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enjoyable. There were games
such as Cow-Poke, Subway; and
Majorettes. They planted the seed
which would grow years later
when I began my research for
Pinball!.
It was only when I started to
research the industry via inter-
views and old publications that I
finally discovered just what a
major role Gottlieb had played in
the very existence and perpetua-
tion of the coin-operated amuse-
ment business. Here was a true
family operation led by a strong
and dynamic personality-David
Gottlieb.
Born in Milwaukee, David
Gottlieb was running punch
boards in the oil fields of Texas
back in the 1920s. Short in height
(5-foot six), but not stature, this
young man in his early 20s would
travel from town to town in the
cabooses of freight trains. He slept
in cheap hotels with a gun under
his pillow and a dresser pushed up
against the door.
When movies became the new
form of entertainment Gottlieb
began showing D.W. Griffith films
such as "Intolerance" and "Birth of
a Nation" to every town he came
to, sometimes setting up his own
projector in a town hall when no
other facilities were available.
Moving back to Chicago to set up
business with his brother SoL David
Gottlieb saw a new opportunity
and seized the moment.
Was~Bool<.. Foft- Wt~NER.~ ~ 1- - - - - - - - 1
-/"' -, I JII/Cf
V•s•-r~ 'Bo6-r"'~zo,.~·~"2.020
,,-,c1-, ~_,-,c _, An industry's birth
It was late in 1931,
ArAMOA :I"tJ"r. E.~\Tto...l 2~ E.f'ouaTK AvE COL.vMeus,O..Lt-321?
,_u
and after
having manufactured various
" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . . - novelty machines, including the
Husky-Grip Tester and the
Majestic Moving Target, Gottlieb
Change hard to accept
very lifeblood and evolution of the produced a little countertop game
WelL somehow I can accept a business. Now, Bally is the only called Baffle Ball and a new indus-
Cassius Clay changing to Muham- corporate name which remains try was humbly born. Enlisting the
mad Ali or even Lew Alcindor from Depression days.
help of his brother, his wife, and his
When I first discovered coin-op wife's brother, David Gottlieb had
becoming Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,
but somehow I can't readily swal- games in my adult life, the primary his company producing up to 400
low this change.
attraction was pinball. And the machines a day with operations
Gottlieb just meant and means, company with the games that I normally running around the
too much to just let it get cast aside found so special was D. Gottlieb &
clock.
without some type of review and Co. I knew nothing about the
As the popularity of these new
salute to a company and a family manufacturer. and even less novelty games increased, so too
which not only symbolized the about the industry, but as a player did the number of individuals who
amusement game industry, but I knew what I liked and Gottlieb were drawn in the industry with
also became synonymous with the pins always seemed to be the most expectations of capitalizing on the
614-252-8878
10
PLAY METER. November 15, 1984·
' I
1