This machine was designed by Harry Williams and Sam Stern with art penned by George Molentin. A one-ball gambling version was also released by the name of “Nags.” This game was very popular and was also released as an auto race themed machine with different artwork called “Jalopy.” Backglass animation was being designed and experimented with at this point in pinball design. This is an early example of this mechanical engineering. The object of this machine, aside from winning replays by score, was the picking of a horse to win (as in a horse race). If you are skillful enough to pick a horse and advance that horse to the winning line in the backglass, you win from 20 replays, if you can do it on the first ball (operator adjustable), to 15 on the second, 10 on the third, 5 on the fourth, and 2 on the fifth. The flippers on this machine are of the early impulse type and reversed. Each flipper button lifts both flippers.
This two-player “pitch and bat” baseball-themed game is one of the top three baseball machines ever made in desirability. Competition was expected between two players when playing this game, with one person pitching and one batting. The pitcher has two options: a straight fast ball or a curve ball (which is created by the use of a magnet under the play field). The batter has three outs as well as three strikes to contend with. The animation in the backglass is extraordinary. A high score to date counter is present and five games are awarded if you top it. The neatest feature in the game is the carry-over feature brought on by loading the bases with two out. Any hit other than an out will score a grand slam home run, advance the arrow at the bottom of the backglass a notch, and if the arrows are completed to the far right spelling out the name of the game, five replays are awarded, and the sequence resets. Matches are possible, too!
This six-player bowling alley used to be in most bars in the late ‘50s in one form or another. This early version of the puck shuffle alleys is basically a bowling machine which scores like a classic bowling game (without the 10th frame’s extra shots). A strike scores 30 points, i.e. 10 frames times 30 points equals a perfect game of 300. Spares score 20 points. A competition machine with up to six contenders was the ultimate challenge with the winner buying drinks for his friends. The “ball” was a hockey puck wrapped in rubber which, when thrown, would roll over contacts under the pins, causing certain combinations of relays to activate the lifting of the pins. Newer machines had more options to play. ®
The bowling craze of the ‘50s and ‘60s was magically designed into an eight-footlong bowling alley in the ‘50s. United Manufacturing invented the Puck Bowlers in 1949. Other variations were around, consisting of enclosed mechanical men you controlled via buttons, but now, you were bowling. The “ball” is a rubber-enclosed hockey puck (hence the name Puck Bowler). You aim at the pins like a bowler and with a swift flick of the arm, the puck is thrown down the alley coated with wax. Upon hitting the rollovers at the end of the alley, relays would be closed in combinations causing the pins, which you don’t actually hit (until later when ball bowlers are invented), lift to mimic the action of a bowling alley. Ten frames for a dime was the standard of the day, and six players could play in sequence. Standard bowling scoring was built in. As the games developed, more variations were created. ®
