Rock-Ola Pintables
Part one
By David Lavender
Although the origins of modem pinball can be traced back in Europe and America to the
tum of the century and earlier, the ball really started rolling, so to speak, with a craze for
little counter-top pintables in America in the early l 930's. D Gottlieb & Co.'s Bingo
(1931) and Baffle Ball (1931), and Bally Manufacturing Co.'s Ballyhoo (1932) led the
way, and set those two Chicago companies on their way to pinball dominance.
The term "pinball" sounds a little odd today, in view of the conspicuous absence of
pins on modem machines, but was very apt originally. These pretty little wooden boxes
with their nail beds and numbered holes remind us how starved of amusement
Americans were during the Depression. Prohibition was still in force; payout gambling
machines were obliged to keep a low profile; television still had technical hurdles to
overcome, and besides, few had money in their pockets for more elaborate forms of
entertainment.
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