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5.2 - OK, then, what was the first game with FLIPPERS in it? (Pinball History)

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This article is from the General Pinball FAQ, by Keith Johnson keefer@access.digex.net with numerous contributions by others.

5.2 - OK, then, what was the first game with FLIPPERS in it? (Pinball History)

That would be Humpty Dumpty by Gottlieb. The flippers still weren't as we
know it today, though. They were really small mini-flippers, and there were
six of them. Not only that, they were in the middle at different levels and
faced like this: \ /. However, the pivot point was on the *bottom* of the
flipper, so you worked your way up. It wasn't until much later that the
flippers migrated down to where they are now. The first game to feature
flippers at the bottom of the layout was Triple Action (Genco, January 1948,
which was designed by Williams' Steve Kordek). However, the flippers were
facing outward here. The first game with "normal" flippers was probably Spot
Bowler (Gottlieb, 1950). The really small flippers used on these games
(about the size of the "Thing" flipper on TAF) were used almost exclusively
on games until around 1970.

Here's a brief timeline of other events:

1929 - John J. Sloan, an American advertising representative, starts mass-
producing bagatelle (an early 19th century game) tables

1931 - Raymond T. Maloney builds Ballyhoo, with sales of 50,000 at $16 each,
marking the beginning of the pinball era (Maloney goes on to found the
Bally Manufacturing Company)

1934 - Tilt device introduced (dag-nabbed contraption! ;) )

1946 - Harry Williams founds Williams Manufacturing with his first machine,
Suspense

1950 - Rotating dials are used to show scores, as opposed to lights for
numbers in the various places; some previous machines did use rotating
dials, but showed the entire score on one piece, not individual wheels
for each digit

1954 - Gottlieb produces the first 4-person table, Super Jumbo

1960 - Gottlieb's Flipper introduces the idea of an extra ball (this was done
as an alternative to replays to conform to laws of certain areas, thus
their concentration is higher in some places)

1962 - Williams' Vagabond introduces drop targets

1968 - First game with 3-inch flippers produced (Williams' Hayburners II)

1970 - Big Flipper produced (by Chicago Coin) which had the largest flippers
to date (at 5 inches!)

1975 - Micro produces first non-relay based game, Spirit of 76 (and
supposedly, only 100 were produced due to an unattractive playfield -
it resembled Gottlieb's Flying Carpet (1972) and had very few layers
of silk-screening)

1979 - Williams produces first talking game, Gorgar

-- Thanks to Terry Cumming <terry.cumming@canrem.com> for information.
-- Thanks to Paul Fernquist <pfern@technix.technix.mn.org> for information.
-- Thanks to Jarod Nash <j.nash@ukc.ac.uk> for information.
-- Thanks to Harry Cline <clinehe@cig.mot.com> for information.
-- Thanks to David Marston <marston@coos.dartmouth.edu> for information.

 

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