe you could shoot the ball so it landed in 294 00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:28,320 Speaker 1: the appropriate holes. I assume those holes were associated with 295 00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:31,080 Speaker 1: the letters of Bingo, and that the main goal was 296 00:17:31,119 --> 00:17:34,120 Speaker 1: to get one in each hole. That's just a guess. 297 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:36,960 Speaker 1: The pictures I've seen have all been at an angle 298 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:40,000 Speaker 1: where I really couldn't see the playfield very clearly, so 299 00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:44,520 Speaker 1: it's hard to say exactly what the goal was. But 300 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:48,760 Speaker 1: it was a game that was rather popular that One 301 00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:52,119 Speaker 1: interesting thing about Bingo is that the Bingo novelty Company 302 00:17:52,119 --> 00:17:55,600 Speaker 1: would partner with a young manufacturer to produce the machine 303 00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:59,159 Speaker 1: because demand was higher than what the novelty company could supply. 304 00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:04,879 Speaker 1: Was a company called Gottlieb, which would become famously connected 305 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:07,639 Speaker 1: to pinball machines moving forward. It would become one of 306 00:18:07,680 --> 00:18:12,399 Speaker 1: the big names in pinball production. Another early game was 307 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:16,280 Speaker 1: called bally Who. This one also involved using a plunger 308 00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:18,320 Speaker 1: to shoot a ball up a playfield, where it could 309 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:20,840 Speaker 1: roll down and hopefully land in one of the holes 310 00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:23,720 Speaker 1: guarded by pins to earn a high score. Again, some 311 00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:27,080 Speaker 1: proprietors would award prizes to those who achieved a high 312 00:18:27,119 --> 00:18:30,680 Speaker 1: score you know that was above a certain given level 313 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:34,040 Speaker 1: in the game. One neat component in bally Who is 314 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:37,960 Speaker 1: that upon receiving a coin, the floor of the playfield 315 00:18:38,119 --> 00:18:42,400 Speaker 1: would kind of drop out, and that would allow the 316 00:18:42,440 --> 00:18:46,560 Speaker 1: balls that were already nestled into these little holes to 317 00:18:46,640 --> 00:18:50,159 Speaker 1: drop through and thus roll down and be ready for 318 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:52,960 Speaker 1: your next round of play. So I thought that was cool, 319 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:55,959 Speaker 1: Like it was a way of clearing the playfield without 320 00:18:56,119 --> 00:18:59,560 Speaker 1: having it be open access. Right, the earliest Bagatel games 321 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:02,560 Speaker 1: were into the air. You could reach in and move 322 00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:05,080 Speaker 1: the balls around if you only wanted to, and then 323 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:09,040 Speaker 1: obviously that would lead to the potential for lots of 324 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:11,720 Speaker 1: hanky panky, Like you could just say you got a 325 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:13,960 Speaker 1: high score and all you did was put the balls there, 326 00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:16,840 Speaker 1: kind of like in Young Frankenstein with the dart playing scene. 327 00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:19,919 Speaker 1: So that was something that had to be addressed. So 328 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:22,280 Speaker 1: you would typically have like a sheet of glass, a 329 00:19:22,280 --> 00:19:25,880 Speaker 1: pane of glass separating the player from the playfield, and 330 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:28,080 Speaker 1: maybe in one little section you would be able to 331 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:31,440 Speaker 1: retrieve the balls, but otherwise you were not able to 332 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:34,200 Speaker 1: physically manipulate where the balls were got to make the 333 00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:37,480 Speaker 1: cheating a little difficult at least. So there's a short 334 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:41,600 Speaker 1: video of bally Who in action. It's on YouTube if 335 00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:43,960 Speaker 1: you want to watch it. It's on a channel called 336 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:48,760 Speaker 1: Balin von Stahl b A L E n v A 337 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:52,879 Speaker 1: N S t a L. And the game again is 338 00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:56,040 Speaker 1: called bally Who, so you can actually see it played 339 00:19:56,320 --> 00:20:00,639 Speaker 1: and it's pretty simple, but it certainly is protopinball anyway. 340 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:02,399 Speaker 1: A ton of other similar games would come out in 341 00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:06,320 Speaker 1: the nineteen thirties, providing entertainment to cash strapped folks who 342 00:20:06,359 --> 00:20:09,440 Speaker 1: were navigating the Great Depression. You might say, like, wow, 343 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:12,800 Speaker 1: these things seem really simple, but you have to remember 344 00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:17,280 Speaker 1: at the time the number of outlets accessible to most 345 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:21,040 Speaker 1: folks was pretty limited as far as entertainment goes, and 346 00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:25,919 Speaker 1: money was in tight supply for a lot of families. 347 00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:30,240 Speaker 1: So finding something that was relatively inexpensive and diverting was 348 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:34,280 Speaker 1: a big deal. Around nineteen thirty three, some designers began 349 00:20:34,359 --> 00:20:38,320 Speaker 1: to incorporate electric batteries into these machines, and these would 350 00:20:38,359 --> 00:20:42,880 Speaker 1: usually power pretty simple elements, a lot of noisemaker elements 351 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:45,679 Speaker 1: like buzzers and bells, that kind of thing which would 352 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:50,320 Speaker 1: signal scoring and draw attention to the table, but other 353 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:53,720 Speaker 1: than that, they weren't really powering any components that would 354 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:58,240 Speaker 1: materially affect the play. This was also around the time 355 00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:01,000 Speaker 1: that the term pinball began to pop up and be 356 00:21:01,119 --> 00:21:05,119 Speaker 1: used to describe these machines. Gottlieb produced a table in 357 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:11,280 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty four called Register, which featured a progressive score counter. Finally, 358 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:13,760 Speaker 1: players would not have to keep track of their own 359 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:17,440 Speaker 1: scores and just add everything up in their heads. So 360 00:21:17,760 --> 00:21:21,320 Speaker 1: the score was displayed as a kind of dial, and 361 00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:23,800 Speaker 1: there was a needle that would keep track of the score. 362 00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:27,560 Speaker 1: The needle will just physically point to whatever score value 363 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:32,240 Speaker 1: the player had achieved at that point. Now, one problem 364 00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:35,760 Speaker 1: that proprietors were running into was that some people were 365 00:21:35,880 --> 00:21:38,280 Speaker 1: willing to break the rules in order to try and 366 00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:41,320 Speaker 1: get a high score. They would bump or nudge a table, 367 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:43,960 Speaker 1: or they would outright pick the table up and tilt 368 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:47,960 Speaker 1: it to try and guide balls into the higher scoring sections. 369 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:52,040 Speaker 1: And considering some places were paying out for high scores, 370 00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:54,600 Speaker 1: I guess you could understand why this was happening, but 371 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:57,000 Speaker 1: it was a problem. So how do you make sure 372 00:21:57,160 --> 00:22:00,679 Speaker 1: people aren't cheating in order to win a prize or 373 00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:05,320 Speaker 1: even just to set a high score. Enter the tilt sensor. Now, 374 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:10,000 Speaker 1: some sources cite Harry Williams as the inventor of the tilt. 375 00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:13,560 Speaker 1: His name is also associated with pinball because the Williams 376 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:17,600 Speaker 1: manufacturing company would end up making a lot of pinball machines, 377 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:20,560 Speaker 1: and in fact you hear things like Bally and Williams 378 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:25,000 Speaker 1: and Bally Williams and that sort of stuff. But at 379 00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:29,560 Speaker 1: least some pinball historians say that a game that came 380 00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:31,919 Speaker 1: out of a company called Rockola may have been the 381 00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:34,879 Speaker 1: first to have a tilt sensor. Others say it was 382 00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:40,119 Speaker 1: Gottlieb's Broker's Tip game that had it, But all of 383 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:43,679 Speaker 1: them had very similar approaches to being able to detect 384 00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:48,520 Speaker 1: a tilt, So the way the sensor worked was really genius. 385 00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:51,720 Speaker 1: It was a very simple mechanical approach. Typically, you would 386 00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:54,879 Speaker 1: have a cup and inside the cup, you would mount 387 00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:59,000 Speaker 1: a little pedestal, and this would be level to the floor. 388 00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:02,960 Speaker 1: The pedestal would have maybe a little kind of shallow 389 00:23:03,119 --> 00:23:06,400 Speaker 1: bowl at the very top of it, a very very 390 00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:09,800 Speaker 1: shallow bowl into which you would place a ball, and 391 00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:14,959 Speaker 1: if someone were to rock the machine, the ball would 392 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:17,959 Speaker 1: get knocked off of this pedestal, and that would indicate 393 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:20,560 Speaker 1: that there was a tilt. Some of the games, the 394 00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:24,119 Speaker 1: Rocola game in particular, had very very clever ways of 395 00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:27,560 Speaker 1: doing this. With a Rocola game, the ball was actually 396 00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:32,880 Speaker 1: being held against a little tab that connected to a 397 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:37,159 Speaker 1: sign that indicated the game was legit, and underneath the 398 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:41,080 Speaker 1: ball was a plunger, a spring mounted plunger that was 399 00:23:41,359 --> 00:23:45,080 Speaker 1: keeping pressure on the ball, keeping it in place against 400 00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:49,520 Speaker 1: this little plate that held the legit sign in place. 401 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:52,280 Speaker 1: And if the ball were to fall off of that 402 00:23:52,359 --> 00:23:56,960 Speaker 1: plunger because someone was shaking the machine too hard, then 403 00:23:57,320 --> 00:24:00,679 Speaker 1: the ball would no longer be holding that play in place, 404 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:04,960 Speaker 1: and the little sign would switch to say tilt, which 405 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:08,439 Speaker 1: would indicate to the proprietor, oh, whatever score this person 406 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:13,320 Speaker 1: achieved is not legitimate because they tilted the machine in 407 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:15,679 Speaker 1: order to do it. That was the whole purpose of 408 00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:19,320 Speaker 1: these tilt sensors in the first place was just to indicate, hey, 409 00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:23,160 Speaker 1: this is not a valid score, so do not award 410 00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:26,879 Speaker 1: this yahoo a beer or a dollar or whatever it 411 00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:29,760 Speaker 1: might be, because they cheated in order to get it. Now, 412 00:24:30,119 --> 00:24:33,960 Speaker 1: as time would go on, this very simple mechanical approach 413 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:38,840 Speaker 1: would get replaced by electro mechanical devices, so often they 414 00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:42,000 Speaker 1: would use things like leaf switches. These are very lightweight 415 00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:45,240 Speaker 1: metal contacts and if they come in contact with each other, 416 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:47,639 Speaker 1: if they touch each other, they complete a circuit and 417 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:50,240 Speaker 1: then you get a tilt or a tilt warning. That's 418 00:24:50,320 --> 00:24:53,280 Speaker 1: usually for side to side or up and down. There's 419 00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:56,240 Speaker 1: also another type, a pendulum type, where you have a 420 00:24:56,280 --> 00:25:00,240 Speaker 1: pendulum rod and it's mounted in such a way that 421 00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:05,480 Speaker 1: it's inside the circumference of a metal ring. And typically 422 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:07,720 Speaker 1: the rod doesn't touch the ring, but if you were 423 00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:10,960 Speaker 1: to shake the machine, the rod could start swaying, and 424 00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:13,320 Speaker 1: if it comes in contact with the metal ring again, 425 00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:16,240 Speaker 1: it completes a circuit and you get a tilt or 426 00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:20,920 Speaker 1: tilt warning. Now, before I go on tilt, we need 427 00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:23,760 Speaker 1: to take another quick break to thank our sponsors, and 428 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:36,880 Speaker 1: then we'll talk more about the evolution of pinball. Okay, 429 00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:40,000 Speaker 1: we're back. And at this point in our history, we've 430 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:43,680 Speaker 1: got plungers, we've got balls, we've got a tilt sensor, 431 00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:48,199 Speaker 1: and then we would get bumpers. Still no flippers, but 432 00:25:48,359 --> 00:25:51,600 Speaker 1: bumpers would come next. Now I cannot swear that it 433 00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:54,520 Speaker 1: was the first machine to do so, but Bolo, a 434 00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:58,800 Speaker 1: game from the Patient Novelty Manufacturing Company in nineteen thirty six, 435 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:03,480 Speaker 1: included bumpers. Now, these were passive bumpers, meaning they didn't 436 00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:07,040 Speaker 1: bump back like with modern pinball machines. These are the 437 00:26:07,119 --> 00:26:09,480 Speaker 1: things that, when the ball comes in contact with them, 438 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:13,439 Speaker 1: will knock the ball in some other direction, typically with 439 00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:17,520 Speaker 1: great force, assuming that the bumpers are tuned properly. But 440 00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:22,240 Speaker 1: these bumpers, Bolo's bumpers, they were passive. They were spring mounted, 441 00:26:22,359 --> 00:26:26,880 Speaker 1: so they would you give when't being hit by a pinball, 442 00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:29,639 Speaker 1: but they would spring back too. These bumpers look like 443 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:33,800 Speaker 1: bowling pins for Bolo. They are mounted on little rods 444 00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:36,480 Speaker 1: that in turn were attached to the springs, so yeah, 445 00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:39,399 Speaker 1: they'd move around if you hit them. A company that 446 00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:42,120 Speaker 1: would be called Bally, this is also another big name 447 00:26:42,359 --> 00:26:46,480 Speaker 1: in pinball, would essentially copy this idea for a game 448 00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:50,120 Speaker 1: that they called Bumper, and like Register, Bumper would also 449 00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:53,359 Speaker 1: have a progressive score component, but use light projection to 450 00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:55,840 Speaker 1: show it to the player. The score would remain on 451 00:26:55,960 --> 00:27:00,200 Speaker 1: the back box of the machine after play, and it 452 00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:03,240 Speaker 1: would only clear once a new game was ready to begin, 453 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:06,560 Speaker 1: so that way you could have a score stay up 454 00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:09,200 Speaker 1: and show someone like if you hit a high score 455 00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:12,000 Speaker 1: or whatever. This also says that we're at a point 456 00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:15,239 Speaker 1: where we're getting backboxes on these machines, which was a 457 00:27:15,280 --> 00:27:18,880 Speaker 1: new development as well. Still no flippers though in fact, 458 00:27:18,880 --> 00:27:21,280 Speaker 1: the first pinball machine record I could find that featured 459 00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:25,720 Speaker 1: a pinball machine with player controlled flippers would be Humpty Dumpty, 460 00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:30,119 Speaker 1: which was produced by Gottlieb and released in nineteen forty seven. 461 00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:34,240 Speaker 1: So that's nearly half a century of these various amusement 462 00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:37,359 Speaker 1: machines before we would even get to flippers. And for 463 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:39,880 Speaker 1: those of y'all who have never played pinball, the flippers 464 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:42,920 Speaker 1: are little controllers that let you propel a ball back 465 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:45,840 Speaker 1: up the playfield, and good players can get a feel 466 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:48,160 Speaker 1: for where the ball needs to be on the flipper 467 00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:51,240 Speaker 1: in order to direct the pinball to a specific target 468 00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:54,879 Speaker 1: on the playfield. Great players can manipulate the ball and 469 00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:57,760 Speaker 1: pass it from one flipper to another, assuming that it 470 00:27:57,800 --> 00:28:00,720 Speaker 1: has multiple flippers in the first place, all in order 471 00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:04,840 Speaker 1: to get specific shots. Humpty Dumpty slippers, there are six 472 00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:08,240 Speaker 1: of them, range from the top third of the playfield 473 00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:10,560 Speaker 1: to the middle to the bottom third of the playfield, 474 00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:12,119 Speaker 1: but they are not at the very base, which is 475 00:28:12,119 --> 00:28:14,880 Speaker 1: where you would find them in modern pinball machines. Right. 476 00:28:15,119 --> 00:28:18,240 Speaker 1: Most modern pinball machines have a pair of flippers at 477 00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:20,960 Speaker 1: the base of the playfield, just above the ball drain, 478 00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:23,600 Speaker 1: and they're spaced far enough apart so that the ball 479 00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:26,760 Speaker 1: can pass between the flippers if the angle is right. 480 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:30,879 Speaker 1: Humpty Dumpty has flippers facing toward the outer walls of 481 00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:33,760 Speaker 1: the playfield, so kind of like in the opposite orientation 482 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:36,480 Speaker 1: of where you would expect them based on where flippers 483 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:39,360 Speaker 1: appear today. And like I said, there's six of them, 484 00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:42,800 Speaker 1: and if the ball gets below your bottom two set 485 00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:46,200 Speaker 1: of flippers, you're pretty much stuck. An engineer named Harry 486 00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:48,840 Speaker 1: mAbs gets the credit for thinking up the flippers, and 487 00:28:48,880 --> 00:28:52,880 Speaker 1: these devices helped reinvigorate interest in pinball, but only in 488 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:56,920 Speaker 1: certain places, because by this time authorities in some cities 489 00:28:56,920 --> 00:29:00,760 Speaker 1: were cracking down on pinball machines, saying that they promoted 490 00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:04,880 Speaker 1: gambling and delinquency, that kids were spending too much time 491 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:08,320 Speaker 1: and money on pinball games instead of doing wholesome things 492 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:12,480 Speaker 1: like studying, or running errands for their parents, or getting 493 00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:16,040 Speaker 1: drafted and sent off to war. In fact, the trouble 494 00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:20,520 Speaker 1: began pretty early on here in Atlanta, Mayor William B. 495 00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:24,920 Speaker 1: Hartsfield waged a war on pinball. Now, if you've heard 496 00:29:24,920 --> 00:29:28,280 Speaker 1: the name Hartsfield before, chances are you either live in 497 00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:32,400 Speaker 1: Atlanta or you had a layover at the Atlanta Airport, 498 00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:35,320 Speaker 1: which is partly named after him. It's also partly named 499 00:29:35,320 --> 00:29:40,040 Speaker 1: after Maynard Jackson, a different Atlanta mayor. So anyway, on 500 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:45,240 Speaker 1: June twentieth, nineteen thirty nine, the newspaper here in Atlanta, 501 00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:49,880 Speaker 1: the Atlanta Constitution, reported that Hartsfield had outlawed pinball within 502 00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:54,440 Speaker 1: the city. Parent and teacher organizations had been pressuring council 503 00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:58,040 Speaker 1: members for this outcome for quite some time, proclaiming pinball 504 00:29:58,080 --> 00:30:01,200 Speaker 1: to be the source of all wickednesses children, which is 505 00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:05,240 Speaker 1: only a slight exaggeration, y'all, Like I'm I'm poking fun here, 506 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:09,200 Speaker 1: But there was a lot of moral panic about pinball. 507 00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:14,200 Speaker 1: One councilman named Ea Minor said, quote, these machines, which 508 00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:16,600 Speaker 1: you can find on every corner in the city, are 509 00:30:16,760 --> 00:30:20,640 Speaker 1: tending to encourage a moral degeneration among our children. End 510 00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:23,400 Speaker 1: quote starts to sound like the music man right where 511 00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:26,760 Speaker 1: you're talking about how the kids are hanging out in 512 00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:30,640 Speaker 1: the pool hall and becoming total degenerates. So yeah, pinball 513 00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:34,640 Speaker 1: was viewed as a CD sordid distraction. Ea Minor would 514 00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:38,239 Speaker 1: even get more heated about pinball in that article I 515 00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:40,800 Speaker 1: was talking about. I swear I did not make up 516 00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:45,400 Speaker 1: this next quote. It's actually in the Atlanta Constitution newspaper. 517 00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:50,480 Speaker 1: It goes, quote, these machines lead to gambling and stealing 518 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:55,520 Speaker 1: and killing and eventually to a rope around the neck 519 00:30:55,680 --> 00:31:01,360 Speaker 1: for someone. End quote. Good golly, Ea, you thought pinball 520 00:31:01,520 --> 00:31:04,200 Speaker 1: was the first step on a path that ultimately would 521 00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:08,120 Speaker 1: lead to capital punishment. All right, So what would happen 522 00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:11,600 Speaker 1: if you happened to be the proprietor of an establishment 523 00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:15,240 Speaker 1: within the city limits of Atlanta and you allowed one 524 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:18,440 Speaker 1: of these sin machines in your place of business, Well, 525 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:21,880 Speaker 1: you would face a fine of two hundred dollars, which 526 00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:23,640 Speaker 1: was a heck of a lot of money back in 527 00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:28,240 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty nine and also quote thirty days in the 528 00:31:28,280 --> 00:31:33,240 Speaker 1: stockade for either owning or possessing a pinball or similar 529 00:31:33,320 --> 00:31:37,480 Speaker 1: machine end quote. So this band didn't just cover pinball machines, 530 00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:41,080 Speaker 1: it also covered stuff like slot machines. Seventy five years 531 00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:45,560 Speaker 1: later to the day the Southern Fried Gaming Expo would 532 00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:48,880 Speaker 1: go live. So the Southern Fried Gaming Expo's first day 533 00:31:48,880 --> 00:31:52,440 Speaker 1: of operation was seventy five years after pinball had been 534 00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:56,600 Speaker 1: officially outlawed in the city of Atlanta. Clearly it has 535 00:31:56,640 --> 00:32:01,640 Speaker 1: since been rescinded, but that's just at least now. Arguably 536 00:32:02,120 --> 00:32:05,680 Speaker 1: the most famous war on pinball was what happened in 537 00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:08,959 Speaker 1: New York City, and another famous mayor was behind that. 538 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:14,880 Speaker 1: LaGuardia also a guy whose name is used for an 539 00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:18,360 Speaker 1: airport in the city where he was mayor. So in 540 00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:22,440 Speaker 1: January nineteen forty two, this is after Atlanta has already 541 00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:27,480 Speaker 1: outlawed pinball. So don't say we're not progressive. We could 542 00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:31,040 Speaker 1: be restrictive far before the Yankees get to it. But 543 00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:34,959 Speaker 1: in January nineteen forty two, LaGuardia passed a ban on 544 00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:38,160 Speaker 1: pinball machines in New York City and even directed police 545 00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:41,920 Speaker 1: departments to raid various businesses that were known to have 546 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:46,040 Speaker 1: pinball machines inside them. Now, whether you believe LaGuardia and 547 00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:49,960 Speaker 1: other leaders around the United States genuinely felt pinball was 548 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:53,520 Speaker 1: an immoral invention that needed to be wiped out, or 549 00:32:54,280 --> 00:32:56,920 Speaker 1: you happen to be a little more cynical and you 550 00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:00,320 Speaker 1: think this was just a way for a politics to 551 00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:04,160 Speaker 1: score points with their base without you know, actually doing 552 00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:09,800 Speaker 1: anything really challenging, like facing down organized crime. Well, the 553 00:33:09,920 --> 00:33:13,160 Speaker 1: end result was that pinball machines in many major cities 554 00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:17,200 Speaker 1: across the United States were made illegal. Now, this and 555 00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:20,080 Speaker 1: the impact of World War Two, which required a lot 556 00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:24,000 Speaker 1: of manufacturing companies to convert their operations to support war efforts, 557 00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:28,120 Speaker 1: not to mention shortages on raw materials, would mean that 558 00:33:28,320 --> 00:33:30,760 Speaker 1: very few pinball machines were actually getting made in the 559 00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:34,880 Speaker 1: late thirties to mid forties. But even that didn't stop 560 00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:40,840 Speaker 1: pinball manufacturers from making and innovating machines entirely. They still did. 561 00:33:41,280 --> 00:33:43,800 Speaker 1: The flippers being introduced in the late forties were a 562 00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:47,800 Speaker 1: really big part of innovation in pinball machines because with 563 00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:50,400 Speaker 1: more control, pinball could be positioned as a game of 564 00:33:50,440 --> 00:33:53,520 Speaker 1: skill rather than as a game of chance. However, it 565 00:33:53,520 --> 00:33:57,400 Speaker 1: would take nearly three decades for a definitive case to 566 00:33:57,480 --> 00:34:00,320 Speaker 1: settle that matter, and we'll get to that one in 567 00:34:00,360 --> 00:34:04,560 Speaker 1: the next episode. In the meantime, you had engineers like 568 00:34:04,760 --> 00:34:08,520 Speaker 1: Steve Kordak, who would design pinball machines for multiple companies 569 00:34:08,560 --> 00:34:12,240 Speaker 1: throughout his life. He also introduced some new innovations in pinball. 570 00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:15,399 Speaker 1: One of those was the drop target. So these are 571 00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:19,120 Speaker 1: little physical targets. They usually look like things like white 572 00:34:19,160 --> 00:34:21,799 Speaker 1: squares with a target painted on them, or like a 573 00:34:21,840 --> 00:34:25,160 Speaker 1: decal on them or whatever. They're not always white, but 574 00:34:25,239 --> 00:34:29,640 Speaker 1: that's a very common coloration for these drop targets. And 575 00:34:29,719 --> 00:34:34,040 Speaker 1: when they're struck, they drop down into the playfield and 576 00:34:34,080 --> 00:34:37,160 Speaker 1: there's an electronic switch that causes them to pop up again, 577 00:34:37,560 --> 00:34:40,759 Speaker 1: presumably when the player has achieved some task or when 578 00:34:40,800 --> 00:34:45,319 Speaker 1: the game resets. Kardak also introduced multi ball play. This 579 00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:48,279 Speaker 1: would be in the early sixties when he introduced this. 580 00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:51,879 Speaker 1: So multi ball is exactly what sounds like. It's when 581 00:34:51,880 --> 00:34:54,879 Speaker 1: a player suddenly has to contend with more than one 582 00:34:54,960 --> 00:34:58,160 Speaker 1: pinball in play at the same time, typically because they 583 00:34:58,200 --> 00:35:03,719 Speaker 1: have done some sequence of targets that have unlocked. This 584 00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:06,640 Speaker 1: multi ball. Cordeck may also be the first person to 585 00:35:06,680 --> 00:35:10,400 Speaker 1: relocate the flippers to the bottom of the pinball playfield, 586 00:35:10,520 --> 00:35:13,239 Speaker 1: just above the ball drain, which is again sort of 587 00:35:13,239 --> 00:35:17,240 Speaker 1: the standard location for most pinball machines today. At this stage, 588 00:35:17,560 --> 00:35:20,880 Speaker 1: we're in the true electro mechanical era of pinball machines. 589 00:35:21,160 --> 00:35:24,680 Speaker 1: More innovation would follow, so in our next episode, I'll 590 00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:27,640 Speaker 1: talk more about the inner workings of these electro mechanical 591 00:35:27,640 --> 00:35:32,160 Speaker 1: pinball machines, and we'll also transition toward solid state electronics 592 00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:35,839 Speaker 1: thanks to a little invention called the transistor. We'll also 593 00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:40,600 Speaker 1: talk about how the actual game elements of pinball would evolve. 594 00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:45,080 Speaker 1: Like early on, pinball games were all about just kind 595 00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:50,480 Speaker 1: of random bouncing around with a ball, hitting various obstacles 596 00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:53,120 Speaker 1: as it inevitably made its way toward a ball drain. 597 00:35:53,560 --> 00:35:56,319 Speaker 1: But over time you would see introduction of all sorts 598 00:35:56,320 --> 00:36:00,480 Speaker 1: of stuff like ramps and other elements that would would 599 00:36:00,520 --> 00:36:05,040 Speaker 1: allow you to strategically go about playing a game. And 600 00:36:05,080 --> 00:36:08,200 Speaker 1: then in turn, the games became more sophisticated, where it's 601 00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:11,719 Speaker 1: not just they had more features, it's that game designers 602 00:36:11,719 --> 00:36:15,840 Speaker 1: would say, what if we made a mode where someone 603 00:36:15,920 --> 00:36:18,759 Speaker 1: had to complete features in a specific order, and if 604 00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:21,680 Speaker 1: they do so, they unlock a new element of play 605 00:36:22,040 --> 00:36:26,000 Speaker 1: with this game. And then we eventually get to the 606 00:36:26,040 --> 00:36:29,200 Speaker 1: introduction of things like wizard modes. We'll talk all about 607 00:36:29,239 --> 00:36:32,840 Speaker 1: that stuff in our next episode and kind of chat 608 00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:35,400 Speaker 1: about how that evolved over time, and just like the 609 00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:40,279 Speaker 1: pinball machines themselves, this evolution was very organic and gradual. 610 00:36:40,760 --> 00:36:44,680 Speaker 1: I don't think you can point to a single pinball 611 00:36:44,719 --> 00:36:47,480 Speaker 1: machine and say this is where it all changed. There 612 00:36:47,480 --> 00:36:54,800 Speaker 1: are certain machines that are iconic and known for their modes, 613 00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:58,680 Speaker 1: like Adam's Family is a great example, and I'll definitely 614 00:36:58,680 --> 00:37:01,399 Speaker 1: talk about that in the next episod. But I'm not 615 00:37:01,440 --> 00:37:04,359 Speaker 1: sure that you can just easily point at any one 616 00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:06,480 Speaker 1: machine and say this is it, because there's always going 617 00:37:06,520 --> 00:37:08,479 Speaker 1: to be an earlier machine that had at least some 618 00:37:08,880 --> 00:37:11,560 Speaker 1: of those elements present. And it becomes kind of a 619 00:37:11,640 --> 00:37:13,560 Speaker 1: judgment called to say, all, right, at what point are 620 00:37:13,600 --> 00:37:17,640 Speaker 1: we saying this is where mode play became a thing. 621 00:37:17,960 --> 00:37:20,399 Speaker 1: But it's led us up to modern day, where there's 622 00:37:20,400 --> 00:37:23,440 Speaker 1: some pinball machines out there that on a mechanical level 623 00:37:23,800 --> 00:37:26,680 Speaker 1: are not maybe that complicated, but if you're looking at 624 00:37:26,719 --> 00:37:31,560 Speaker 1: gameplay level, if you wanted to maximize your score. They 625 00:37:31,600 --> 00:37:37,279 Speaker 1: get incredibly complex, sometimes to their own detriment. But we're 626 00:37:37,320 --> 00:37:39,880 Speaker 1: going to talk about that, and we'll also talk about 627 00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:43,560 Speaker 1: the case that convinced New York City officials to reverse 628 00:37:43,600 --> 00:37:48,279 Speaker 1: their decades long ban on pinball machines. Other places would 629 00:37:48,280 --> 00:37:50,760 Speaker 1: follow suit, although I think at least in a few 630 00:37:50,800 --> 00:37:54,880 Speaker 1: regions laws about pinball are still technically on the books, 631 00:37:54,880 --> 00:37:58,200 Speaker 1: they're just not enforced. But yeah, we'll talk about how 632 00:37:58,280 --> 00:38:02,920 Speaker 1: pinball emerged from its reputation as being, you know, the 633 00:38:03,040 --> 00:38:06,920 Speaker 1: dark side of the force, as EA Minor would have 634 00:38:06,960 --> 00:38:10,200 Speaker 1: had us think. So that's it for this first episode 635 00:38:10,239 --> 00:38:14,280 Speaker 1: about pinball. Like I said, Wednesday's episode will go further 636 00:38:14,400 --> 00:38:17,480 Speaker 1: into the pinball story. Thanks again to the Southern Fried 637 00:38:17,560 --> 00:38:21,200 Speaker 1: Gaming Expo for having me out. I was there kind 638 00:38:21,239 --> 00:38:24,640 Speaker 1: of low key. I wasn't like chatting with people. I 639 00:38:24,719 --> 00:38:27,760 Speaker 1: was really in observation mode. But I was really impressed 640 00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:29,080 Speaker 1: with what I saw. I got to play a lot 641 00:38:29,080 --> 00:38:30,960 Speaker 1: of really fun games. Maybe I'll talk about some of 642 00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:34,319 Speaker 1: those in the next one too. Also, if anyone from 643 00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:37,040 Speaker 1: STERN is listening, how do I get one of those 644 00:38:37,160 --> 00:38:40,480 Speaker 1: jaws pinball machines? Because good Gravy. That's like my favorite 645 00:38:40,480 --> 00:38:44,879 Speaker 1: film of all time, and that machine was incredible. All right, 646 00:38:45,200 --> 00:38:46,640 Speaker 1: enough of that, Enough of that, That's not what this 647 00:38:46,719 --> 00:38:49,760 Speaker 1: show is about. This show is about celebrating tech in 648 00:38:49,800 --> 00:38:52,279 Speaker 1: all its forms, at least all the forms that are 649 00:38:52,800 --> 00:38:56,200 Speaker 1: are worthy of celebration. I hope all of y'all are 650 00:38:56,239 --> 00:38:59,759 Speaker 1: doing well, and I'll talk to you again really soon. 651 00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:10,720 Speaker 1: Tech Stuff is an iHeartRadio production. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 652 00:39:11,040 --> 00:39:14,760 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 653 00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:15,880 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.