Saturday, January 6, 2018

Pinball Wizards


Pinball Wizard - "The Who"
"Ever since I was a young boy,
I've played the silver ball.
From Soho down to Brighton
I must have played them all.
But I ain't seen nothing like him
In any amusement hall
That deaf dumb and blind kid
Sure plays a mean pin ball!"


Pinball --
popular during the 
Great Depression (7 balls for a penny), outlawed in many places by the 1940s as a time-waster and form of gambling, 
back on the scene in the '70s with modern updates and improvements, and run out of town again in the '80s
by video games like 
Pac-Man and Hopper.










In the 1940s and '50s, the old machines were said to be supporting the mafia in New York City and were confiscated, and smashed.
We visited some of the ones that survived in the Pinball Museum in Asheville, NC, where for a mere $15 entry fee you can play them all day!  

From the left : Cherry Bell, 1978; Nip It, the game Fonzie played at Al's Diner on "happy Days", 1972; Sky Kings, sky diving theme, 1972.


From the right: Humpty Dumpty, 1947, first machine to add flippers; Select-a-Card, 1950, ("Adults Only" because of its artwork); Yacht Club, 1953; Air Aces, 1975,first to use drop targets; Captain Fantastic, 1976.





Funland, 1968, carnival theme - "Step Right Up and Win a Prize".  Buccaneer, 1976.

There are over 75 playable machines in the Asheville Pinball museum and some older ones just to admire.  In the summer there is a line because they only let in 75 people at a time.  You can check in and go have an ice cream cone or coffee and they'll call you when it's your turn.  If you don't want to play, it's free to look around and admire the lights and artwork.

12 comments:

  1. I love it. Years ago my parents had a restaurant and in the backroom were a bunch of pinball machines, I loved to play them.

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  2. I have never wasted a cent on these machines.
    Colin from a very HOT Terrigal.....over the 100 F today!

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  3. I don't remember ever trying my hand at pinball though I recall seeing plenty of the machines, particularly on visits to the seaside. There used to be one in one of the locals pubs but I preferred the bar-billiards and darts.

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  4. I never really played them in the arcades although I do remember having a small hand held one as a child. What fun.

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  5. Oh, that must have been a fun trip to memory lane. So typical American I remember, we did't have them that much here.
    Only sometimes one in a cafe.

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  6. Always loved that song. What a great idea to allow you to play the machines in the museum and not just look at them.

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  7. I've never known anything about pinball machines. You post the most interesting information, and now I do know something about pinball machines. These are pretty. Supposed to warm up tomorrow and I can hardly wait!!

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  8. What a fun place to visit! I love to play pinball:)

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  9. Colourful indeed, can't say we have those down here perhaps in an odd place or two.

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  10. These pinball machines are works of art. I used to play occasionally and was rather good at it, I don't know why.

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