Automatic Age

November, 1986
191
AUTOMATIC AGE
ties of the Skee Ball— unanimous be­
lief that it would rival the famous
Wurlitzer-Simplex phonograph as a
big money-maker.
Wurlitzer Skee Ball In
Northwest Debut
Claim ’36 Will Be
“Preakness” Year
W e ster n W a s h in g to n op era tor s g athered at the N e w W a s h in g t o n
Hotel, Seattle, for
a gala ba nqu et and to hear Fred Fields introd uce W u r litz er's S k e e -B a ll bowlin g gam e.
S kee-B all w a s enthu si ast icall y rece iv ed by the W a s h i n g to n op s and a d elug e o f orde rs
follo w ed their ins pection of the popu lar gam e.
O N September 14th, Fred Fields in­
troduced the Wurlitzer Skee Ball
to Western Washington operators at a
banquet in Seattle's New Washington
Hotel. In the course of his remarks,
Mr. Fields called particular attention
to the fact that the Wurlitzer Skee
Ball was the original Skee Ball,
Wurlitzer having purchased the pat­
ents from the National Skee Ball
Company of Coney Island, originators
of the game. He pointed out that
National had been selling Skee Ball
as an amusement park device for
many years and that Wurlitzer was
able to capitalize on National Skee
Ball’s long and successful experience.
“ We knew how to build the kind
of game that would have a strong
play appeal,” continued Mr. Fields.
“ We were in a position to offer a
tried and proven product.”
“ Because of the head start that
this experience gave us we were able
to quickly perfect the product to make
it suitable for big volume produc­
tion, in contrast to the relalively
limited production of the old National
Skee Ball Company,” explained Mr.
Fields.
“ We refused to be stampeded into
shipping large quantities of ‘ Skee
Ball’ until the improved coin-oper­
ated Skee Ball, as manufactured by
us, measured up in every particular
to the exacting standards which
Wurlitzer sets for every product
bearing the Wurlitzer nameplate.
“ Today, Wurlitzer has the first per­
fected coin-operated Skee Ball pro­
duced on a production basis and can
guarantee quantity shipments,” con­
cluded Mr. Fields. “ We are set up
to deliver thousands of machines—
machines packed with play appeal—
constructed to stay on the job and
to keep on harvesting a continual
stream o f nickels without service
interruptions.”
To back up his talk, Mr. Fields
exhibited the Skee Ball for operator
inspection and approval. The enthu­
siastic reception accorded the show­
ing proved beyond any doubt, oper­
ator confidence in the profit possibili-
Jim Buckley, general sales manager
of Bally Manufacturing Company,
claims that Bally has again produced
in “ Preakness” a game worthy to
rank with the “ four immortals of pin
game history.”
“ Each year,” Jim stated, “ some
Bally game appears which is so out­
standing that it becomes a ‘label’ by
which that particular year is rated.
Who can think of 1932 without in­
stantly thinking of Ballyhoo? Similar­
ly 1933 is recalled as the year when
Bally was in production on a single
game for a solid year. That game
was Airway, the first ball-trap pin-
game. ’34 goes down in history as
the year o f the first payout pin game,
Rocket. Last year Jumbo easily won
the rank of being an outstanding hit
of 1935. And I am firmly convinced
that 1936 will be spoken of for years
to come as the year Bally brought
out ‘Preakness!’ I base this predic­
tion on the surprisingly strong collec­
tion reports we have received on
‘ Preakness’ and the steadily increasing
demand which is keeping our factory
running double shift.
“ ‘Preakness’ is described as a one-
shot payout giving the player from
one to seven selections each play—
with awards on Win, Place, Show and
Fourth Place, or a total of 28 possible
winners on the board. Odds change
every game and range from 2-to-l up
to 40-to-l, and the big odds are said
to appear frequently enough to main­
tain interest at high pitch.
-*
Ope&atotA tefltuA
© International Arcade Museum
GROETCHEN S NEW DELUXE
IS T H E
SM A R T E S T
BLACK
JA C K
GA M E T H E Y ’ V E E V E R S E E N !
A flashy gam e in a beautiful natural
wood cabinet smartly streamlined. Real
Black Jack played ac cording to the ac
cepted rules.
M ID W EST N O VELTY SALES CO.
812 West Broadway, Muskogee, Oklahoma f\0
Also
404 West First Street, Tulsa, Oklahoma
F O B. Chicago
http://www.arcade-museum.com/