Photos from inside Bally Manufacturing. These come from a 1937 profile on pinball, about a year after the game's operation was banned in Chicago. That doesn't stop business!

At the famous 1939 New York World's Fair, Bally set up an exhibit of their bumper-powered pinball games at the penny arcade on the premises. Of course, a little over two years later, pinball would be officially expelled from New York.

Cap off International Women’s Day with this thread and tribute to an early pinball legend. Meet Babe Kaufman — America’s Only Woman Jobber!

They say it's the season for scary games. What better time to play Spook Gun by Bally? A Dale Gun-style game advertised for its "junior" quality, the novelty of sniping the undead has never really gotten old.

Getyer popcorn here! Popmatic Mfg Co. was one of the premiere popcorn makers in the 1930s. This model, Popmaticorn, is a beautiful example of vending machines from whence came the classic Coke dispenser.

IT'S MONTY PYTH- Oh, wait... Ahem: Ruffler & Walker's FLYING CIRCUS on the scene. A curious electro-mechanical model game with a unique acrobatic theme.

Coin-op in the 1960s was a technological frontier; many companies explored its potential. DuKane Industries was a rather fascinating radio manufacturer that went way back who decided to get involved then. Check out this podcast for more info on their story: www.stcmuseum.org/podcast/2023...

We say goodbye to another Sega legend gone all too soon. You can see him in this photo, circa 1979-early 1980s, as one of the Japanese Sega liaisons learning programming from the staff at Gremlin Industries.

An absolutely gorgeous set of pages advertising Rock-Ola's 1937 equipment - including two of their latter-30s hit games. Part of the wonderful scans being done by @cpi.pinball.horse archive.org/details/coin...

A beautiful game from just before the U.S. involvement in WWII - Sky Fighter by International Mutoscope. While less iconic than Keeney's machine gun, its self-contained design would presage the likes of the Dale Gun and Periscope in years to come.

Out there to red rid of the snow and ice... Why not treat yourself with a visit to the Winter Book? Sure, it may just be a horse race roulette machine, but when else could I talk about it?

Basketball always needs a good-sized cabinet. Here's a beaut from Richman Corp, Set-Shot Basketball.

A classic early "maze" type game, the well-named Tilt Test from Atlas Games. There are some concepts that no modern technology can really improve.

Among the first coin-op amusements ever with an official media license, Nakamura Seisakusho's Obake no Q-Taro kiddie rides established the company as a force to be reckoned with in Japan's rooftop amusement scene.

A 19th century coin-op machine catalog from the long-forgotten Clawson Company. A wide variety of novelties, trade stimulators, and vending machines right at the dawn of the penny arcade.

Panzer Attack by Midway rolls into position! A sophisticated EM game from the post-video era bringing the WWII thrills.

Perhaps I was a bit cheeky in defining the Automatic Entertainer as the "first jukebox". The jukebox means more than a multi-selection phonograph, and it grew out of a very specific set of technologies in the 20th century. This time, we'll be more specific: How electric sound created the jukebox.

David Rosen, who helped create Sega and changed the coin-op industry forever, has passed away. www.replaymag.com/segas-dave-r... An absolute titan in video game history. May he rest in peace.

A Happy New Year to all! May you find amusement - in all its forms - just around the corner.

One of the companies that popped up at the dawn of the pinball boom in California was distributor National Amusement Co.

Invention is an odd thing. Sometimes, a new idea changes the world in an instant. Other times, you often wonder why it didn't take off at the start. For decades, the coin-op industry was defined by the jukebox. And this is the start of it: The Gabel Automatic Entertainer.

This week on Our Lost Arcade, we'll be looking at the very first multi-selection phonograph: Or Jukebox, if you prefer.

Getting coin-op equipment across the country is no easy feat! Here's a traincar full of jukeboxes in Depression era Cincinnati showing the whole enterprise. Check out more 30s goodness in the latest collection from @cpi.pinball.horse : pinballnovice.blogspot.com/2025/12/scan...

Sometimes, you just need a little... Oomph! This rather strange double-playfield all-win by Daval Products gives a pachinko vibe with its flick-style launcher. And don't miss out on that salacious art... Sometimes tells me they didn't put these around schools.

Roll in the Barrel! In the grand slew of skee-ball-alikes, this may be one of the smallest. They made it darned cheat proof as well with a very narrow hole for shooting. Would this have been any fun?

中村製作所、1970年広告 (レジャー産業資料 1970年1月号より) #Namco #1970 #arcade #arcadecabinet #classicarcade #retrogame #obslive

The War comes and goes. Digital computer technology enters the world - first through relays, then solid-state circuits. EMI moves into music - or something. Spotlight Golf is forgotten; the few surviving units traded around Britain in auctions and classifieds.

Apologies for the issues with the photos in the last thread - apparently this just happens sometimes and it doesn't correct itself. Will try uploading it again tomorrow.

The latest Origin of Game article is live! Pleased to bring you yet another of the great Japanese arcade companies. Nick did a great job digging into sources and context to forge this riveting tale of true entrepreneurship under difficult circumstances.

Spotlight Golf contained very state-of-the-art technology for its time, which enabled it to create a unique gameplay experience. According to the Australasian Golf Museum, this tech qualifies it as the "first computer game" and maybe the first electronic computer. Let's investigate this.

Taito is searching for a working Crown 602 crane game. soranews24.com/2025/11/12/m... I have to note that this was not the first crane game in Japan, and the design itself was based on an Italian model (see @cpi.pinball.horse): earlyarcadesjapan.blogspot.com/2024/03/jagu...

Britain in the mid-1930s does not seem like a time or place of leisure innovation with the circumstances of war in Europe, yet it proved a fertile ground for the evolution of #arcade games. Today we'll look at one of the most fascinating games from this period: Spotlight Golf!

7 more scans of The Billboard are now up! This concludes the large box of incredibly rare (though crumbling) Billboard magazines I was given at Ontario Pinfest. 1935-1946 represented, huge range pinballnovice.blogspot.com/2025/11/scan... #pinball #retroarcade #scans #slotmachines #skeeball

Another game capitalizing on war-time anxiety: Ace Bomber by International Mutoscope! Lighting up the sky with artillery fire as in the Battle of Britain, this was among the most sophisticated war "simulators" before America was confronted with the real thing.

Don't climb on the #pinball! Well, if you have to, make sure there's stirrups. Some lovely promotional pics for J. H. Keeney's Stable Mate as pointed out by @ftb1979.bsky.social

The post-war period carried on some of the frugality of the war days, with conversion kits for popular titles being an open opportunity for smaller manufacturers. Bag-A-Bunny replaced Seeburg light gun games like Ray-o-Lite and Chicken Sam, hopefully bringing vitality to forgotten machines.

Passed only just last year, Stanley Jarocki was one of the leading marketing magnates of the coin-op industry in the pre-video era. At Seeburg, he was an enthusiastic advocate for new locations and ideas for jukeboxes. At Midway, he helped heighten the video game revolution.

Gambling could hardly be simpler than Ad-Lee's Kings Horses. Put in your penny, choose your horse, and collect from the owner. Definitely no rigging or jipping involved.

In a special treat at Pinball Expo, I even got to play the famed Baffle Ball (often inaccurately dubbed the first pinball) - which many will remember from Microsoft Pinball Arcade. It plays distinctly differently than the tables that come right after it; was a thrill to get my hands on it.

Another from pinball expo: The remarkable, rare, fully-mechanical table Army and Navy by Rock-Ola. This themed pin replicates the yardage of an American football game with a clever carriage system and snappy play action.

The pre-War selection at Pinball Expo was incredible! One of the coolest machines was the 1935 Seeburg Hockey table - the original game that likely inspired Pong decades later.

I'm at Pinball Expo! Say hello if you see me.

I wrote up a more formal version of this examination of the slot machine myth on Reddit, in case anybody needs some proper citations. www.reddit.com/r/AskHistori...

Words from Taito founder Michael Kogan, long passed, about the importance of history. If only he'd actually written anything down...

Wartime could be scoretime if you played your cards right. With no care for the veneer of treaties, Bally unleashed several combat-themed light gun games in the few years before the war to capitalize on public sentiment.

One of the earliest "themed" games, the trade stimulator Dewey by Mills Novelty venerated the recent war hero of Manila Bay, George Dewey. These stylish and grand machines were of the early generation of gambling, before the tabletop games.

Some follow-up research on the early Sportland arcades! While the Hobby House was the prototype of the Sportland, we didn't know when the first location dubbed "Sportland" opened. Thanks to the local Long Island newspaper, we can now answer that it first opened in July 1931.

A quiz for you: What pioneering coin-op machine released mid-decade drove electro-mechanical amusements into new locations and pushed a new coin price for games? Would you believe that it happened twice? These are the bizarre, parallel tales of the quiz game booms in the 40s and 60s.

Iconic war-time coin-op ads.

Let's take a look back exactly 100 years ago at what coin machines were being advertised in Billboard, September 19, 1925. Wee Gee by Boyce Coin machine was a penny drop machine with a fortune telling gimmick - and a very funny name.