PINBALL
RESEARCH BY RUSS JENSEN*
Ever since I was quite young I have
always had a
"collecting"
hobby of some sort. It seems to be part
of my life.
While
pursuing each of my hobbies I have always had an interest
in the
"history" of the items I collected.
When, as a teenager,
I
collected old phonograph records, I learned all I could about
the
history of the phonograph and the various record
manufacturers. Even today I still remember such pieces of
"phonograph
trivia" as who invented the disk record.
(in case
your
curious, it was a gentleman named Emil Berliner - I sure
amazed
one fellow at work with that piece of information).
When I later collected antique clocks, I
learned much about
clocks
and clockmakers. After that I began
collecting player
piano
rolls. During that period I learned
quite a bit about the
history
of the player piano, "mechanical music" in general, and
the
myriad of music roll producers. Pinball
collecting, of
course,
was no exception and I became extremely interested in the
history
of pinball machines and the game manufacturers.
My first bit of pinball history
information actually came to
me many
years before I became an actual collector.
As many of
you
already know, when I was a young teenager I owned several old
pingames. Well, after writing to Bally for information
about one
of
these games I started receiving their company newsletter
called
BALLYWHO. One issue I received
commemorated their 20th
anniversary
and showed pictures of one Bally game for each of
those
years. This was the first time I
realized how the games
had
"evolved" over the years since the early 1930's.
My real delving into the historical
aspects of pinball
however
began in the early 1970's, after I had started my current
pinball
collection. While visiting in the home
of a fellow
pinball
enthusiast (soon afterwards to become a game dealer for
the
home market) I was shown a list of pinball machines and their
approximate
dates of release compiled by him and a friend of his.
This
list was fascinating to me as it could be used to "date"
most
any pingame made between the early 1950's and the current
date at
that time.
When I asked him if I could have a copy
he gave it to me.
When I
next asked how they gathered all that information he said
they
used microfilm at the main Los Angeles public library of the
entertainment
industry trade magazine BILLBOARD, which was used
by the
amusement game industry as an advertising medium from the
early 1930's
up until sometime in the 1970's, I believe.
(AUTHOR'S NOTE: "The BILLBOARD" was first established in
1894,
primarily as a news and advertising publication for the
circus/carnival
trade. In the years that followed it's
coverage
widened,
and by the 1930's and 1940's covered almost all facets
of
"entertainment". For example,
the September 7, 1947 issue
contained
sections devoted to: Broadway, Burlesquee, Carnival,
Circus,
Coin Machines, Fairs-Expositions, General Outdoors,
Legitimate
Theater, Magic, Music, Night Clubs, Parks-Pools,
Radio,
Records, Television, and World's Fair, plus a few more
sections.
The "Coin Machine" section, at
one time or another, covered
news
and contained advertising for all forms of coin-operated
equipment
including, pingames, jukeboxes, slot machines, trade
stimulators,
arcade machines, and vending equipment.
BILLBOARD
still
publishes today, but in recent years has been devoted
almost
entirely to the music industry.)
Well, that list was fine if you wanted to
date a game from
the
fifties and beyond, but I was also interested in earlier pins
since
those were the type I had owned and played as a kid. After
carefully
studying the dates of the games on this list I
determined
that it was fairly complete from 1952 on, but
contained
only a smattering of games made before that year. I
then
decided that I would like to complete the list, at least for
games
made during the 1940's. So one day I
went to the Los
Angeles
Public Library (armed with pencil and a stack of 3 x 5
file
cards) to start my project.
First I had to decide how early in time I
wanted to start my
"research". Since I knew the earliest game I owned as a
kid was
Bally's
VARIETY, and that it was made sometime in 1939, I decided
that
would be a good year to start with.
Well, BILLBOARD
microfilm
came in rolls (each with approximately 4 months of
weekly
issues on it) and the roll which contained January 1939
actually
started with November 1938. So that's
where I started.
I decided to look at all the pinball ads
in each issue and
note
the first occurrence of an advertisement for each game.
Well,
at that time I made a decision I later regretted. (True
Confession
Time!) I reasoned that since the date
of first
advertisement
of a game in BILLBOARD was only an approximate
indication
of the date of the game's release by the manufacturer,
that if
I only noted during which "quarter" of the year the ad
appeared,
that would be "close enough".
So I decided to record
only
the year, and in which "quarter" the game was first
advertised,
using the notation "A, B, C, and D" to represent the
four
quarters of a year. Therefore, for
example, any games first
advertised
any time between January and March of 1939 would
appear
on my list as "39-A".
This microfilm research was a slow
process, and it took
several
visits to the Los Angeles library (approximately 50 miles
from my
home) to get from November 1938 up to 1948.
I then
discovered
that the UCLA library (a little closer to home) had
"hard
copies" of BILLBOARD covering 1948 and 1949. This time I
took my
teenage daughter with me and taught her the process which
speeded
things up a little. I then made one
more trip to the Los
Angeles
Central Library to finish up through the end of 1951.
During
this last visit I had made up my mind to list the actual
month
of each ad and abandon the quarterly (A-B-C-D) idea. I
even
went back and modified a few "A-B-C-D listings" I had
previously
done.
At
this point I had a stack of file cards, each containing
the
name of a pingame, it's manufacturer, and the approximate
date
(to the nearest quarter of a year in most cases) of it's
first
advertisement in BILLBOARD. After
sorting these cards in
alphabetical
order (I didn't have a computer in those days) I
prepared
a typewritten list of the games and that stage of my
research
was complete.
I failed to mention, however, that in
this first BILLBOARD
research
I skipped the period of World War II, since I knew no
new
games were manufactured during those years, and I thought it
would
be too time consuming to look at those issues on microfilm.
But I
started feeling that my work was really not complete, since
there
were games "converted" during that period. So one Saturday
afternoon,
while on a business trip to New York City, I decided
to go
to the New York public library and tackle the "war years"
and
their "Wartime Conversion" pingames.
After a phone call to the main library I
discovered that the
BILLBOARD
microfilm was at their Music And Arts Branch located at
Lincoln
Center. I then went to that location
and started again
looking
at microfilm and recording the "Wartime Conversions"
advertised. Since those games were created by one outfit
taking
pre-war
pingames manufactured by another company and modifying
them in
some way to "convert" them to a "new game", I decided I
should
list the "new name", the "converting company", and the
original
name, and that's what I did.
When I started looking at those ads I discovered several
things. First I noticed that some of the ads offered
to convert
old
games that an operator owned into the "new game". In those
cases
the operator would ship his machine to the "converting
company"
and they would later send him the "new game" and charge
a
specific fee for that service. Most of
the time this was to
convert
one specific old game into a specific new game, although
some
ads would indicate a list of several old games, any of which
could
be converted to the specified new game.
Other outfits just bought specific old
games from operators
outright,
converted them to "new games", then selling these to
anyone
wishing to buy them. In the case where
either the old
game
from which a conversion was produced was not indicated in
the ad,
or when the ad gave a list of games which could be used
for
conversion to the "new game", I made no entry for the "old
game"
in my list.
After compiling all this information on
"Wartime
Conversions",
and creating a listing of them, I told Roger
Sharpe,
who was in the process of compiling information for his
forthcoming
book PINBALL, about it and he asked if he could have
a copy
of my list. I gave it to him and he
used it to create his
"Wartime
Conversion" list which appeared in that book.
After completing this phase of my
research, I combined all
the
pinball dating information I had obtained from BILLBOARD for
the
period from November 1938 through the end of 1951 and
provided
a copy of it to the person who had originally given me
the
pinball dating list I mentioned earlier.
At that point I thought that was the end
of my participation
in the
"pinball research business", but it was only beginning!
While
visiting an Orange County pinball operator one evening (who
occasionally
had old games for sale) I happened to tell him about
what I
had done with BILLBOARD. As soon as I
told him he said to
me
"I got a call the other day from a fellow who said he was
compiling
a list of pinballs and their dates of release who, I am
sure,
would like to get in touch with you".
He then gave me this
person's
name and telephone number.
The fellow's name was Don Mueting, and
when I called him he
told me
that he was trying to compile a list of pingames,
including
manufacturer's name and approximate date of release,
using
the lists of games contained in the manufacturer's "parts
catalogs". He also told me he was utilizing a device
called a
"FLEX-O-WRITER"
(a form of electric typing device which was
controlled
by a "punched paper tape" which could be used for
"editing"
the information to be printed) to prepare his list.
When I
told him about the list I had originally obtained (which
covered
1952 through the early 1970's) and my recently prepared
list
(covering from late 1938 through 1951) he was really
excited.
He asked me if I would give him copies of these lists
for him
to use in preparation of his list. I
said "OK" and
provided
him with copies.
He then set out to prepare the "1st
edition" of his list
using
his FLEX-O-WRITER. When he finished it
he sent copies to
anyone
he knew who was connected with pinball, asking for their
corrections
and additions. Some time after that he
"retired" his
FLEX-O-WRITER
and put all this pinball data into a computer
"database".
A while later I met a fellow named Rob
Hawkins who was also
very
interested in pinball history, in fact he had written his
Master's
Thesis on the subject. I told Rob about
Don and his
project
and they started working together and eventually prepared
their
now famous "Pinball Reference Guide" (the current "standard
reference"
for dating pinball machines) which I, and many other
pinball
collectors I am sure, carry with me at all times!
My next venture into pinball dating
research occurred
primarily
as a result of my curiosity. Ever since
I was a kid,
visiting
my relatives in Memphis, I was fascinated by the "one-
ball
horserace" gambling type pingames.
After adding one of
these
machines to my collection, I began to wonder exactly when
this
game format was originated.
One day, while on a vacation in San
Francisco, I decided to
pay a
visit to that city's main library
(which I knew also had
BILLBOARD
microfilm) and try to find out. I
remembered from that
issue
of BALLYWHO I had when I was a kid (I still own it as a
matter
of fact) that Bally's PREAKNESS, made in 1936, was the
first
such game illustrated in that article.
I therefore
reasoned
that the first game of that format had to be made in
that
year, or in the previous one, so I started looking at
BILLBOARD
issues from late 1935. Since I was
looking at these
issues
anyway, I decided to list the "first advertisement dates"
for all
pins I came across, just as I had done in the past for
1939
through 1951.
During that search I discovered that the
first game with the
"WIN,
PLACE, SHOW" format, typical of the "one-ball horserace"
games I
was familiar with, was Gottlieb's DAILY
RACES, first
advertised
in BILLBOARD in March 1936. This was
closely followed
by
Bally's first game of that type, HIALEAH, which was advertised
one
month later, some two months before PREAKNESS.
When I got home from my trip, I organized
my notes from that
BILLBOARD search and prepared a list of
pingames advertised
between
November 1935 and July 1936. I then
sent it to Don
Mueting
for him to use in updating his still growing pinball
computer
database.
That was not the end of my BILLBOARD
research either,
although
it was several years later when I again started looking
at
microfilm. A few years ago my friend,
and fellow pinball
enthusiast,
Jack Atkins of Ogden Utah decided he wanted to own
the
BILLBOARD microfilm from the mid 1930's, because his special
area of
pinball interest was the "payout" pingames he had played
during
that period.
I had told Jack that I had previously
found out that the New
York
Public Library sold copies of microfilm for approximately
$35 per
roll (each roll, as I stated earlier, containing about 4
months
of the weekly publication). He bought a
used microfilm
reader
at a very reasonable price and bought most of the
BILLBOARD
microfilm from the mid Thirties.
Shortly after that he
found a
second film reader and kindly offered to give it to me to
aid in
my research. He also offered to loan me
any of his
microfilm
I wanted to look at.
Well, if you have been following my story
closely up to now,
you may
have noticed that there was a "gap" in my pinball dating
research,
that being the period from mid 1936 to November 1938.
Therefore,
when Jack made me that gracious offer, I decided I
would
fill that "gap".
When I told Rob Hawkins about my plan of
listing the pingame
ads in
BILLBOARD for that period, he suggested that while I was
at it I
also make note of the "stories" often appearing in the
magazine
describing the games as well; something I had previously
ignored. I agreed to do that and also decided to not
only list
the
"first advertisement" for a game, but to also make note of
later
ads for each machine as well.
Having a computer at that time, I set up
two "databases" for
this
research, one for the "advertisements" (including the
duplicate
ads) and the other for the "stories". When I started
looking
at the film I made two "passes" through each roll, the
first
time to record the advertising information in the first
database,
and again to record the occurrences of the game related
stories
in the other. After entering all this
data into the
computer
I could then produce two listings for each database, one
sorted
alphabetically by game, and the other chronologically by
the
magazine issue date and page number.
The "ad database" included the
name, manufacturer, magazine
issue
and page number for the first advertisement for the game, a
one
line description of the game's major features, and a short
list of
date and page number for later ads for the same machine.
(see
sample "Ad Listing"). The
"stories database" included (in
addition
to the name and manufacturer) the issue date and page
number
for the story, the title of it, and a one line comment
regarding
the story's content. (see sample
"Story Listing"). As
I'm
sure you can plainly see, this phase of my research included
a lot
more detail than my previous attempts.
This was due to the
fact
that I had the luxury of working in my own home, in my spare
time,
and with a computer sitting right next to my own microfilm
reader.
After determining that my local library
branch now had a
microfilm
"reader/printer", capable of making fairly decent "hard
copies"
of ads and stories at a reasonable price (10 cents per
copy),
I decided while I had the microfilm on loan I might as
well
make "prints" of one good ad for each game, plus selected
good
stories, editorials, etc. Since these
copies were made by a
"wet
process" and, I was told, tended to fade over time, my final
step
was to make high quality photocopies from the reader/printer
copies.
This project took two or three years altogether; my
borrowing
a couple rolls of film at a time, and performing these
tasks
in my spare time and in between writing my regular articles
for
COIN SLOT. When I photocopied these ads
and articles I made
on copy
for myself, one for Hawkins/Mueting (including copies of
my
computer database listings), and a copy for my "benefactor"
Jack
Atkins of all the information pertaining to "payout"
pingames
(which was all he wanted). Many, many
thanks Jack for
the
wonderful film reader and the loan of that great microfilm,
and for
being so patient with me for taking so long to return it!
By the way, there's one thing I forgot to
mention. When
searching
through the 1938 microfilm I solved two of my long
standing
"mysteries". These were the
dates of release of two
games
that I owned. One was Exhibit's
LIGHTNING (not to be
confused
with that outfit's 1934 game by the same name which was
a
special version of Harry Williams' famous CONTACT), which I no
longer
own, and the other Stoner's ELECTRO. I
had guessed by
their
appearance that both were made in 1938, but I could now
confirm
it. I discovered that ELECTRO was
released around March,
with
LIGHTNING not coming out until around August.
So now you've heard the story of my
pinball dating research,
using
BILLBOARD magazine as my main information source. Before
ending,
however, let me say a little about what it was like
"looking
back into history".
When you start looking at the pages of an
old BILLBOARD it
is
almost like being there at that time.
You see each new game
when
it's first introduced to the trade and how long it remains
the
"current hit" in the manufacturer's line. In addition to
pingames,
you also see ads for other coin-op devices (such as
jukeboxes,
slot machines, and arcade machines) which supplemented
pins
for the distributors and operators. In
my recent 1937/1938
research,
for example, I noticed the introduction of the
"electric
eye" rifle game and the "Skee Ball" roll down game, as
well as
the latest pins. I also saw today's
"classic" slot
machines,
which you see described in COIN SLOT as valuable
collector's
items, advertised as just another piece of
merchandise
at the then current market price.
In
addition to the machines, you also see articles about the
coin
machine industry "personalities" of the time. Articles
about
their opinions of new machines, or problems within the
industry,
or sometimes news of their business trips or even
vacations. I also saw the obituary for coin machine
executive
Ted
Stoner, whose Stoner Manufacturing Co. produced many fine
pingames
during the Thirties and up until the war.
All in all it
makes
you feel like you were part of the coin machine industry in
those
"good old days". Quite a
pleasant experience for me
indeed!
What about the future, you ask? Well, I really can't say at
this
time. One of my pet "pin
trivia" projects is to determine
what
was the first pingame to use the term "SPECIAL" to indicate
a way
of winning replays, in addition to high scores. I found no
mention
of such a feature in my 1938 research, but my 1940 Genco
game,
METRO, uses it (or at least "EXTRA SPECIAL"). The first
use of
the term therefore must have occurred in 1939 or 1940.
Well,
neither Jack Atkins nor any of the Los Angeles university
libraries
have any BILLBOARD microfilm for these years, and the
main
Los Angeles library was destroyed by a fire several years
ago and
won't be back in operation until the early 1990's, so I
don't
know when I could complete that little project.
So maybe I'll "cool it" with
BILLBOARD for awhile, but you
never
can tell. Just look at the story I've
just related and you
can see
that this type of thing always seems to recapture my
interest,
and "where there's a will there's a way". So who
knows?