Overview
About the event
National Pinball Day
When folks during the Great Depression were looking for a cheap form of entertainment, the game pinball was born. With roots that can be traced back to 18th century Europe, or perhaps even further, the concept of the game wasn�??t necessarily new, but the execution came about in the early 1930s. By the late 1940s, flippers were introduced and the essence of the game of pinball hasn�??t changed a whole lot since that time.
Although the mechanics of the game are not so different, pinball�??s popularity has ebbed and flowed at different times. For instance, in a somewhat misguided effort to reduce crime and gambling, New York City outlawed pinball from 1947-1976. Other cities followed suit and, especially in Chicago, pinball even became associated with organized crime for a little while.
Pinball gained a bit of their reputation back in 1976 when Roger Sharpe, a representative from the Amusement and Music Operators Association (AMOA), testified in court that pinball should be recognized as a game of skill and not of chance. But even with that official testimony, pinball still didn�??t recover quickly.
When folks during the Great Depression were looking for a cheap form of entertainment, the game pinball was born. With roots that can be traced back to 18th century Europe, or perhaps even further, the concept of the game wasn�??t necessarily new, but the execution came about in the early 1930s. By the late 1940s, flippers were introduced and the essence of the game of pinball hasn�??t changed a whole lot since that time.
Although the mechanics of the game are not so different, pinball�??s popularity has ebbed and flowed at different times. For instance, in a somewhat misguided effort to reduce crime and gambling, New York City outlawed pinball from 1947-1976. Other cities followed suit and, especially in Chicago, pinball even became associated with organized crime for a little while.
Pinball gained a bit of their reputation back in 1976 when Roger Sharpe, a representative from the Amusement and Music Operators Association (AMOA), testified in court that pinball should be recognized as a game of skill and not of chance. But even with that official testimony, pinball still didn�??t recover quickly.
