Play Meter

OPERATING
Born-again pinball wizard?
There's a pinball machine in the
President's home in Plains, Georgia.
Chip and Caron Carter, pinball
enthusiasts and members of Ameri-
ca's First Family, recently bought
the very popular Bally Fireball game
and had it delivered to their home,
which also happens to be the home
of President Jimmy Carter.
Lee Martin, of Able Amusement
Company in Macon, Georgia was
the operator who sold the pingame
to the Carters. With Chip Carter's
permission, he was able to get
excellent television coverage of the
delivery of the pinball machine and
of Chip playing the game . The
television report incorporated the
Carter pinball story with a story
about Georgia operators' recent
successful attempts to improve their
image by forming an association .
Martin said he plans to forward a
copy of the local telecast to CBS's
"60-Minutes" production crew. The
14
popular television documentary
show recently featured pinball ma -
chines on one of its telecasts and
Martin is hoping that this new
footage might lead into another
favorable story for the industry .
After delivering the pingame,
Martin said, "I consider this to be an
important event in the history of
pinball, notwithstanding the boost it
will give to the present image of the
industry. "
He said that Chip and Caron
Carter have been pinball fans for
years and that "when they decided
they wanted one of their own, Chip
contacted me about the Fireball.
"He considers Fireball to be one
of the truly great pin balls, " Martin
said as an aside .
He continued, "Naturally when
he contacted me, I was only too
happy to oblige. While we were
setting up the machine, someone
asked Chip if there was a pinball
machine in the White House . His
reply was, 'No, but if I move back to
Washington , I'm taking this one
with me ."
Martin was ebullient . "Can you
imagine that?" he said . "A pinball in
the White House!"
Martin said he also delivered six
Bally Evel Knievel T-shirts with the
Carter peanut warehouse insignia
emblazoned on the back. Chip is
presently employed at his father's
peanut business in Plains, Georgia .
Chip Carter's Fireball may well be
the most inspected game in the
history of the industry. Martin told
Play Meter that secret service men
had to check the game thoroughly
before they would allow the game
into the house. "They wanted to
make sure there weren't any
bugging devices in it," explained
Martin .
November, 1977, PLAYMETER