Clack! go the flippers as the ball is launched. Pop! go the bumpers as the metal ball weaves its way through obstacles. And then the bells – ding, ding, accompanied by the many flashes of light to signify your victory.

Close your eyes and you can see the lights and hear those sounds coming from the pinball machine in the old arcade, bar, or restaurant you used to visit every weekend — the place where you and your friends spent countless hours feeding the machine one quarter after another in the hopes of attaining bragging rights of becoming a pinball champion.

A cost-effective diversion

Though the game was invented in France in the late 18th century, the coin-operated pinball machines we know today were created during the Great Depression as a cheap form of entertainment for Americans who craved a diversion from the nation’s economic woes.

“It was a low-cost game that anyone could play and get some respite from the hardships of everyday life,” according to an article on Betson.com. Betson is a manufacturer and seller of arcade games.

In those early days, the game bore many names, such as Ballyhoo, Baffle Ball, and Bingo. Early companies that produced the machines included the Bingo Novelty Co. and D. Gottlieb & Co., According to Betson, by 1936, the name pinball had finally stuck.

The first electronic pinball machine hit the market in 1933, and the machines installed in public places quickly proved to be a draw. Players could win prizes for achieving the highest scores. But along with the skilled players also came the cheaters, who would pick up the table and shake it in order to affect the game’s outcome.

“To counteract this, the tilt mechanism was invented in 1935 by Harry Williams, the founder of the Williams Manu-facturing Co.,” the Betson.com article explains. “Today, pinball machines have two tilt devices: one for tilting side to side and one for ‘slam tilt,’ when a player bangs the machine with their hand.”

By the end of the decade, there were an estimated 145 pinball machine companies throughout the country; however, the sheer number of them created intense competition, and many were forced to shutter their doors due to market saturation.

And, like many industries of the time, production of pinball machines came to a halt with the outbreak of World War II in 1939 – those that remained in business by the end of the war six years later were indeed fortunate.

The Iowa Pinball Club celebrates its 20th anniversary in business this year.

Pinball lovers and seasoned players keep the game alive, too, with their participation in one of the many conventions and tournaments that take place each year. The largest is organized and sponsored by the International Flipper Pinball Association, which organizes events and competitions at the local, state, national, and international levels. According to the IFPA’s website, currently, the top two world pinball players are American, with Colorado’s Escher Lefkoff in second place (currently age 20, he occupied the top spot for years and has played pinball since the age of five). In first place is 19-year-old Jason Zahler of New Jersey, who has played since the age of 7, born nearly a century after the modern iteration of the game was invented. And, according to the IFPA’s calendar, Tulsa, OK, will be the site of several tournaments in 2024.

“These memories come flooding back”

Pinball’s popularity and ability to thrive in the age of video games boils down to one secret: memories.

“What is driving the boom? Much of it is nostalgia,” according to a May 2023 article on games.slashdot.org. “A generation raised on pinball in arcades in the 1980s and 1990s are now at an age where they have disposable income, and kids with whom they want to play the games they played as children.”

In Las Vegas, the Pinball Hall of Fame resides in a 27,000-square-foot building close to the iconic “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign. The building, home to restored machines from the 1930s through the 1950s, is ground zero for that nostalgia, says owner Tim Arnold, quoted in a May 2021 article by Kerry Callahan on the PR website The Feast of Friends.

“(Visitors) walk past a machine that they’ve completely forgotten about,” Arnold said. “They see it again, and all these memories come flooding back. And they just lock up. They’ll sit there and point at the machine [and say], ‘So this is the machine I was playing the first time I kissed a girl,’” Arnold said. “We see that every day

Pinball players flock to KC for championship

Kansas City welcomed pinball players and enthusiasts alike in late January for the International Flipper Pinball Association’s Annual IFPA State Championship Series finale.

More than 1,000 players from across the U.S., in both men’s and women’s categories, descended on the 403 Club, the venue that hosted the event.

A Jan. 19 article on the website of KSHB 41 quotes the owner of the venue.

“When I tell people that we host the Kansas State Pinball Championship, they’re like, that’s such a thing?” said Artie Scholes, the owner of 403 Club. “Yes, it is.”

With players as young as 8 – Scholes’ son, Oliver — competing during the action, the event proved to be a draw for enthusiasts of all ages. 

For more information on this and other tournaments, visit www.ifpapinball.com.