Coin Slot

Coin Slot Magazine - #074 - 1981 - April [International Arcade Museum]
When the pinball industry began in the early thirties, the
(Win, Place, or Show) in which his ball landed. Since the
main competition to the fledgling pinball machines were
chances of the ball reaching the lower sections of the
the three reel slot machines, commonly referred to as "bell
machines." Slot machines were still legal in many areas of
ing into one of the top holes, the odds for Win were
the country at that time and were a major product of the
highest, Place a little lower, and Show the lowest.
coin machine industry.
Slot
machine
playfield without dropping into a hole were less than it go
In most of the early games the first coin deposited would
players
deposited
many
coins
in
a
light number 1 and select a set of odds. Additional coins
relatively short period of time as opposed to pinball in
could then
which a game of 5 or 10 balls — at a penny or a nickel a
(generally in order) and to possibly advance the odds. A
be deposited to light additional numbers,
game — lasted a minute or two. The introduction of
player could therefore cause all the numbers (generally
electricity (first from batteries and then A.C.) into pinball
referred to as "selections") to be winners ,but could still
during the 1934-36 period made possible a new concept in
"lose" if his "winnings" were less than the number of coins
pinball design, the "multiple coin" pinball. In this type of
initially deposited.
pingame the player could deposit more than one coin, if
Shortly after Daily Races, Bally — who was to become
desired, before starting the game to increase his chances
the major producer of multiple coin
of winning.
troduced their first multi-section playfield game, Hialeah.
In addition,
in
most of these games, the
machines — in
number of balls per game was decreased to one and these
By the end of 1936, a fourth section (usually called PURSE)
games were soon referred to as "one ball machines."
was added, and most one ball machines from then on had
MULTIPLE COIN POPULAR
——■■
HHI^HHHi
four-section playfields.
The two elements — the increase in
the number of coins played per game
and the reduction in the number of
balls from five or ten to one — made
the operator's earnings from the new
type of pingame more comparable to
those
from
the
bell
slot
machine.
(Note: some one ball pinball games
were made with single coin operation
before the
introduction
of multiple
coin games).
RACY THEMES
MULTIPLE
COIN
PINBALL
MACHINES
One of the early multiple coin
pingames was
The years between 1936 and the
start of World War II saw much ad
vance in the technical development of
these machines but the playfields and
backglasses (except for the taller
backboards) changed very little. Most
of these machines had a horse race
motif with the "number" (1 through 7
on
almost
all
machines)
cor
responding to horse "selections" in a
race and the "odds" displayed on the
Bally's Derby which
backboard
corresponding
to
the
came out in late 1935. This game had
"winnings" on the horse — depending
a series of numbered holes on the
on where it placed in the race — 1st,
playfield.
The
short
backglass
has
2nd, 3rd or 4th.
By
RUSS JENSEN
these numbers listed in a horizontal
row directly above a window behind
which was a rotating cylinder with
Some games
Awards
markings on it indicating the value
corresponding to each of the holes.
Each time a coin was inserted this
cylinder would rotate and a different
set
of values would
appear.
The
player therefore could deposit extra
coins
before shooting
his
ball
in
hopes of obtaining higher values for
the playfield holes. Most of the early
multiple coin machines followed this
had
other themes
such as baseball, and Gottlieb's 1937
had
a
motion
picture
Academy Awards theme.
We are very happy to have another
article from Russ Jensen on pinballs.
It will be a regular feature in The Coin
Slot.
This article, in somewhat different
form, originally appeared In AMUSE
MENT
REVIEW
Magazine,
1853
Ashby Ave., Berkeley, CA 94703.
"changing odds" format.
One significant change made in the
operation of these machines was a
change in what each additional coin
would do. Instead of each additional
coin lighting one additional selection,
later
one
balls
offered
a
random
selection or selections with each ad
ditional coin — from one to possibly
all selections could be lit with each
coin inserted.
Then, in early 1936, Gotlieb introduced Daily Races
The physical appearance of one ball machines, while
which was to set the pattern for almost all one-ball multiple
generally similar to other pinball games, differed mainly in
coin machines for the next fifteen years. (It's interesting to
the massive cabinets. Instead of individual legs most one
note that Gottlieb used the name Daily Races again on
balls had the front and back of the cabinet touching the
their last one ball machine made in the late forties.)
floor. The artwork on the cabinets (as well as the backglass
The 1936 Daily Races had the playfield divided into
of the
com
.
m
:
u
playfield), PLACE (in the center),
and
at
the
top
SHOW.
m
e
mus
d fro d 8 e consecutively
Each of the sections contained
numbered
-
e
d
a panels corresponding to
oa had .a lighted
holes. The backglass
l
c
r
n
ow numbers
each of D
these
ww and additional panels to indicate
w
/
/
:
the "odds" to
be
won
for each number in each of the three
p
htt
three
sections
labeled
WIN
(near the
bottom
and playfield) were usually based on horse racing scenes.
The names of most of these games were those of famous
race horses, race tracks, or other racy terms.
From the end of World War II to the end of the "one ball
era" (1951), several "come on" features were added to
these games. One of these new ways to attract players was
generally called a "spell name" feature. When this feature
sections of the playfield. In order to win, a player had to get
was
his one ball into a hole whose corresponding number on
(sometimes labeled "L" and "R", for left and right, or by
the backglass was lit. If he succeeded, he would win
some "horsey" name such as "boot and saddle"), were ad-
whatever the lit odds were for the section of the playfield
Continued on page 24
© APRIL
The International
Arcade Museum
1981
incorporated
into
a
game,
two
additional
holes
http://www.arcade-museum.com/
THE COIN SLOT — 23