A resurrection of the classic Wild Gunman EM film game by Nintendo! Keep an eye on this one.

L'Éclair countertop gun game cabinet. https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/1930s-leclair-mechanical-coin-op-shooting-arcade--403-c-138422f90f

The front of a restored L'Éclair machine. https://www.kentonline.co.uk/canterbury/news/auction-of-unique-collection-of-slot-machines-159645/

Top view of the L'Éclair machine, showing the target hole. https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/1930s-leclair-mechanical-coin-op-shooting-arcade--403-c-138422f90f

A beautiful penny pistol: Early model countertop shooting game L'Éclair by Louis Loubet of Charlebourg france.

Note at the bottom that is has a dispenser - I'm sure those were just souvenir coins.

An old, unrefurbished cabinet of Sea Rescue by Midway. https://www.arcade-museum.com/Arcade/sea-rescue

The back of the Sea Rescue flyer, showing an illustration of the playfield and its features. https://www.pinrepair.com/arcade/searesc.htm

A refurbished cabinet of Sea Rescue. https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1971-midway-sea-rescue-arcade-game-106942589

What would be your desert island game?

Midway hoped to - at the very least - fill that question literally with Sea Rescue in 1971.

It was a Helicopter-type landing game with some more intricate maneuvering required - featuring all the standards of EM "audio visual" experiences.

I'm not sure what you mean by player operated paddles. Flippers had obviously been a part of the game for a few decades before that point - always player operated.

This moment which turned the fortunes of coin-operated games in America was portrayed (and lightly lampooned) in the film Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game.

Would you believe that Chicago was the last major city to legalize pinball? That's a story for next month.

1976-06 RePlay pg 8. Roger Sharpe demonstrates the game Bank Shot, April 2, 1976. A WNEW news reporter holds a microphone up towards him.

1976-05 RePlay pg 7. A celebratory photoshoot after the approval of the legislation by the NYC council on May 13, 1976. (L-R) Irving Holzman, Elinor Guggenheimer (NYC Consumer Affairs Commissioner), Danny Frank, and Roger Sharpe.

1976-06 RePlay pg 6. Bill #918, which legalizes pinball in New York City, is signed on June 2, 1976. (L-R) Walter Ward (NYC Councilman), Abraham Beame (NYC Mayor), and Eugene Mastropieri (NYC Councilman).

After Sharpe demonstrated the D. Gottlieb & Co. game Bank Shot, the legislators of the meeting voted in favor of repeal 6-0.

On May 13th, the NYC City Council voted 30-6 (with one abstention) to formally legalize pinball in the city. The bill was signed into effect June 2, 1976.

1976-06 RePlay pg 8. The MAA officers responsible for the overturning of the NYC pinball ban alongside New York legislators. (L-R) Irving Holzman, Abraham Beame (NYC Mayor), Sam Schwartz, Benjamin Chicofsky, Eugene Mastropieri (NYC Councilman), and Benjamin Chicofsky.

1976-05 Play Meter pg 12. Roger Sharpe poses with a pinball machine in his Illinois apartment.

Fifty years ago today, a historic game was played for the New York City council.

After years of lobbying, the Music and Amusement Association challenged NYC's ban on the operation of pinball.

Pinball expert Robert Sharpe volunteered to play a game as evidence.

1961-05 Canadian Vending Magazine pg 61. Two women sit with prepared food trays at a table while a man goes to a hot & cold food vending machine to grab an item.

1961-05 Canadian Vending Magazine pg 21. An advertising piece for a meal vending machine with slogans on each tier.

1961-05 Canadian Vending Magazine pg 20. A lady stands in front of a vending machine of hot and cold meals.

The dream of hot food vending in North America lived for a brief moment in the 1950s and 60s - the era of food kitsch.

These images from the latest scans by @thestacks.ca provided by @cpi.pinball.horse

archive.org/details/Cana...

1937-07-18 The Decatur Daily Review pg Illinois Magazine 3. The assembly line of Bally Manufacturing.

1937-07-18 The Decatur Daily Review pg Illinois Magazine 3. Bally Manufacturing's engineering department, where men work over draft boards.

1937-07-18 The Decatur Daily Review pg Illinois Magazine 3. A profile on pinball manufacturers based in Chicago, highlighting Bally Mfg and Western Equipment Co.

Photos from inside Bally Manufacturing.

These come from a 1937 profile on pinball, about a year after the game's operation was banned in Chicago.

That doesn't stop business!

1939-08 Automatic Age pg 55. A photo of Bally pinball tables set up in the International Mutoscope Penny Arcade at the 1939 New York World's Fair.

Image for the 1939 New York World's Fair.

At the famous 1939 New York World's Fair, Bally set up an exhibit of their bumper-powered pinball games at the penny arcade on the premises.

Of course, a little over two years later, pinball would be officially expelled from New York.

A full-page ad from Billboard Magazine, September, 16, 1933, with Babe Kaufman's picture in the center with the headline "America's Only Woman Jobber from Coast to Coast" with lots of marketing text around.

Cap off International Women’s Day with this thread and tribute to an early pinball legend.

Meet Babe Kaufman — America’s Only Woman Jobber!

A Spook Gun cabinet by Bally Mfg. https://auctions.morphyauctions.com/10__Bally_Mfg__Co__Spook_Gun_Arcade_Shooter__-LOT460613.aspx

Flyer for Bally's Spook Gun from 1958.

An unrestored Spook Gun cabinet. https://www.liveauctioneers.com/price-result/1950s-bally-spook-gun-coin-operated-rifle-gallery/

They say it's the season for scary games. What better time to play Spook Gun by Bally?

A Dale Gun-style game advertised for its "junior" quality, the novelty of sniping the undead has never really gotten old.

I'm no expert on the subject, but as far as I can tell C. Cretors never made any coin-operated dispensers.

A Popmaticorn vending machine from 1938. https://www.pinrepair.com/arcade/corn.htm

1938-07-02 The Billboard pg 74. Two men stand beside a Popcornmatic machine outside of a drug store.

Getyer popcorn here!

Popmatic Mfg Co. was one of the premiere popcorn makers in the 1930s.

This model, Popmaticorn, is a beautiful example of vending machines from whence came the classic Coke dispenser.

Flyer front for Flying Circus, available from Phonographic Ruffler & Walker. https://www.pinrepair.com/arcade/flycirc.htm

Flying Circus cabinet, manufactured by Alca. https://www.pinrepair.com/arcade/flycirc.htm

Flyer back of Flying Circus by Alca Electronics. https://www.pinrepair.com/arcade/flycirc.htm

IT'S MONTY PYTH- Oh, wait... Ahem: Ruffler & Walker's FLYING CIRCUS on the scene.

A curious electro-mechanical model game with a unique acrobatic theme.

Flyer for Grand Prix by DuKane Corp. https://www.pinrepair.com/arcade/dgrndprix.htm

1965-07-17 Billboard pg 51. DuKane Corp's novelty game, Ski 'n Skore which portrayed skiing down a slope.

1966-07-02 Billboard pg 62. Advertisement for the DuKane Corp game Grand Prix, sold by Mike Munves Corp.

Coin-op in the 1960s was a technological frontier; many companies explored its potential.

DuKane Industries was a rather fascinating radio manufacturer that went way back who decided to get involved then.

Check out this podcast for more info on their story:

www.stcmuseum.org/podcast/2023...

We say goodbye to another Sega legend gone all too soon.

You can see him in this photo, circa 1979-early 1980s, as one of the Japanese Sega liaisons learning programming from the staff at Gremlin Industries.

1937-10 Coin Machine Review pg 6. Full page color advertisement for Rock-Ola's pitch-and-bat game World Series (1937) and Rock-O-Ball.

1937-10 Coin Machine Review pg 3. Intro page for the Rock-Ola multipage ads.

1937-10 Coin Machine Review pg 4-5. Advertisement for two models of Rock-Ola jukebox, the Imperial 20 and the Rhythm Master 16.

An absolutely gorgeous set of pages advertising Rock-Ola's 1937 equipment - including two of their latter-30s hit games.

Part of the wonderful scans being done by @cpi.pinball.horse

archive.org/details/coin...

A restored cabinet of Sky Fighter by International Mutoscope. https://auctions.morphyauctions.com/lot-281261.aspx

1941-08 Coin Machine Review pg 18. People play a Sky Fighter at a Sportland Arcade in Ocean Park, California.

The front of an International Mutoscope Sky Fighter, showing the peep hole display and the backglass with a scoreboard represented by a radial dial. https://auctions.morphyauctions.com/lot-613578.aspx

A beautiful game from just before the U.S. involvement in WWII - Sky Fighter by International Mutoscope.

While less iconic than Keeney's machine gun, its self-contained design would presage the likes of the Dale Gun and Periscope in years to come.

A cabinet for Deluxe Winter Book by H. C. Evans & Co. https://auctions.morphyauctions.com/lot-447832.aspx

Close-up of the Deluxe Winter Book artwork. https://auctions.potterauctions.com/_H_C__Evans___Co__Deluxe_Winter_Book_Horse_Racing_-LOT48133.aspx

A view of the coin mechanism for the Evans Winter Book, which had five separate slots to indicate which horse is being bet on. https://www.proxibid.com/lotinformation/46427124/antique-hc-evans-winter-book-horse-race-5-cent-slot-machine

Out there to red rid of the snow and ice... Why not treat yourself with a visit to the Winter Book?

Sure, it may just be a horse race roulette machine, but when else could I talk about it?

Cabinet of Set-Shot Basketball of Richman Corp. https://auctions.morphyauctions.com/10__richman_corp__set_shot_basketball_arcade_game_-lot461699.aspx

Set-Shot Basketball not on its legs. https://pinballnovice.blogspot.com/2024/04/niche-mechanisms-007-basketball-ball.html

1953 Mike Munves Catalog pg 02. Catalog page for Set-Shot Basketball. https://archive.org/details/mike-munves-1953/page/n1/

Basketball always needs a good-sized cabinet. Here's a beaut from Richman Corp, Set-Shot Basketball.

Image of a restored Tilt Test machine by Atlas Games. https://www.fontainesauction.com/auction-lot/5-cent-atlas-tilt-test-skill-ball-game_e72fa4e373

Flyer for Atlas Games' Tilt Test machine. https://flyers.arcade-museum.com/arcades/show/7779

A classic early "maze" type game, the well-named Tilt Test from Atlas Games.

There are some concepts that no modern technology can really improve.

Promotional photo of a child sitting atop the Obake no Q-Taro kiddie ride, based on the character from the popular manga.

An existing example of the Nakamura kiddie ride for Obake no Q-taro.

Advertisement by Nakamura Seisakusho for their Obake no Q-Taro kiddie ride, featuring the mangaka of the original story on left.

Among the first coin-op amusements ever with an official media license, Nakamura Seisakusho's Obake no Q-Taro kiddie rides established the company as a force to be reckoned with in Japan's rooftop amusement scene.

Front page of the Clawson Company Composite Catalog.

Two pages from the Clawson Company catalog, explaining their history and demonstrating illustrations of dice throwing machines.

Two pages of the Clawson Company catalog of coin-op machines: Showing the penny drop game Carlo, the strange trade stimulator The Newark Rainbow, and the penny drop trade stimulator Lively Cigar Seller.

A 19th century coin-op machine catalog from the long-forgotten Clawson Company.

A wide variety of novelties, trade stimulators, and vending machines right at the dawn of the penny arcade.

Panzer Attack by Midway flyer. https://www.pinrepair.com/arcade/panzer.htm

A Panzer Attack machine. https://www.pinrepair.com/arcade/panzer.htm

Control panel for Panzer Attack. https://www.pinrepair.com/arcade/panzer.htm

Panzer Attack by Midway rolls into position!

A sophisticated EM game from the post-video era bringing the WWII thrills.

The Seeburg Symphonola Model H jukebox. https://auctions.morphyauctions.com/seeburg_symphonola_model_h_phonograph_jukebox_-lot257963.aspx

So that's the start of the story - as best as we know right now.

But while AMI was struggling to find its footing, one of their player piano competitors was making their own contributions.

Next time, we see how the jukebox takes SHAPE.

The AMI FR jukebox, their first refined and widely available model. https://www.jukeboxhistory.info/ami/jukeboxes_1927-1942.html

1931-05-09 The Grand Rapids Press pg 5. Notice of the inventory sell-off of AMI's player pianos at bargain prices.

After jettisoning their player piano inventory, AMI managed to turn itself around and fully embraced the new market category.

They would become the first of the Big Four jukebox companies who soldiered the War years and defined a new era in publicly-played music.

An illustration of the AMI factory in Grand Rapids in their 1930 investor document.

1930-05-09 Dangor Daily Commercial pg 5. Stock price chart for AMI as of early 1930.

1931-02-10 The Grand Rapids Press pg 20. New story about AMI entering receivership.

What's up with the original release? Why did AMI never offer this revolutionary product more broadly?

Whatever the case, AMI was lucky to have this new product. After many good years, the player piano business collapsed in the Depression and forced them into receivership.

An image (source unknown) of the branded National Automatic Selective Phonograph. https://www.jukeboxhistory.info/ami/jukeboxes_1927-1942.html

US Patent for the "Automatic sound reproducing instrument" filed by AMI engineers. https://patents.google.com/patent/US1879693A/

Snippet from AMI's 1930 "History, Organization and Personnel of the Automatic Musical Instrument Co." covering their coin-operated phonographs.

Shortly thereafter, AMI engineers filed a patent for their method of such a device.

By 1930, AMI claimed ownership of the device, which would go down in history as the National Automatic Selective Phonograph - after one of the predecessor companies.

1927-05-05 La Cross Tribune and Leader-Press pg 16. An advertisement to the public to come see the Automatic Selective Phonograph.

1927-05-06 La Cross Tribune and Leader-Press pg 6. A story covering the Automatic Selective Phonograph.

From here, things are a bit murky.

In May 1927, news stories started appearing about the Automatic Selectic Photograph, a device that could play two sides of ten individual records with selection capability.

No company is attributed to it at the time, and it quickly disappears.