1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:27,480 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of I Heart Radio. Welcome 2 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:30,720 Speaker 1: back to the show Ridiculous Historians. Thank you, as always 3 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:34,440 Speaker 1: so much for tuning in. Uh, this is this is 4 00:00:34,479 --> 00:00:36,440 Speaker 1: a fun one. This is a neat one. My name 5 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:38,199 Speaker 1: is Ben. My name is Noel Ben. You know we 6 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 1: only trade in fun. We don't do it well, that's 7 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: not sure. There there there have been the the odd 8 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:49,640 Speaker 1: Nazi related ones or horrible sterilization. Yea, somehow they're still managed. 9 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:51,720 Speaker 1: I mean they are ridiculous that that maybe they go 10 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:54,040 Speaker 1: against the spirit of the show. But today's episode is 11 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:57,920 Speaker 1: squarely within the spirit of the show because it's a 12 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:01,800 Speaker 1: really innocuous thing that we all know. Some of us 13 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:04,280 Speaker 1: may be better ahead it than others. But I don't 14 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:07,039 Speaker 1: think anyone has ever thought of a pinball machine as 15 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:11,600 Speaker 1: being like a tool of the devil. Not not in 16 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:15,240 Speaker 1: our modern day. No, that's that's true. Uh, most of 17 00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:19,240 Speaker 1: us these days associate pinball with kind of like a 18 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:21,600 Speaker 1: a retro vibe, you know what I mean, the days 19 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 1: of arcades, And I've always been fascinated by them. I 20 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:30,920 Speaker 1: love them. Uh. Growing up a very eccentric neighbor, family 21 00:01:30,959 --> 00:01:34,400 Speaker 1: friends collected pinball machines for some reason. That's a cool 22 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:40,319 Speaker 1: flexi collector item there. Yeah he had a barn like Pa, 23 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:42,960 Speaker 1: you had a pinball barn. Yeah, he had a pinball 24 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:45,880 Speaker 1: barn and he had you know, fixed it so that 25 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:49,080 Speaker 1: you didn't have to use quarters. So to me, this 26 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:51,840 Speaker 1: this guy was kind of a demi god. It did 27 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:54,960 Speaker 1: not take much to impress me. But did you did 28 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:57,920 Speaker 1: you get regular entry into the pinball barn then? Uh? 29 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:01,640 Speaker 1: Huh Yeah? Yeah, like a child's dream come true? Dude, 30 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:03,880 Speaker 1: What a cool neighbor. It was a cool guy, it was. 31 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:07,800 Speaker 1: It was cool, very very strange dude. But I guess 32 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:10,480 Speaker 1: that's a prerequisite for getting a pinball barn in the 33 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:13,240 Speaker 1: first place. Secret murderer perhaps or their body is buried 34 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:16,639 Speaker 1: beneath the pinball barn, you know. I I don't know, 35 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:18,640 Speaker 1: but I thought the guy was so cool that if 36 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:20,960 Speaker 1: I had found that out in my head being a 37 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:24,200 Speaker 1: very creepy kid, it would have just made him cooler. 38 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:29,639 Speaker 1: But still not as cool as our superproducer Casey Pegram, 39 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:35,040 Speaker 1: who is here in a digital personhood. Before we hopped 40 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:38,160 Speaker 1: on this show, Casey Casey said, look, I'm gonna hang 41 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:41,560 Speaker 1: back for a while because I I just got lunch 42 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:44,480 Speaker 1: so I mean so one. You know, number one favorite 43 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:46,560 Speaker 1: thing people love to hear on a podcast is somebody 44 00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:51,639 Speaker 1: chewing into the mic mouth sound pegram we have. There 45 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:54,360 Speaker 1: was a podcast that came out Canton, which one it was, 46 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 1: but one of the features, one of the things they 47 00:02:56,800 --> 00:02:59,960 Speaker 1: talked about was leaving those sounds in. I don't know 48 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:02,600 Speaker 1: about you all, but I have a little bit of 49 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 1: miss aphony. I think we all do with certain sounds. 50 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:07,959 Speaker 1: But in Casey, I didn't mean to blow up your spot. 51 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:10,639 Speaker 1: I just love the idea, the fact that Noel and 52 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:14,320 Speaker 1: I are the lunchtime entertainment. So we're gonna do our best. 53 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:18,240 Speaker 1: We're gonna do our best to regale you. You guys 54 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:21,320 Speaker 1: are very synackable. Yeah, try the veal we're here all 55 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:24,720 Speaker 1: week or at least for the next couple hours. Um. 56 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:27,240 Speaker 1: You know, I really last thing on the mouth sounds, 57 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:30,000 Speaker 1: you guys. UM, there's this filter that we use, or 58 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:32,520 Speaker 1: the suite of of plug ins for audio clean up 59 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:36,720 Speaker 1: UM that has a mouth sound remover setting and it 60 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:41,960 Speaker 1: has this like hell raiser puzzle box button that no 61 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 1: one should ever venture near, where it filters out everything 62 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:48,800 Speaker 1: but the mouth sounds where you can hear just the 63 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:52,120 Speaker 1: mouth sounds that it filters out and it is nightmare fuel, 64 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:55,480 Speaker 1: my friends. Let me tell you that is terrifying. I 65 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:59,320 Speaker 1: think I just had a spontaneous waking nightmare about that. 66 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:02,360 Speaker 1: What's it to nightmare when you're awake? Is it a day? Maare? 67 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 1: It's just life, It's just life. There we go that. Well, 68 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:10,200 Speaker 1: today we're going to talk about something, uh hopefully a 69 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:12,600 Speaker 1: little less dark, but but we'll see where it goes. 70 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:15,880 Speaker 1: So pinball. Um, none of the three of us are 71 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:20,719 Speaker 1: pinball prodigies, but I think we all enjoy the game 72 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:23,520 Speaker 1: and we all, you know, being roughly the same age, 73 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:28,160 Speaker 1: we have a similar kind of idea of what pinball is. 74 00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:33,240 Speaker 1: But it might surprise you to know that once upon 75 00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:35,919 Speaker 1: a time here in the good old US of a 76 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:41,640 Speaker 1: pinball was an enormously controversial thing. Yeah that's right, um, 77 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:45,480 Speaker 1: just just really quickly. Uh. The the origins of pinball 78 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:49,760 Speaker 1: come from a French table game called bagatelle, and the 79 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:53,320 Speaker 1: first ever pinball machine was patent in eight seventy one. 80 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:55,400 Speaker 1: But it's not the ones we think of today with 81 00:04:55,440 --> 00:04:58,120 Speaker 1: the little flippers and the little Yeah, there's a there's 82 00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:00,400 Speaker 1: a number of ways you can kind of make pinball 83 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: game more elaborate with targets that you hit and little 84 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:05,960 Speaker 1: ways to sink the ball and double balls and all 85 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:08,440 Speaker 1: that stuff to blow up your score. Honestly, I never 86 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 1: understand how to play a pinball game, like it's always 87 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:13,120 Speaker 1: just a mystery to me. I'm just kind of like 88 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:16,120 Speaker 1: shooting it at whatever seems cool. But there are definitely 89 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:18,479 Speaker 1: people that very much know exactly how to get the 90 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:21,000 Speaker 1: perfect score on some of these specific pinball michiganes, which 91 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:23,200 Speaker 1: we'll get into it bit, but those have things like 92 00:05:23,279 --> 00:05:25,279 Speaker 1: flippers where you hit the buttons and you launch the 93 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:27,840 Speaker 1: ball with a plunger and shoots the ball up into 94 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:31,760 Speaker 1: this kind of rampi encased in glass, you know, table, 95 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:34,400 Speaker 1: And then in this early version it was more like 96 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:37,120 Speaker 1: what we think of today is maybe pachinko, where you're 97 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:39,560 Speaker 1: shooting the ball and then it's popping around on these 98 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:44,039 Speaker 1: little little pins hence pinball, I guess, and then it 99 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:46,880 Speaker 1: just falls into whatever hole, sort of like ski ball 100 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:48,839 Speaker 1: or something, but it goes up to the top and 101 00:05:48,839 --> 00:05:51,280 Speaker 1: then it bounces down. And that's still very much a 102 00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:53,800 Speaker 1: thing with pachinko. Not sure if it's exactly one to one, 103 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:57,200 Speaker 1: but it's very similar, but in n that's when you 104 00:05:57,279 --> 00:06:00,760 Speaker 1: started to see the advent of the modern ball machine, 105 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:02,800 Speaker 1: where you have those flippers that we're talking about, so 106 00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:05,440 Speaker 1: you could actually kind of control where the ball went 107 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:07,840 Speaker 1: when it rolled back down that hill. If it didn't 108 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:09,799 Speaker 1: go right down the middle, which is like the bane 109 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:12,640 Speaker 1: of any pinball players existence, it goes to either left 110 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:14,600 Speaker 1: of the right side, you have the opportunity to keep 111 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:16,719 Speaker 1: the ball in play and flip it around the table 112 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:21,560 Speaker 1: with those little flippy boys and that pinball machine. While 113 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:24,480 Speaker 1: we would consider it, you know, quote unquote the modern 114 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:28,600 Speaker 1: pinball game, it was still very different from what you 115 00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:33,279 Speaker 1: would see in your average retro arcade today. You could 116 00:06:33,279 --> 00:06:36,159 Speaker 1: try to tip or tilt the machine in your favor, 117 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:39,159 Speaker 1: but you were very much at the mercy of the 118 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:44,599 Speaker 1: random movements bounds of the ball. And because of that 119 00:06:44,680 --> 00:06:49,640 Speaker 1: element of chance, people started gambling on pinball games. So 120 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:52,919 Speaker 1: of course, anybody has been to Vegas or Macau or 121 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:55,599 Speaker 1: something can assure you that some people will gamble on 122 00:06:56,160 --> 00:07:00,440 Speaker 1: virtually anything, but gambling on pinball was a cool like 123 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:03,240 Speaker 1: it was a cool happening thing to do. People would 124 00:07:03,279 --> 00:07:07,359 Speaker 1: get prizes all the way from like free games or 125 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:08,800 Speaker 1: you know, the kind of stuff you would win at 126 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:11,480 Speaker 1: ski ball play chuck e cheese, all the way up 127 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:16,080 Speaker 1: to pretty expensive stuff like fine china or jewelry. And 128 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:23,000 Speaker 1: soon this affected the reputation of pinball. What we think 129 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:28,200 Speaker 1: of is like a fun neat arcade game was seen 130 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:33,240 Speaker 1: as this uh machine built for iniquity that catered to 131 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:39,040 Speaker 1: like Slee's bags, uh low lives and ne'er do wells. Yeah, 132 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:41,480 Speaker 1: And if I'm not mistaken, the reason it's just in 133 00:07:41,520 --> 00:07:44,320 Speaker 1: the same way like maybe video poker machines, you know, 134 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:46,680 Speaker 1: sort of skirt the law in some parts of the 135 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:49,280 Speaker 1: country where they can get away with it not being 136 00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:52,960 Speaker 1: considered illegal gambling by like just handing out tickets or 137 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:55,840 Speaker 1: making things like an equivalent of like you know, goods 138 00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:59,400 Speaker 1: and services, I guess, but they don't actually give you cash, right, Um. 139 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:01,520 Speaker 1: And I think that was the deal with early pinball, 140 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:06,120 Speaker 1: because you know, gambling was outlawed in in in many places, 141 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:09,160 Speaker 1: and um, this was sort of a way around that. 142 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:12,640 Speaker 1: But like you said, ben Um, in Chicago in particular, 143 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:17,760 Speaker 1: pinball machine started getting associated with organized crime because Chicago, 144 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:20,440 Speaker 1: as we know, was a massive, you know, sort of 145 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:26,440 Speaker 1: hub of mob um and gangster activity, and these machines 146 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:31,640 Speaker 1: were cash based, and it became kind of like a 147 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:35,000 Speaker 1: way to make a quick buck by criminals, maybe in 148 00:08:35,040 --> 00:08:38,319 Speaker 1: these back rooms and these kind of illegal gambling parlors, 149 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:42,000 Speaker 1: and it was easy to make a lot of money 150 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:45,680 Speaker 1: at scale, like if you were organized uh an organized 151 00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:49,640 Speaker 1: crime ring and he wanted that income stream, pinball would 152 00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:51,680 Speaker 1: be a great thing to hop onto. I mean, think 153 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:55,280 Speaker 1: about it. So gambling, we would ordinarily think of things 154 00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:59,600 Speaker 1: like card games, but with these gaming machines or coin 155 00:08:59,679 --> 00:09:03,720 Speaker 1: opera rated the players did not have to know the 156 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:06,360 Speaker 1: rules like a lot of us don't for pinball, and 157 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:09,520 Speaker 1: the you know, full disclosure, I have no idea what's 158 00:09:09,559 --> 00:09:11,760 Speaker 1: going on when I when I pulled that plunger, I'm 159 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:16,680 Speaker 1: just holding on. And the unlike a card game, like 160 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:19,040 Speaker 1: a mid to high stakes poker game or something, you 161 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:22,040 Speaker 1: didn't have to have much money at all to play pinball. 162 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:27,080 Speaker 1: And now we see pinball as entertainment, but back then 163 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:31,600 Speaker 1: it was just seen as almost like another kind of 164 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:35,520 Speaker 1: slot machine. Right, yeah, that's right, and um, it's pretty cool. 165 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:40,920 Speaker 1: In the research for this game, our research associate extraordinaire 166 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:46,040 Speaker 1: stumbled upon a fantastic article from the Portland Mercury that 167 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:48,760 Speaker 1: quotes a girl friend of the show and the network 168 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:50,600 Speaker 1: a guy that I've worked with on the podcast called 169 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:52,720 Speaker 1: Murder and Oregon, a gentleman by the name of Phil 170 00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:56,120 Speaker 1: Stanford who wrote a book called Portland Confidential, and it 171 00:09:56,200 --> 00:09:59,000 Speaker 1: was all about just kind of how Portland's has this 172 00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:03,160 Speaker 1: reputation of being this sort of shining liberal bastion on 173 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:06,520 Speaker 1: a hill, but it actually has has been a a 174 00:10:06,559 --> 00:10:08,920 Speaker 1: place rife with corruption for a very long time. And 175 00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:11,600 Speaker 1: that's what Murdering organs about. But he specifically talks about 176 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:14,880 Speaker 1: um in an interview he did with the Portland Mercury 177 00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:18,440 Speaker 1: about how pinball machines were kind of seen as a gateway, 178 00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:21,480 Speaker 1: uh to gambling, to like more heavy gambling, the way 179 00:10:21,520 --> 00:10:24,559 Speaker 1: marijuana is today. And he says, quote, the people who 180 00:10:24,559 --> 00:10:26,880 Speaker 1: wanted to get rid of slot machines went after pinball 181 00:10:26,880 --> 00:10:29,440 Speaker 1: machines too much in the same way that law enforcement 182 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:33,080 Speaker 1: goes after marijuana. UM, So it was kind of perceived 183 00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:38,160 Speaker 1: as being a gateway into more heavy vices and types 184 00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:42,400 Speaker 1: of gambling. It reminds me of that uh oh, where 185 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:46,240 Speaker 1: is that song from the musical Trouble. It's all about 186 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:49,320 Speaker 1: playing pool? Oh, that's the music man music man, where 187 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:53,079 Speaker 1: were the Knickerbocker's trouble. Yeah, with a capital T that 188 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:57,000 Speaker 1: rhymes with P that stands for pool. I love that. 189 00:10:57,080 --> 00:10:59,559 Speaker 1: Seth McFarland from Family Guy is a great cover of 190 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:04,000 Speaker 1: that was weird, but but you're you're absolutely right it was. 191 00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:07,880 Speaker 1: It was seen kind of as a gateway to gambling 192 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:12,840 Speaker 1: into wickedness and sin. And part of this public perception 193 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:16,120 Speaker 1: I think came about because people were teetotalers during the 194 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:20,480 Speaker 1: age of Prohibition needed something else to focus on. So 195 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:23,880 Speaker 1: we know that, we know that law enforcement in Portland's, 196 00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:27,480 Speaker 1: Chicago other places had always kind of given pinball the 197 00:11:27,559 --> 00:11:30,480 Speaker 1: side eye because they knew it was connected to gambling. Uh. 198 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:35,200 Speaker 1: Churches school boards also said, you know, this is making 199 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:37,960 Speaker 1: your kids bad. It seems like fun, but little Johnny 200 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:40,319 Speaker 1: is gonna steal a nickel. The next thing you know, 201 00:11:40,559 --> 00:11:44,360 Speaker 1: he's gonna hold up a bank. They're skipping school. Uh, 202 00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:47,160 Speaker 1: they're gonna go hungry. These kids are starving to death 203 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:51,320 Speaker 1: because they keep putting their money into the devil's balls. 204 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:55,400 Speaker 1: I'm just making things up. I like it. I like it. No, 205 00:11:55,600 --> 00:12:00,280 Speaker 1: it's true. Um and this Alice Obscure as a great 206 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:02,480 Speaker 1: article about this called the war on pinball, and they 207 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:07,640 Speaker 1: categorized these folks, um, these anti fund types as crusading 208 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:10,480 Speaker 1: do gooders, which I love because you're right. Then they 209 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:14,120 Speaker 1: needed something else to spoil people's good times with and 210 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:16,920 Speaker 1: and this was what it was. Uh. And so it 211 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:20,160 Speaker 1: did leave this outcry and this you know, this rallying 212 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:24,679 Speaker 1: around pinball being sort of like you know, doorway to 213 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:27,880 Speaker 1: iniquity led to pinball being banned a lot of cities, 214 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:31,280 Speaker 1: especially New York. And that specifically because New York had 215 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:34,079 Speaker 1: this mayor you've probably heard of. Uh, it's got a 216 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:38,920 Speaker 1: pretty big airport named after him, Mayor fear Ello LaGuardia. Um. 217 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:44,640 Speaker 1: He was a massive anti pinball guy. He hated the game. 218 00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:48,559 Speaker 1: And in nine three he came into office with this 219 00:12:48,679 --> 00:12:52,880 Speaker 1: anti crime, anti mob kind of you know platform, and 220 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:56,120 Speaker 1: he has this great quote where he he self proclaimedly 221 00:12:56,360 --> 00:13:00,360 Speaker 1: wanted to quote drive the bums out of town. Yeah. 222 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:04,640 Speaker 1: He got rid of the illegal slot machines, had quite 223 00:13:04,640 --> 00:13:07,360 Speaker 1: a few of them dumped into the Hudson River in 224 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:10,640 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty five, just after he's elected to let the 225 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:14,439 Speaker 1: public and the mafia know that he meant business. And 226 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:19,000 Speaker 1: so mobsters replaced the slot machines with pinball machines, and 227 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:22,240 Speaker 1: he was like, you're not getting past me. As a 228 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:24,160 Speaker 1: matter of fact. In Free for All News, we have 229 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:27,880 Speaker 1: a great quote from LaGuardia where he says the pinball 230 00:13:27,960 --> 00:13:30,440 Speaker 1: machine racket is a direct out growth of the slot 231 00:13:30,520 --> 00:13:33,240 Speaker 1: machine racket. And as was the case, whether it's evil 232 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:37,400 Speaker 1: parents is dominated by interest heavily tainted with criminality. There 233 00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:40,199 Speaker 1: was no difference between the two rackets other than the 234 00:13:40,240 --> 00:13:43,520 Speaker 1: more subtle and furtive methods of robbing the public. It's 235 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:47,200 Speaker 1: twenty million dollar profits taken from the pockets of school 236 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:49,959 Speaker 1: children in the form of nickels and dimes given to 237 00:13:50,040 --> 00:13:53,520 Speaker 1: them as lunch money. Like this was his passion project. 238 00:13:53,559 --> 00:13:56,880 Speaker 1: Almost yeah, and it's because, like we were saying earlier, 239 00:13:56,920 --> 00:13:59,719 Speaker 1: I mean, gambling was illegal. These slot machines were a 240 00:13:59,840 --> 00:14:03,719 Speaker 1: lead goal. And because pinball machines sort of occupied this 241 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:06,760 Speaker 1: gray area. Um, but kids were allowed to play them. 242 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:09,560 Speaker 1: But they had like a payout. You could win um 243 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:11,800 Speaker 1: by you know, dumping all your nickels in, you know, 244 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:14,840 Speaker 1: your lunch money or whatever. Um. God forbid the bullies 245 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 1: that like, you know, beat up other kids to steal 246 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:19,200 Speaker 1: their nickels and dimes, you know, that. You know, that image, 247 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:21,880 Speaker 1: classic image of like the bully kid holding the kid 248 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:24,120 Speaker 1: up by his ankles and shaking him until all his 249 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:26,520 Speaker 1: nickels fell out, That's what I'm picturing. And then just 250 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:30,160 Speaker 1: scooping all that up and going right to the arcade. Um. 251 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:32,960 Speaker 1: You know, and those kids are already on a on 252 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:36,200 Speaker 1: a very dire path to criminality. So this is just 253 00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:40,640 Speaker 1: enforcing that. Um. And and La Guardia wasn't standing for it. Um, 254 00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:43,920 Speaker 1: You're right, Ben, he had already had the slot machines 255 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:46,080 Speaker 1: dumped in the river, and next he had his sight 256 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:49,920 Speaker 1: set on the sort of de facto gambling machines. And 257 00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:55,160 Speaker 1: as if that moral panic angle wasn't enough to get 258 00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:59,760 Speaker 1: people on his side, just in case they also start, 259 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:06,720 Speaker 1: Lombardy and his team also started rolling out anti pinball statements. Uh, 260 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:10,280 Speaker 1: in a very weird flex. When the Japanese military at 261 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:14,640 Speaker 1: the time bombed Pearl Harbor in one December seven, Mayor 262 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:17,960 Speaker 1: LaGuardia went patriotic with it. It was like, not only 263 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:22,680 Speaker 1: is pinball morally terrible and the cause of starving children 264 00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:26,560 Speaker 1: and criminals, but uh, but also it's a waste of 265 00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:32,960 Speaker 1: America's valuable resources. We're wasting copper, aluminum and nickel making 266 00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:37,240 Speaker 1: these devil ball machines, when when we could be sending 267 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:40,280 Speaker 1: that to our our boys on the front lines, right 268 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:44,280 Speaker 1: to make guns and bullets and weapons of war, which 269 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:47,680 Speaker 1: is so much better for the world. I do love 270 00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:50,800 Speaker 1: too that he referred to the pinball machines as insidious 271 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:54,480 Speaker 1: nickel steelers. I think that should be the name of 272 00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:57,360 Speaker 1: a sports team. I don't know, maybe a band, or 273 00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:05,840 Speaker 1: maybe a comedy troupe, who knows. H So LaGuardia had 274 00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:08,240 Speaker 1: the city council on his side, he had public opinion 275 00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:09,920 Speaker 1: on his side because he's done such a good job 276 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:12,840 Speaker 1: at making the case for this and tying it to 277 00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:15,760 Speaker 1: our precious resources. And as we know, during this time 278 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:18,360 Speaker 1: like it was important to be able to you know, 279 00:16:18,520 --> 00:16:21,320 Speaker 1: fund the war effort. And it was easy because patriot 280 00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:24,120 Speaker 1: patriotism was rampant. After an event like the bombing of 281 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:27,440 Speaker 1: Pearl Harbor, an attack on you know, American soil, we 282 00:16:27,520 --> 00:16:29,760 Speaker 1: have to do everything we can, you know, pull in 283 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:34,280 Speaker 1: together to defeat this enemy, this common enemy. And so 284 00:16:34,400 --> 00:16:37,160 Speaker 1: he got the city council to approve a ban on 285 00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:41,000 Speaker 1: pinball machines in public places, um even ones that didn't 286 00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:44,280 Speaker 1: use the payout system or any kind of you know, 287 00:16:44,440 --> 00:16:47,120 Speaker 1: even like with of gambling. That just the machines themselves 288 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:50,080 Speaker 1: were enough because they were a waste of time. Uh, 289 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:53,720 Speaker 1: they were breeding this idea of criminality. They were a 290 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:57,960 Speaker 1: gateway into more serious gambling. And they were a waste 291 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:03,360 Speaker 1: of materials. Yeah. Absolutely. And when LaGuardia and the various 292 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:07,440 Speaker 1: police chiefs got together with the press and smashed pinball 293 00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:11,879 Speaker 1: machines with sledgehammers, they put their money where their mouth was. 294 00:17:12,080 --> 00:17:15,280 Speaker 1: You know. They dumped this stuff into barges bound for 295 00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:19,040 Speaker 1: Long Island Sound. And just like that Mental Floss article 296 00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:23,360 Speaker 1: we referenced earlier mentions. Uh, the New York Times got 297 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:28,440 Speaker 1: ahold of this headline and they noted that cutting down 298 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:33,359 Speaker 1: pinball manufacturing at least was making a meaningful contribution to 299 00:17:33,440 --> 00:17:37,200 Speaker 1: the war effort. The military got ten thousand pounds of 300 00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:41,080 Speaker 1: scrap metal courtesy of pinball machines, and that was enough 301 00:17:41,119 --> 00:17:43,520 Speaker 1: if you did the math to make four two thousand 302 00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:49,120 Speaker 1: pound bombs. It's very it's the opposite of swords to plowshares. Really, 303 00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:52,639 Speaker 1: it's super is And I love this little little nugget 304 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:55,960 Speaker 1: here from Mental Floss and how Pearl Harbor led to 305 00:17:56,040 --> 00:17:58,440 Speaker 1: the War on pinball. You know how pinball machines have 306 00:17:58,560 --> 00:18:01,080 Speaker 1: those like legs, it's like a a table, and then 307 00:18:01,119 --> 00:18:03,840 Speaker 1: they have these legs and you could presumably they're probably 308 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:06,520 Speaker 1: not welded on, they're probably screwed on in some way. 309 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:08,720 Speaker 1: And you know, there's four of them. And they used 310 00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:11,440 Speaker 1: each of those four legs for pinball machines, uh, to 311 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:17,520 Speaker 1: make them into billy clubs, uh for police. So it's yeah, 312 00:18:17,800 --> 00:18:22,159 Speaker 1: it's very interesting, uh dynamic here Seligarty is leading this, 313 00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:26,080 Speaker 1: you know, war on pinball single handedly. You know, it's 314 00:18:26,119 --> 00:18:29,440 Speaker 1: like the War on Christmas, only it's no, it's not 315 00:18:29,560 --> 00:18:32,800 Speaker 1: a good comparison at all. Forget I said anything, but 316 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:37,359 Speaker 1: it's true. He essentially had successfully had pinball band It 317 00:18:37,520 --> 00:18:40,240 Speaker 1: was really portrayed as being this menace. And then places 318 00:18:40,359 --> 00:18:45,480 Speaker 1: soon followed suit, like major cities around the country like California, Chicago, 319 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:47,879 Speaker 1: which is actually where a lot of the pinball machines 320 00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:52,640 Speaker 1: were manufactured. I didn't realize that, uh, And laws went 321 00:18:52,760 --> 00:18:56,639 Speaker 1: on the books that either outright banned or limited the 322 00:18:56,760 --> 00:18:59,959 Speaker 1: use of pinball machines to certain places. Yeah, they were 323 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:03,359 Speaker 1: really they were really cracking down. Let's see what was 324 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:09,480 Speaker 1: it Los Angeles, New Orleans, Chicago, Milwaukee. They followed New 325 00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:12,360 Speaker 1: York's leading banning pinball as much as possible. Some other 326 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:15,359 Speaker 1: cities started to heavily regulate it, like if you are 327 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:18,320 Speaker 1: a kid and you're uh supposed to be in school, 328 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:22,720 Speaker 1: you can't be found playing pinball during school hours. And 329 00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:27,440 Speaker 1: that's why, all of a sudden, like the counter culture 330 00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:32,000 Speaker 1: embraces pinball, the rebels without a cause. You know, they've 331 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:35,040 Speaker 1: got the leather jackets, the cigarettes rolled up in the 332 00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:39,520 Speaker 1: short sleeve T shirt, grease r pompadours, and and they've 333 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:43,800 Speaker 1: got the pinball fever. There's a bunch of low life 334 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:47,480 Speaker 1: layabouts if you ask me, no, but that's certainly the 335 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:50,800 Speaker 1: way they were seeing by the folks that were against this, 336 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:53,040 Speaker 1: this whole thing. I do want to point out something 337 00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:55,000 Speaker 1: that I think is interesting. It's always interesting to hear 338 00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:58,840 Speaker 1: how Washington, d C. Throughout history has maintained sort of 339 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:02,280 Speaker 1: like a pretty progress of approach, you know, being one 340 00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:05,520 Speaker 1: of the first places to legalize marijuana. When you think 341 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:07,320 Speaker 1: of it as being like the seat of government, but 342 00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:10,080 Speaker 1: it always has been super progressive. And Washington, C. Was 343 00:20:10,119 --> 00:20:13,760 Speaker 1: one of the places that didn't outright ban pinball playing. Um, 344 00:20:14,119 --> 00:20:16,119 Speaker 1: But they just did what you said, Ben, They limited 345 00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:18,200 Speaker 1: it and made sure that kids couldn't be found playing 346 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:19,760 Speaker 1: them school. But I also think that's sort of like 347 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:22,639 Speaker 1: aren't isn't Aren't kids not supposed to be caught out 348 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:24,840 Speaker 1: of school? Period? Does that is like add to the 349 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:27,680 Speaker 1: badness of the of the behavior, Let's give them like 350 00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:30,240 Speaker 1: another strike. I don't know how that works, yea, is 351 00:20:30,320 --> 00:20:32,960 Speaker 1: it one of those tricky things? Like uh, in areas 352 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:36,159 Speaker 1: where marijuana is decriminalized, is getting a ticket for it 353 00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:39,159 Speaker 1: up to the discretion of the officer? What happens when 354 00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:43,399 Speaker 1: they're out for summer? Because I mean, uh, I always 355 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:47,000 Speaker 1: said mean, But could like a crotchety uh law enforcement 356 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:49,920 Speaker 1: agent have prosecuted a kid anyway because they would have 357 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:52,960 Speaker 1: been in school if school was happening. I don't know. Yeah, 358 00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:55,840 Speaker 1: like Officer Krupkey, you know, like it wasn't he from Greece? 359 00:20:56,200 --> 00:21:00,960 Speaker 1: Doesn't they say Officer Krupkey krup you because the research boys, No, 360 00:21:01,480 --> 00:21:03,920 Speaker 1: it is the whole song and he's he's like the 361 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:07,320 Speaker 1: kind of like you know, old school square beat cop 362 00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:11,000 Speaker 1: that doesn't understand the these crazy kids and they're greaser 363 00:21:11,080 --> 00:21:14,880 Speaker 1: ways and their pinball playing. There's something weird here, though 364 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:17,320 Speaker 1: I don't know. This is one thing that fascinates me 365 00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:23,240 Speaker 1: about history, because we'll will never know the thoughts of 366 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:26,200 Speaker 1: the anti pinball crowd on this, but it seems like 367 00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:30,360 Speaker 1: all the restrictions that they put into place in cities 368 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:34,280 Speaker 1: across the US played a big role in at least 369 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:40,200 Speaker 1: temporarily turning pinball into exactly what they were afraid it 370 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:43,359 Speaker 1: would be. You know what I mean? Because now now 371 00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:47,919 Speaker 1: that the game is moving increasingly off of main Street, 372 00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:51,480 Speaker 1: it's starting to pop up in seed to your places, 373 00:21:52,119 --> 00:21:57,520 Speaker 1: and you're finding it insect shops. Uh and and Hollywood 374 00:21:57,640 --> 00:21:59,879 Speaker 1: picks this up and it puts it in the zeitgeist 375 00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:04,119 Speaker 1: mass media. If you saw a rebellious character in a film, 376 00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:07,120 Speaker 1: and you know, the forties or fifties or something, then 377 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:11,520 Speaker 1: the quick way to establish them as a as a seedy, 378 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:15,560 Speaker 1: uh untrustworthy person was to just have a scene in 379 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:18,400 Speaker 1: there where they're hanging out around a pinball machine, they're 380 00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:21,639 Speaker 1: playing a pinball machine, and then they're like, all right, 381 00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:25,479 Speaker 1: you're ready for the murder exactly. That's that's a very 382 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:29,320 Speaker 1: short walk from pinball to to murder to to homicide. 383 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:31,320 Speaker 1: I love that, and then you know, it's sort of 384 00:22:31,359 --> 00:22:34,440 Speaker 1: like reefer madness. You know, it's this idea of creating 385 00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:37,719 Speaker 1: this narrative around a thing that in and of itself 386 00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:40,840 Speaker 1: is pretty innocuous. But when you start to like connect 387 00:22:40,920 --> 00:22:44,840 Speaker 1: it to all these other elements and behaviors, people focus 388 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:47,120 Speaker 1: in on the thing, you know, as being like, oh, 389 00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:50,200 Speaker 1: it's like it's it's like heavy metal music, like with 390 00:22:50,320 --> 00:22:53,399 Speaker 1: Tipper Gore and all that stuff, you know, blaming Marilyn 391 00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:59,640 Speaker 1: Manson for kids being basically just like moody brooding kids. Yeah, 392 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:07,200 Speaker 1: this reputation continued for decades through the fifties and the sixties. Again, 393 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:10,680 Speaker 1: the I really feel like the anti pinball crowd shot 394 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:14,760 Speaker 1: themselves in the foot, or they've they tilted their own machine, 395 00:23:15,119 --> 00:23:19,600 Speaker 1: I should say, because they created a self fulfilling prophecy. 396 00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:23,399 Speaker 1: They turned pinball into the thing they feared it always was. 397 00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:26,440 Speaker 1: So the flipper comes out. We talked about that in 398 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:29,360 Speaker 1: the invention of pinball. The flipper comes out. And now 399 00:23:29,560 --> 00:23:32,600 Speaker 1: the game is no longer just to pull the plunger. 400 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:36,840 Speaker 1: Game of chance nowadays a test of reflexes and if 401 00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:41,760 Speaker 1: you practice, you can become better. So pinball becomes a skill. 402 00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:47,560 Speaker 1: Even though people I think grew a little less hot 403 00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:50,840 Speaker 1: headed about the connection to gambling in the nineteen fifties, 404 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:52,280 Speaker 1: and a lot of that having to do with the 405 00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:56,520 Speaker 1: flipper turning pinball into a game of skill nationwide. If 406 00:23:56,600 --> 00:24:00,160 Speaker 1: you asked the average US resident at the time time, 407 00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:05,000 Speaker 1: they would still be kind of like, pinball's naughty. What 408 00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:08,080 Speaker 1: do you know, pinball's naughty. You definitely don't want your 409 00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:11,280 Speaker 1: daughter in a pinball hall, which is a phrase I 410 00:24:11,359 --> 00:24:13,280 Speaker 1: made up, may as well have been an opium den, 411 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:16,280 Speaker 1: you know, for all intents and purposes. Ben really quickly, 412 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:18,399 Speaker 1: when did the flipper come out again? And this, I know, 413 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:21,479 Speaker 1: this like sort of like made it harder to gamble 414 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:23,560 Speaker 1: with because it then became more of a game of skill. 415 00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:27,480 Speaker 1: What year was that? Okay, so this really is like 416 00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:30,520 Speaker 1: right on the cusp of the greaser culture, like right 417 00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:34,080 Speaker 1: in that kind of like pocket of history. That's really interesting. 418 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:37,080 Speaker 1: So they weren't so much worried about robbing the children 419 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:39,160 Speaker 1: of their nickels. Well, they still could have been, because 420 00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:41,119 Speaker 1: it was a time suck. You know, it's sort of 421 00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:44,800 Speaker 1: like a frivolous waste of money, but with the gambling 422 00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:48,920 Speaker 1: part removed at least it was a little more accepted legally, 423 00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:51,399 Speaker 1: but it still had kind of a bad rap, right, 424 00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:53,800 Speaker 1: Is that about where we're at? Yeah, yeah, I mean 425 00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:57,360 Speaker 1: history doesn't always repeat, but it certainly has a rhyming 426 00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:01,720 Speaker 1: structure to it. Right. So, so lot of the arguments, 427 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:05,920 Speaker 1: especially the more sensationalistic ones against pinball and against children 428 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:09,959 Speaker 1: playing pinball, I feel like they're exactly the same as 429 00:25:10,119 --> 00:25:13,639 Speaker 1: other later arguments about video games, like yeah, I get it, 430 00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:16,560 Speaker 1: I have a PlayStation. I know it's a time vampire. 431 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:20,320 Speaker 1: I I understand that. But there were there were being 432 00:25:20,359 --> 00:25:23,240 Speaker 1: alarm as there was still this kind of moral panic. 433 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:28,639 Speaker 1: And uh, in fact, this became part of a political 434 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:33,760 Speaker 1: strategy used against John F. Kennedy himself during the nineteen 435 00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:38,520 Speaker 1: sixty presidential election. Kennedy was a Democrat and Republican operatives. 436 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:43,680 Speaker 1: His opponents leaked a group photograph of Kennedy and some 437 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:47,359 Speaker 1: friends and uh, he is at a he is with 438 00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:56,560 Speaker 1: someone who's the silent partner in an Indiana pinball business. Gasp, horror, Oh, 439 00:25:56,720 --> 00:26:01,560 Speaker 1: the horror. Yeah, And and this was used, like, you know, 440 00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:06,160 Speaker 1: as as a compromise against him, essentially right, as though 441 00:26:06,359 --> 00:26:09,040 Speaker 1: they had like a sex taper. Think about what goes 442 00:26:09,119 --> 00:26:12,960 Speaker 1: down as like, you know, smear campaign stuff. Today, this 443 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:16,320 Speaker 1: is so tame it makes me laugh. I yearned for 444 00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:19,159 Speaker 1: the years when a picture with a pinball machine was 445 00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:22,320 Speaker 1: enough to get you out of a race. Yeah. Yeah, 446 00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:25,080 Speaker 1: I could see that. I could hear the conversation in 447 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:28,600 Speaker 1: households across America where they're like, well, you know, Kennedy's 448 00:26:29,760 --> 00:26:33,200 Speaker 1: Kennedy comes from a bootlegging family and he's a papist 449 00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:37,640 Speaker 1: and a pinballer. I hear the pinballer God forbid, Yeah, 450 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:41,240 Speaker 1: and and tangentially, this is just interesting. Um. There was 451 00:26:41,359 --> 00:26:44,320 Speaker 1: a guy named Jim Garrison who was a distrie attorney 452 00:26:44,359 --> 00:26:47,760 Speaker 1: of Orleans Parish who was like a kind of Kennedy 453 00:26:48,119 --> 00:26:53,240 Speaker 1: conspiracy truther. And he actually was indicted in nineteen seventy one. 454 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:58,280 Speaker 1: UM suspected and convicted of accepting bribes to protect illegal 455 00:26:58,359 --> 00:27:01,920 Speaker 1: pinball gaming in New Orleans. But he was he was 456 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:05,840 Speaker 1: found not guilty. Yeah, what were saying is pinball was 457 00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:08,200 Speaker 1: a big deal. It's tough to part this because the 458 00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:13,280 Speaker 1: truth of the matter is, yes, pinball was part of 459 00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:16,560 Speaker 1: the world of gambling, in the world of organized crime 460 00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:20,160 Speaker 1: for a time. It itself was just not an inherently 461 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:25,360 Speaker 1: uh sinful, wicked thing. It wasn't a vice. But wait, 462 00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:28,920 Speaker 1: you're saying, how on earth did pinball go from being 463 00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:32,920 Speaker 1: like visual shorthand of a of a bad character and 464 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:37,680 Speaker 1: film too, something that's seen as like cute even someone 465 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:44,560 Speaker 1: kitchen today that that switch occurs in the nineteen seventies. Uh, 466 00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:47,679 Speaker 1: for a couple of reasons. I believe it was seventy 467 00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:53,080 Speaker 1: For the Supreme Court in California apparently was having a 468 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:58,600 Speaker 1: slow day. Uh. They ruled that pinball was officially more 469 00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:02,399 Speaker 1: a game of skill and chance, and therefore it did 470 00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:07,680 Speaker 1: not qualify as a gambling device. So this overturned the 471 00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:11,880 Speaker 1: prohibition of pinball in Los Angeles. Very cool, big win 472 00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:16,320 Speaker 1: for pinball there, and then perfect timing. About five years later, 473 00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:19,920 Speaker 1: the zeitgeist really caught up with pinball um in a 474 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:25,280 Speaker 1: big way. Everyone knows the Who's rock opera Tommy about 475 00:28:25,359 --> 00:28:29,360 Speaker 1: a pinball Wizard, the titular character of the famous Who 476 00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:32,560 Speaker 1: song Pinball Wizard Um, and I love it. There's a 477 00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:34,360 Speaker 1: there's a line in the movie or in the song. 478 00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:36,400 Speaker 1: Maybe I've never fully known all the lyrics of the song, 479 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:40,640 Speaker 1: but apparently he's described as having crazy flipper fingers and 480 00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:42,840 Speaker 1: in the film. He's played by Elton John. He's wearing 481 00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:47,680 Speaker 1: these amazing platform shoes, super glam and it takes Pinball 482 00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:50,480 Speaker 1: out of the realm of like, you know, No Good 483 00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:54,840 Speaker 1: Nicks and into the realm of like glam rock, you know, superstardom. 484 00:28:55,320 --> 00:28:58,720 Speaker 1: Um and kids ate it up. Yeah, I was gonna 485 00:28:58,760 --> 00:29:00,840 Speaker 1: ask you about that too. Do you think that there's 486 00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:04,680 Speaker 1: a little bit of a little bit of extra legitimacy 487 00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:08,760 Speaker 1: because this was coming from the UK? You know what 488 00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:11,680 Speaker 1: I mean? Baby, Yeah, that's certainly a good point. I mean, 489 00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:16,160 Speaker 1: there was a certain mysticism applied to like, you know, 490 00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:19,320 Speaker 1: British rock and and and bands like the Who and 491 00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:22,400 Speaker 1: led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath and all that stuff. Uh, 492 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:26,240 Speaker 1: there were obviously American equivalent sort of but not not 493 00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:30,360 Speaker 1: quite as as mystical and like you know, um looming 494 00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:33,239 Speaker 1: large and the zeitgeis to some of these British bands. Uh, 495 00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:35,520 Speaker 1: that's very obviously kicked off with the Beatles in the 496 00:29:35,560 --> 00:29:37,440 Speaker 1: British invasion and all of that. So it's a really 497 00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:40,560 Speaker 1: good point. So yeah, I'm wondering if part of that 498 00:29:41,480 --> 00:29:47,520 Speaker 1: goes back to the uh, the longstanding American inferiority complex 499 00:29:47,720 --> 00:29:51,480 Speaker 1: about British things like our story about the actors and 500 00:29:51,520 --> 00:29:55,640 Speaker 1: the Shakespeare riots. You know, so maybe that played some 501 00:29:55,920 --> 00:29:59,600 Speaker 1: small role. But either way, putting the providence of Tommy 502 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:02,560 Speaker 1: a saw Hide, we know that it did exactly what 503 00:30:02,680 --> 00:30:06,280 Speaker 1: you described, nol. It put pinball a little bit further 504 00:30:06,720 --> 00:30:09,680 Speaker 1: away from its seedy reputation of the past and at 505 00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:13,360 Speaker 1: bit closer to mainstream because Tommy was successful and people 506 00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:16,680 Speaker 1: love the musical. Who doesn't love a good musical? And 507 00:30:16,760 --> 00:30:21,520 Speaker 1: then New York is in the midst of a bankruptcy 508 00:30:21,600 --> 00:30:25,800 Speaker 1: crisis yet again, that's one year later, that's ninety six. Uh, 509 00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:29,320 Speaker 1: the city council said, hey, maybe we should get rid 510 00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:35,360 Speaker 1: of that pinball band because movie theaters, bars, hotels, they 511 00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:39,200 Speaker 1: can all be making some serious coins, some literal serious coin, 512 00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:43,200 Speaker 1: and uh not everybody was on board. There was one 513 00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:47,280 Speaker 1: councilman from Queens who said, look, it appears the pinball 514 00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:51,400 Speaker 1: is innocent, but it will bring rampant vice and gambling 515 00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:54,320 Speaker 1: back to the city. So they had to they had 516 00:30:54,360 --> 00:30:57,400 Speaker 1: to try to prove to everyone, to the pinball skeptics, 517 00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:03,680 Speaker 1: that this was definitely no fooling, a real game of skill. 518 00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:15,280 Speaker 1: So enter Roger Sharpe. Um. This kid who well, I say, kid, 519 00:31:15,360 --> 00:31:17,160 Speaker 1: but he was an adult at this point. But he 520 00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:21,440 Speaker 1: had learned to play pinball very skillfully while he was 521 00:31:21,520 --> 00:31:27,240 Speaker 1: in college. Um on like black market pinball machines in 522 00:31:27,360 --> 00:31:29,400 Speaker 1: New York, you know, because they were they were against 523 00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:31,560 Speaker 1: the law, so he had to hone his skills and 524 00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:36,000 Speaker 1: like these secret back room pinball parlors or whatever. Um. 525 00:31:36,160 --> 00:31:39,240 Speaker 1: And there's actually a book from nineteen seventy seven that 526 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:45,360 Speaker 1: he wrote called Pinball Exclavation Mark um and uh. He 527 00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:48,200 Speaker 1: was a magazine editor by you know, by day and 528 00:31:48,320 --> 00:31:50,880 Speaker 1: a pinball wizard by by nine, because that's when you 529 00:31:50,920 --> 00:31:53,160 Speaker 1: play pinball is at night. It's definitely a nighttime game. 530 00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:57,160 Speaker 1: And on April two of nineteen seventy six, he stood 531 00:31:57,200 --> 00:31:59,200 Speaker 1: in front of a pinball machine in the New York 532 00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:08,160 Speaker 1: City Council Chambers and essentially demonstrated his skill in in 533 00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:11,400 Speaker 1: on the machine and showing how he could win. He could, 534 00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:15,800 Speaker 1: you know, play better than other people, as simple as that. 535 00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:18,240 Speaker 1: And he talked about some of his little tactics. And 536 00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:20,640 Speaker 1: I don't understand this fully, I guess he says, if 537 00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:22,760 Speaker 1: I pull the plunger back just right, the ball will 538 00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:25,280 Speaker 1: go down the center lane. So he's explaining to like 539 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:28,160 Speaker 1: pinball nubes, to just trying to demystify the thing and 540 00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:30,560 Speaker 1: show that, like we were talking about the beginning of 541 00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:33,280 Speaker 1: the show, you have to bounce the ball around using 542 00:32:33,320 --> 00:32:36,280 Speaker 1: those flippers, and it's about aim, and it's about trajectory 543 00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:38,480 Speaker 1: and how far you pull the plunger back. If you 544 00:32:38,520 --> 00:32:40,240 Speaker 1: just pull it back a little bit, it will go 545 00:32:40,280 --> 00:32:44,560 Speaker 1: a certain distance, etcetera. Um. And he seems to make 546 00:32:44,600 --> 00:32:47,560 Speaker 1: a pretty darn good case for it. Yeah, Yeah, there's 547 00:32:47,560 --> 00:32:50,200 Speaker 1: a really important thing that happens here. It's strange how 548 00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:54,920 Speaker 1: history hinges on such small moments. The fact that Roger 549 00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:59,280 Speaker 1: Sharp was able to in front of people predict where 550 00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:03,120 Speaker 1: the ball would go based on his actions. The fact 551 00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:05,840 Speaker 1: that he was able to do that was huge and 552 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:09,840 Speaker 1: persuading people that he wasn't just you know, rolling the dice. 553 00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:12,840 Speaker 1: We have to wonder what would have happened if he 554 00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:15,280 Speaker 1: had whipped it, If they had said, well, this sharp 555 00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:20,040 Speaker 1: kid is lying to us, then maybe there wouldn't have 556 00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:24,880 Speaker 1: been an overturn of the band. But when Sharp managed 557 00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:29,320 Speaker 1: to accurately predict that shot he took, the council was persuaded. 558 00:33:29,800 --> 00:33:33,760 Speaker 1: They got rid of that three decade long pinball band 559 00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:36,920 Speaker 1: and they were going to issue I think it was 560 00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:40,560 Speaker 1: a fifty dollar licensing fee on every pinball machine in 561 00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:44,680 Speaker 1: the city, which would bring them an estimated one point 562 00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:48,080 Speaker 1: five million dollars. So it also goes a long way 563 00:33:48,160 --> 00:33:51,600 Speaker 1: to helping their bankruptcy crisis. It's nuts thinking a single 564 00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:57,080 Speaker 1: a single shot. And once New York rolls this out again, 565 00:33:57,360 --> 00:34:00,360 Speaker 1: it's kind of like marijuana. Remember once call A Rotto 566 00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:05,440 Speaker 1: was selling marijuana. We're making so much money off of it, 567 00:34:05,720 --> 00:34:08,480 Speaker 1: and it became easier for other parts of the country 568 00:34:08,719 --> 00:34:11,480 Speaker 1: to uh to try to pursue the same thing, just 569 00:34:11,520 --> 00:34:13,800 Speaker 1: because they were following the money. And that's what happened 570 00:34:13,800 --> 00:34:15,960 Speaker 1: with a lot of other cities. And it's it's not 571 00:34:16,160 --> 00:34:19,440 Speaker 1: it's nineteen. It's just like the next year, right, nineteen 572 00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:26,840 Speaker 1: seventy seven, Chicago officially legalizes pinball. Imagine. Uh, I'm totally 573 00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:29,120 Speaker 1: making this up as unfounded speculation. I don't know if 574 00:34:29,120 --> 00:34:44,400 Speaker 1: we have a sound cue for that yet, but I 575 00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:48,120 Speaker 1: just loved the idea of like some mafia so sitting 576 00:34:48,160 --> 00:34:52,520 Speaker 1: around and their local uh, their local restaurant or front business, 577 00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:54,640 Speaker 1: they get the news about the pin ball and they 578 00:34:54,680 --> 00:34:58,279 Speaker 1: get up and they started like dancing and they roll 579 00:34:58,320 --> 00:35:01,160 Speaker 1: out the machines from the back. Well you have to 580 00:35:01,160 --> 00:35:04,080 Speaker 1: remember too, this was like right at the cusp of 581 00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:08,600 Speaker 1: like arcade machines coming into into prominence, things like pac 582 00:35:08,680 --> 00:35:11,680 Speaker 1: Man and Space Invaders and Paperboy and all of those 583 00:35:12,040 --> 00:35:13,600 Speaker 1: games that some of them are still a lot of 584 00:35:13,640 --> 00:35:15,719 Speaker 1: fun and do require skill. Some of them have not 585 00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:21,040 Speaker 1: aged well, but that was creating a demand for arcades 586 00:35:21,480 --> 00:35:24,400 Speaker 1: and with that, um, these kind of gussied up versions 587 00:35:24,440 --> 00:35:27,240 Speaker 1: of the old school pinball machines that now had TV 588 00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:29,719 Speaker 1: and movie tie ins like the ones we see today 589 00:35:29,760 --> 00:35:32,520 Speaker 1: like the Adams Family Pinball Machinery, Indiana Jones or whatever. 590 00:35:33,200 --> 00:35:35,960 Speaker 1: Unclear as to how you're playing of the pinball machine 591 00:35:36,040 --> 00:35:39,239 Speaker 1: makes you feel participatory in any kind of movie plot line. 592 00:35:39,280 --> 00:35:41,879 Speaker 1: They try, they try to force those little bits down 593 00:35:41,960 --> 00:35:44,279 Speaker 1: your throat, but again I never know how do I 594 00:35:44,400 --> 00:35:46,840 Speaker 1: do the thing? How do I like save the Galaxy 595 00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:49,960 Speaker 1: in the Guardians of the Galaxy pinball machine. But there's 596 00:35:49,960 --> 00:35:53,400 Speaker 1: still a lot of fun um and there absolutely are competitions, 597 00:35:53,680 --> 00:35:56,520 Speaker 1: and I think there's like a pinball museum. Then, didn't 598 00:35:56,560 --> 00:35:59,640 Speaker 1: you go I have not been to the museum. I 599 00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:01,920 Speaker 1: think it's is it in Vegas. Who went? Was it 600 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:04,719 Speaker 1: you Casey? I think it was Ramsey? Yep, yep, one 601 00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:09,880 Speaker 1: of our one of our colleagues. Here a ridiculous history. 602 00:36:10,440 --> 00:36:14,120 Speaker 1: Great guy Ramsey went to the Pinball Machine Museum. I 603 00:36:14,239 --> 00:36:16,640 Speaker 1: remember that because I was bummed I wasn't able to 604 00:36:16,760 --> 00:36:20,880 Speaker 1: make it. But but it's still there. I think you 605 00:36:21,080 --> 00:36:24,040 Speaker 1: should be able to visit it there. There's a great 606 00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:28,719 Speaker 1: documentary on Netflix about the early days of these arcade 607 00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:33,399 Speaker 1: games high score one that um that maybe yet Yeah, 608 00:36:34,760 --> 00:36:39,000 Speaker 1: the creation of the early electronic based games, right uh. 609 00:36:39,160 --> 00:36:44,239 Speaker 1: And what's fascinating about this is at the same time 610 00:36:44,400 --> 00:36:49,120 Speaker 1: pinball was gaining legitimacy, it was running up against these 611 00:36:49,680 --> 00:36:53,000 Speaker 1: electronic games, these digital games. And so you would go 612 00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:56,480 Speaker 1: into an arcade and you would see this more analog 613 00:36:56,719 --> 00:36:59,719 Speaker 1: pinball set up, but then you would also see video 614 00:36:59,800 --> 00:37:03,760 Speaker 1: game games. Audiences loved both, by the way, but people 615 00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:07,640 Speaker 1: who own the arcades light to the electronics stuff. Because 616 00:37:07,719 --> 00:37:10,399 Speaker 1: there were fewer repairs, they didn't take up as much 617 00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:15,160 Speaker 1: floor space. You can pack more stuff in. And that's 618 00:37:15,200 --> 00:37:19,400 Speaker 1: why you know, in the twenty one century, pinball is 619 00:37:19,520 --> 00:37:24,759 Speaker 1: becoming uh, increasingly rare. It's weirder and weirder to find 620 00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:26,640 Speaker 1: a machine, but I love a man. It's like high 621 00:37:26,680 --> 00:37:30,560 Speaker 1: speed putt putt on LSD. I don't know I'm doing. 622 00:37:30,840 --> 00:37:33,040 Speaker 1: You hit the right ball in the right place and 623 00:37:33,120 --> 00:37:37,399 Speaker 1: it's like propel. So yeah, but it has become more 624 00:37:37,640 --> 00:37:40,480 Speaker 1: niche kind of where there are like you know, in 625 00:37:40,680 --> 00:37:43,200 Speaker 1: bigger cities and like I went to one in Brooklyn. 626 00:37:43,239 --> 00:37:45,840 Speaker 1: Actually that was was really funny. It's actually a combination 627 00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:49,399 Speaker 1: laundromat and pinball emporium. Uh And it's got a little 628 00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:51,800 Speaker 1: bar and they just serve like beer and sold you. 629 00:37:52,160 --> 00:37:55,560 Speaker 1: Very strange but small place packed full of pinball machine 630 00:37:55,600 --> 00:37:57,680 Speaker 1: is very popular, but it has become more of like 631 00:37:57,800 --> 00:38:01,040 Speaker 1: a hipster thing or like you out, like what's old 632 00:38:01,160 --> 00:38:04,400 Speaker 1: is new again. They're like people that like Vinyl records. 633 00:38:04,440 --> 00:38:06,600 Speaker 1: They're like old school stuff. Not not to say that 634 00:38:06,719 --> 00:38:09,960 Speaker 1: sound like a grandpa. Vinyl is obviously incredible and going 635 00:38:10,040 --> 00:38:14,560 Speaker 1: through huge resurgence and it absolutely, uh objectively sounds great. 636 00:38:14,880 --> 00:38:17,320 Speaker 1: But there is that kind of niche like people that 637 00:38:17,440 --> 00:38:19,880 Speaker 1: only want to play any s games, or people that 638 00:38:20,040 --> 00:38:22,520 Speaker 1: like you know, insist on having a Nintendo sixty four, 639 00:38:22,640 --> 00:38:25,680 Speaker 1: all these like old school systems. Pinball kind of occupies 640 00:38:25,760 --> 00:38:28,000 Speaker 1: that niche, and I know they still make new ones, 641 00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:30,239 Speaker 1: but I have a feeling it's probably much less so 642 00:38:30,360 --> 00:38:33,520 Speaker 1: because you're right, then they're very They're like clockwork. You know, 643 00:38:33,640 --> 00:38:36,160 Speaker 1: there's all these moving parts and you have to get 644 00:38:36,200 --> 00:38:39,080 Speaker 1: them serviced. And you know what a nightmare that must 645 00:38:39,120 --> 00:38:41,640 Speaker 1: be when you could just literally have a firmware update 646 00:38:41,719 --> 00:38:44,080 Speaker 1: for your arcade machine and then you're done. Have you 647 00:38:44,200 --> 00:38:47,040 Speaker 1: ever seen the innerds like the bat? Have you ever 648 00:38:47,160 --> 00:38:49,400 Speaker 1: opened the back of a pinball machine? See what looks like? 649 00:38:49,600 --> 00:38:52,160 Speaker 1: Oh but it must it must just be incredibly complex. 650 00:38:52,280 --> 00:38:55,440 Speaker 1: It's like steampunk man, at least based on my memories. 651 00:38:56,440 --> 00:39:00,239 Speaker 1: You're You're right, it is. It has acquired a new 652 00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:03,880 Speaker 1: life as a kind of novelty. There was for a 653 00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:06,800 Speaker 1: time just this great bar that I miss here in 654 00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:09,960 Speaker 1: Atlanta called Joystick. I loved it because it was this 655 00:39:10,600 --> 00:39:13,560 Speaker 1: is this very nerdy adult moment for me when I 656 00:39:13,760 --> 00:39:18,440 Speaker 1: was like, Wow, how strange life is from the pinball 657 00:39:18,520 --> 00:39:24,640 Speaker 1: barn to the pin bar. I guess it's true. And 658 00:39:24,719 --> 00:39:27,160 Speaker 1: if any listeners, I'm sure you already know about this place. 659 00:39:27,239 --> 00:39:29,560 Speaker 1: But one of the coolest ones I've ever been to 660 00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:33,640 Speaker 1: is in Los Angeles. It's called Button Masher and they 661 00:39:33,880 --> 00:39:36,920 Speaker 1: have like every cabinet machine you could ever think of, 662 00:39:37,200 --> 00:39:39,279 Speaker 1: but also have a really like a whole room. I 663 00:39:39,320 --> 00:39:42,080 Speaker 1: think it's nothing but pinball machines, and um, it's it's 664 00:39:42,239 --> 00:39:44,279 Speaker 1: it's quite a large place. It's it's really cool. If 665 00:39:44,280 --> 00:39:46,359 Speaker 1: you haven't been there, I recommend checking it out. There's 666 00:39:46,400 --> 00:39:49,560 Speaker 1: another great win in Chicago I went to a number 667 00:39:49,600 --> 00:39:52,520 Speaker 1: of years ago. There's one I didn't go to in Portland. 668 00:39:53,040 --> 00:39:55,600 Speaker 1: I'm not going to name names. I didn't go because 669 00:39:56,400 --> 00:39:57,960 Speaker 1: when I was in Portland, I was looking for a 670 00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:00,120 Speaker 1: place to go and I saw this and I thought, oh, 671 00:40:00,360 --> 00:40:03,160 Speaker 1: you know, a barcade and uh. I started reading the 672 00:40:03,280 --> 00:40:05,440 Speaker 1: reviews and they were like, watch out. This is a 673 00:40:05,560 --> 00:40:09,399 Speaker 1: hub of white supremacists, which I was not expecting from 674 00:40:09,719 --> 00:40:13,680 Speaker 1: a pinball place. But you know, you never know. Uh. 675 00:40:14,160 --> 00:40:16,719 Speaker 1: If you are a pinball fan, if you are a 676 00:40:16,800 --> 00:40:23,600 Speaker 1: pinball player and you want to relive those glory days 677 00:40:23,760 --> 00:40:27,560 Speaker 1: of winning cash and prizes in the world of pinball, 678 00:40:28,080 --> 00:40:30,880 Speaker 1: then why not consider joining forces with what's called the 679 00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:35,800 Speaker 1: International Flipper Pinball Association. They're the ones who run the 680 00:40:35,840 --> 00:40:39,560 Speaker 1: World Pinball Player Ranking, which is a thing, and there's 681 00:40:39,640 --> 00:40:43,279 Speaker 1: serious money here. There are almost two thousand pinball tournaments 682 00:40:43,680 --> 00:40:46,560 Speaker 1: every year across the US, and they offer more than 683 00:40:46,600 --> 00:40:52,000 Speaker 1: one million dollars in cash and prizes, as as noted 684 00:40:52,120 --> 00:40:55,319 Speaker 1: by by this great article in History dot com Boy 685 00:40:55,800 --> 00:40:59,440 Speaker 1: Mayor La Guardia would be steamed about that. Yeah, absolutely, 686 00:40:59,560 --> 00:41:02,279 Speaker 1: rolling grave And if you know, for whatever reason you 687 00:41:02,680 --> 00:41:06,239 Speaker 1: you would like to do a little pinball ask gambling. 688 00:41:06,640 --> 00:41:10,719 Speaker 1: Uh Pachinko in Japan and elsewhere in the world still 689 00:41:10,840 --> 00:41:13,680 Speaker 1: very very popular, and games like Plinko that you do 690 00:41:13,719 --> 00:41:15,880 Speaker 1: you shoot the ball up and and it shoots up 691 00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:17,920 Speaker 1: into this it's upright. Actually, I don't know if that's 692 00:41:17,960 --> 00:41:20,320 Speaker 1: what the I think probably the original pinball machines that 693 00:41:20,360 --> 00:41:23,240 Speaker 1: we're talking about, we're still like laying out like a table, 694 00:41:23,320 --> 00:41:25,080 Speaker 1: but these are upright and you shoot the ball and 695 00:41:25,120 --> 00:41:26,680 Speaker 1: then it or maybe you push a button and it 696 00:41:26,800 --> 00:41:29,240 Speaker 1: drops down and then it like ping bing ming mingming, 697 00:41:29,320 --> 00:41:31,160 Speaker 1: makes a little sounds and it goes down and then 698 00:41:31,480 --> 00:41:33,440 Speaker 1: you know, it lands in a certain little slot at 699 00:41:33,440 --> 00:41:35,520 Speaker 1: the bottom, and that's how you you make your your money. 700 00:41:35,840 --> 00:41:40,000 Speaker 1: Um Nicolas Cage actually has done a fantastic series of 701 00:41:40,400 --> 00:41:46,440 Speaker 1: television commercials exclusively in Japan for this uh pachinko company 702 00:41:46,560 --> 00:41:50,080 Speaker 1: called Sanchio, I believe. So if you want a real treat, 703 00:41:50,200 --> 00:41:53,080 Speaker 1: check out Nicolas Cages Pachinko commercials. You can watch them 704 00:41:53,120 --> 00:41:55,640 Speaker 1: all in like a super cut on YouTube and they're delightful. 705 00:41:56,040 --> 00:41:59,799 Speaker 1: And if you are in Oakland now in good news 706 00:42:00,000 --> 00:42:03,920 Speaker 1: as you can play pinball. The weird news is pinball 707 00:42:04,040 --> 00:42:07,960 Speaker 1: was banned in Oakland up until like one of those 708 00:42:08,200 --> 00:42:11,520 Speaker 1: dusty on the book's laws that getting on the sidewalk 709 00:42:11,600 --> 00:42:14,839 Speaker 1: or whatever, it was like owning your spouse's hair or something. 710 00:42:14,960 --> 00:42:18,760 Speaker 1: I don't think anybody ever seriously enforced it. Somebody discovered 711 00:42:18,800 --> 00:42:21,120 Speaker 1: it and they were like, oh ha ha, here's our 712 00:42:21,200 --> 00:42:25,239 Speaker 1: story for a slow news day, and so there you 713 00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:28,759 Speaker 1: have it, folks. Uh, pinball used to be maybe not 714 00:42:28,880 --> 00:42:33,400 Speaker 1: public enemy number one, but definitely like the rogues gallery 715 00:42:33,760 --> 00:42:36,880 Speaker 1: of public enemies in the in the moral panic fiber 716 00:42:37,000 --> 00:42:40,920 Speaker 1: of the US. That's right, how far we've come, how 717 00:42:41,040 --> 00:42:45,279 Speaker 1: far we've come? Um. I really enjoyed digging into this story. 718 00:42:45,320 --> 00:42:48,440 Speaker 1: I didn't know any of this stuff. I always, you know, 719 00:42:48,560 --> 00:42:51,960 Speaker 1: thought about the classic kind of greaser image and and 720 00:42:52,080 --> 00:42:53,360 Speaker 1: the you know, but I just thought that was just 721 00:42:53,360 --> 00:42:56,120 Speaker 1: because like arcades were places that, like all ages, kids 722 00:42:56,200 --> 00:42:58,640 Speaker 1: could hang out and skip school at or whatever. I 723 00:42:58,920 --> 00:43:01,759 Speaker 1: didn't associate much differently from like the Putt putt of 724 00:43:01,840 --> 00:43:05,080 Speaker 1: our youth, et cetera. But very interesting to know. And 725 00:43:05,200 --> 00:43:08,480 Speaker 1: and another reason why the Pinball Museum in Vegas it's 726 00:43:08,480 --> 00:43:12,040 Speaker 1: probably a fascinating place because this is a game with 727 00:43:12,200 --> 00:43:16,040 Speaker 1: a history, um that you can really track this attitude 728 00:43:16,080 --> 00:43:19,160 Speaker 1: and the changing technology, but also the changing way that 729 00:43:19,280 --> 00:43:22,880 Speaker 1: pinball was perceived. Agreed, Agreed, This is this is a 730 00:43:23,000 --> 00:43:29,800 Speaker 1: fascinating look into a uh somewhat overlooked part of American history. 731 00:43:30,480 --> 00:43:33,920 Speaker 1: We hope you enjoyed today's episode. Please tune in for 732 00:43:34,200 --> 00:43:37,640 Speaker 1: our upcoming episode, by the way, where we do something 733 00:43:37,880 --> 00:43:43,359 Speaker 1: completely different. Uh. No spoilers, well, no serious spoilers, but uh, 734 00:43:43,719 --> 00:43:47,360 Speaker 1: spaghetti not in the way you think. Definitely spaghetti, definitely 735 00:43:47,400 --> 00:43:49,760 Speaker 1: not in the way you think. Uh. Thanks as always 736 00:43:49,800 --> 00:43:53,840 Speaker 1: to our superproducer Casey pegram thinks, of course, as always 737 00:43:53,880 --> 00:43:58,200 Speaker 1: to Alex Williams, who composed that that slam and jam 738 00:43:58,560 --> 00:44:01,040 Speaker 1: you hear at the beginning are very pinball theme music, 739 00:44:01,280 --> 00:44:05,840 Speaker 1: exactly huge thanks to Christophrosciota is here in spirit, Gabe Lousier, 740 00:44:06,280 --> 00:44:11,719 Speaker 1: Research Associate Extraordinaire, Jonathan Strickland, the notorious quister. I wonder 741 00:44:11,760 --> 00:44:14,080 Speaker 1: if he's any good at pinball. He seems like you 742 00:44:14,680 --> 00:44:18,160 Speaker 1: think he's got a collection in his like villainous lair. 743 00:44:18,400 --> 00:44:21,200 Speaker 1: I would like to think that. I'm sure he I'm 744 00:44:21,239 --> 00:44:25,080 Speaker 1: sure he's played people. If I would bet all the 745 00:44:25,200 --> 00:44:27,719 Speaker 1: nickels in my house that he's done an episode on 746 00:44:27,880 --> 00:44:31,319 Speaker 1: pinball for tech stuff, I also would bet that all 747 00:44:31,400 --> 00:44:36,080 Speaker 1: the pinball machines in his collection are Shakespeare themed. Oh boy, 748 00:44:36,440 --> 00:44:40,520 Speaker 1: that's that's a lot the Taming of the Shrew the 749 00:44:40,600 --> 00:44:45,800 Speaker 1: pinball machine, right, Oh Hamlet. To tilt or not to tilt? 750 00:44:46,000 --> 00:44:49,160 Speaker 1: That is the question. Uh. We also want to direct 751 00:44:49,239 --> 00:44:53,919 Speaker 1: you to uh Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, where you can find 752 00:44:53,960 --> 00:44:57,200 Speaker 1: our show. Honestly, there's not a lot of gas in 753 00:44:57,280 --> 00:45:01,080 Speaker 1: the Instagram and Twitter feeds of the official Ridiculous Historians, 754 00:45:01,320 --> 00:45:04,719 Speaker 1: so we like to recommend the Facebook page Ridiculous Historians. Uh. 755 00:45:04,840 --> 00:45:06,560 Speaker 1: If you want to meet our favorite part of the show, 756 00:45:06,760 --> 00:45:09,399 Speaker 1: which is you and your fellow listeners, you can also 757 00:45:09,440 --> 00:45:12,160 Speaker 1: find us as individuals. That's right. I am at how 758 00:45:12,239 --> 00:45:16,839 Speaker 1: Now Noel Brown exclusively on Instagram, and I am at 759 00:45:16,920 --> 00:45:21,640 Speaker 1: Ben Bolan on Instagram at Ben Bowling hs W on Twitter. 760 00:45:22,040 --> 00:45:23,600 Speaker 1: I know we gotta wrap up. But this is this 761 00:45:23,640 --> 00:45:26,160 Speaker 1: is something I wanted to ask you guys about. Like, 762 00:45:28,120 --> 00:45:30,719 Speaker 1: I always thought it was so unfair that pinball tables were, 763 00:45:30,880 --> 00:45:34,120 Speaker 1: you know, big and clunky and expensive. It reminded me 764 00:45:34,200 --> 00:45:36,560 Speaker 1: of growing up when I have friends who have pool 765 00:45:36,600 --> 00:45:39,200 Speaker 1: tables and it would be like, wow, you're terrible at pool. 766 00:45:39,239 --> 00:45:41,719 Speaker 1: I'm like, yeah, dude, I'm eight. I don't have one 767 00:45:41,760 --> 00:45:43,960 Speaker 1: of these at my house. Do you ever feel that 768 00:45:44,000 --> 00:45:45,640 Speaker 1: way about stuff? We had a we had a pool 769 00:45:45,680 --> 00:45:48,800 Speaker 1: table at in my basement at my parents house, and 770 00:45:48,840 --> 00:45:50,840 Speaker 1: I was still pretty bad at pool. I just didn't 771 00:45:51,080 --> 00:45:53,239 Speaker 1: take to the game very much. What about bumper pool? 772 00:45:53,239 --> 00:45:54,759 Speaker 1: Do you guys even know what that is? I don't 773 00:45:54,880 --> 00:45:57,319 Speaker 1: understand now, I don't think so. I think it's it's 774 00:45:57,520 --> 00:46:01,040 Speaker 1: it's pool with uh with a little class tick obstacles, right. 775 00:46:01,400 --> 00:46:02,879 Speaker 1: I think that might be right. But there's a reason 776 00:46:02,920 --> 00:46:05,600 Speaker 1: you gotta hit the It's almost like pool and pinball 777 00:46:05,760 --> 00:46:07,520 Speaker 1: combined because I think you have to hit the little 778 00:46:07,560 --> 00:46:10,040 Speaker 1: bumper things or something. I don't know. Let us know, 779 00:46:10,120 --> 00:46:13,840 Speaker 1: a bumper pool is? Um? Is it snooker? Snooker is just, 780 00:46:14,000 --> 00:46:16,480 Speaker 1: I believe, just what the Brits called pool. But I 781 00:46:16,520 --> 00:46:18,600 Speaker 1: don't know. There may be maybe it's a different style 782 00:46:18,640 --> 00:46:21,760 Speaker 1: of the game, but um, I don't know. Let us know, folks. 783 00:46:22,040 --> 00:46:25,320 Speaker 1: What is snooker? What is bumper pool? What kind of 784 00:46:25,400 --> 00:46:28,520 Speaker 1: pinball machines do you like? What's your favorite game? We'll 785 00:46:28,560 --> 00:46:37,160 Speaker 1: see you next time, folks. For more podcasts for my 786 00:46:37,239 --> 00:46:39,840 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, 787 00:46:40,000 --> 00:46:42,080 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.