The Surprising Origin of Pinball

This is Lee Habib and this is our American stories we tell stories about everything you and that includes your story. Send them our American stories.com. Some of our favorite Jeremy Saucier is the assistant vice president or interpretation and electronic games and is also the editor of the American Journal of play at the strong Museum of play in Rochester, New York. Today he gives us the exciting history of an American icon in American original pinball machine I would say pinball is an American icon traces its roots back to a French parlor table game called bagatelle.

Sometimes it would be in a form that looks similar to a a pool table. The player would get hit a ball, often with something that resembled the Q stack used today will initially. The idea was to avoid, and there'd be these little wooden pins a lot lot of different versions of the game and eventually that evolved into where you actually have fixed pins and scoring holes.

Kind of a link that is a missing link between bagatelle and pinball happen in the late 19th century with an English immigrant to America. Montague Redgrave. He patents in 1871 he called improvements in bagatelle and Matt introduced the spring loaded ball shooter what today we would refer to as the plunger the idea of also adding sound effects are sounds of the game by putting bells on the playfield. The first pinball machines made this type of game into a coin operated machine. It took that playfield and it essentially monetized it right.

It placed it in a wooden case. It put a piece of glass over the playfield to separate the player from the game as you think of ramps and flippers and all those things that's starting in the 40s and 50s. The first game that introduces the.

The idea really like let's have flippers actually control and took back the balls around his 1947.

This game Humpty Dumpty had six flippers and they were on each side of the playfield. This changes pinball right makes it much more interactive and that becomes particularly important to the kind of public debates that are going to happen about pinball the best example of this in the early 1940s, the New York City Mayor LaGuardia fans pinball actually does prohibition style raids to hire without pinball they had been associated in some case used in gambling and essentially money-laundering have these bands in Los Angeles you have them in Ohio. They're all over the country. There's all these associations in all these anxieties around what our children are doing with their time, the stories about kids stealing lunch money or stealing money from their parents to go to play pinball and it being a gateway to organized crime.

There is a pinball moral panic he started to see that Breakup in the 1970s there was an important event that happens with the New York City Council in 1976 with a major football player at the time, Roger Sharp, 76, Sharp, and number of folks who are really in support of overturning that band available for the New York City Council and in this sort of dramatic know Babe Ruth calling the shot moment he plays a pinball game in a way that shows the counselors that pinball is actually a game of skill you can tell them hey, this is what I'm going to do to show you this is how you can play pinball and affect what's happening on the playfield that was overturned with a vote of about 30 to 656 it's probably also worth mentioning that in the 1970s pinball was extremely popular. New York City also saw the fact that hate is a revenue generator because we can license and register all these machines and make money off. What's also happening is the introduction of videogame videogames were making a tremendous amount of money in the late 70s and early 80s when it was an arcade praise and so there was a tremendous amount of effort being made by the burgeoning videogame industry to inject respectability into the coin-op industry as a whole. And so they help to legitimize pinball, but they're also seeing that pinball is in some ways pushed out of the arcane lot of what if the cons I think has to do with the influence of the UC videogame clean and ballgames. Arcade is a defender pinball machine.

There is a space invaders pinball machine with you also see is them trying to incorporate the form and some of the conventions of video games into pinball game is a game called hyper talks for many pinball trigger and you're just firing balls at these targets on the playfield was difficult to understand were spelling out words. You are also trying to stop these people of lightning from coming down and hitting your days and it just didn't work.

You had that level of influence where it was really directly affecting the game and then the other piece I think is that you now have these development teams are led by designers, but you get engineers animators to complete the multi sensory experience. It's really bringing people into these immersive spaces in this really beautiful marriage of technology of arts of storytelling can play that really comes together and I think Kevin versus doing what today is pinball and a great job by Chrissy, our intrepid intern and a special thanks to Jeremy Saucier was the assistant vice president for interpretation and electronic teams and editor of the American Journal of play of the strong Museum of play in Rochester New York him the story of the pinball here on our American story. If you love the stories we tell about this great country and especially the stories of America's rich past. Know that all of our stories about American history from word innovation culture and faith are brought to us by the great folks at Hillsdale College placement. Students study all the things that are beautiful in life. All the things that are good in life. If you can get the Hillsdale bills that will come to you with a free and terrific online courses go to Hillsdale.edu to learn more. Geico asks how would you love a chance to save some money on insurance. Of course he would. And when it comes to great rates on insurance. GEICO can help like with insurance for your car, truck, motorcycle, boat and RV even help with homeowners or renters coverage by setting easy to use mobile app available 24 hour roadside assistance and more. And GEICO is an easy choice switch today and see all the ways you can save it's easy. Simply go to Geico.com or contact your local agent today and we returned to our American stories and up next to story about drinking or rather the story behind drinking in New Orleans, Louisiana. Here's Monty Louisiana is a state that exists in lots, the people of New Orleans are like the taken the state holds the world record for the biggest serving of gumbo and the great residents of Louisiana also boiled a world record number of crawfish in 2012 but there is another thing they do a lot of useless Williams of the southern food and beverage Museum with more and we drank a lot, wanted to hang that important is coffee and chicory. We drink a lot of coffee.

But we drink it, often with chicory and that came from the French French came over with that idea because chicory grows wild in frame until people use it as a way to stretch their coffee and so even a name. They brought this practice over here and even though nowadays chicory actually is marked in coffee. We still drink it no longer uses Strattera's S taste that was developed I think of it more like notes or something assisted different flavor. What else do we drink a lot of alcohol. Germans brought their dear making tradition here and so we had the air on very very early. We also because we were growing sugarcane had a lot of long and you will find that they would like this every time anything like that. What you find is that every body made their own so it's not like this distillery has been around for all these years and been manufacturing grammar anybody just made on their plantation.

Whenever and earlier. People used to think that there was no like every patient. We also drank a lot of bourbon because we were sitting really really busy and there were a lot of visitors here on the time to himself saying that you lived up the river say in down the river waiting for the good just sit around in the bar in the hotel and talk to other people who are doing the same thing you are in everybody's drinking that we bourbon the rest of the country was because of our drinking sure that development of a bourbon because before that everybody just drank bourbon right out of and when he came down here.

The barrels were used. Just because the orders were so. And that's how they learned that changes in the barrel now in the most recent times Kentucky has been able to bourbon by law and if you make it in Tennessee Tennessee with not bourbon even if you make it in the same and whatever story in this really has to do with Scotch Irish no words distillers making scotch and they came here to America and the grain that was the most available to them was corn so this became a corn whiskey that they made an it doesn't have the smoky flavor of Scott my different and they use it just drink it right out of and they began to barrel it and send it to New Orleans and that's how they learned that the aging process vanilla tones from no charcoal on the inside of the barrel took out a lot.

He made it a lot so it become the American and not just because it's normal to have our leaders in Washington. He was a gentleman farmer and he was very subdued are the way to live the lifestyle you really make money and he and a number of other of our presidents were very involved relation and everybody was a drinker during prohibition. For example, the White House on all prohibition when they run out by the end you always among the presidents consider whiskey their favorite drink and Jackson, Zachary Taylor, Franklin Pierce Johnson Mark VanBuren and William McKinley had a drink named after him called McKinley's delight, which contains one – very potent spirit that has unique four roots and was brought to New Orleans New Orleans remained a French-speaking place until World War I in 1880 well after we were estate for over 15 years. The painter came to New Orleans and I didn't even have to bother to learn English to go visit my brother to because everybody still spoke French connection was popular in Paris was popular here is the way so you have a saucer that you put it on a number on the saucer so sometimes there were also colors on the people read whatever. Anyway, there's are like you see keeps the condensation from drifting off the bottom so you have always made kinds of distinctions ration changes to measure have to have any kind of instrument you just look at the glass in the glass and you have trowel like thing which we call in absence pierced so that water can go through it and usually there's a cramp on it which makes it stable on the glasses and is a sugar cube today.

Sugarcane's are made up press granulated sugar dissolve in those days he was aware just one big crystal broke off saying it was anything that easily, because it wasn't already granulated said he would take thing and you would and let it drip drip drip drip 10 or 15 minutes, one trip at a time till he came as high as you wanted. In terms of water time because you ensure that the drip onto the queue so dissolve and then you would go into your glass and use the spoon to break up any little bit that was laughed. Stir it all up and then you would drink it. This became its own ritual and because the proof was like hundred and 80 proof I mean it was really high proof people were always drawn and they have you ever heard of people talking about seeing pink elephants because when you have a lot to drink, hallucinate, and they say oh you're using caliphate for the French didn't say that the French because fill in the herbs that they would masquerade and alcohol may turn a little green being visited by the which is why everything is tinted because they say green fairy maybe more interesting is special thanks to Monty for his work in a special thanks to Liz Williams. The story of our favorite beverages here on our American story, and we returned to our American stories next story you won't forget.

From deep in the Ozarks. Time-honored tradition of the Ptarmigan, the man who made it his mission, not for monetary gain or any sort of thing. Let's get into the story.

Some people really resonate with work and some don't get this to other musicians as instruments. Some missions just invasive and think this is a lot harder to get out her hands with the other musicians playing this is not very well usually just don't get. They just flat out don't get it to let my Kelly Mulholland and Donna and this is silly thing has been very much something we did together is parallel with our own relationship. I think we met 26 years ago and soon became folk bands call still on the hill that we are talking from our instrument Museum is right here right now are surrounded by instruments made by people from the Ozarks were primarily one whole wall is nothing still. She's the one that's covered so give me a massage and I was over housing mantle. There was a guitar and she said I live in hostile, how are next in this mandamus may just hundreds of these strange instruments. Oh my gosh Kelly Scott to meet him and so she took us escorted to his place down. Hawks called Holland which is about so very isolated community. The Ozarks is just like you walk back in time it looks like it's 1930, shocks, and all these judges basically what would buy think I was a hillbilly existence and they do have electricity now, but only recently have the things they still were drinking water that was just down the hill in the creek into the hot Hawks calls the Hawks called his aligned storm formation right by the house where they would scald Hawks in the little limestone pools, hold the destroyed it when we get there.

There are dozens and dozens of instruments be underway, and they're all just fantastic folk art and were taken. This can be yours is just too good to be true so we switched we develop a relationship with a very very welcoming to us right away and we start visiting regularly and we just go over there and see what he was doing and does not consider his instrument making art is just his mission to tell that this was a very devotional mission and the reason for all refined up very early yesterday. Very simple questions that you get doing this in the first place, his answer was kind of unexpected say well I was, I feel like I always do with my new must have a heart attack and there was nobody there to help him and so he was laying on the ground and wondering what his fate would be this moment. He had a vision that he was tortoise a giant tortoise swimming in a raging river's are his words never forget his five children were little tortoises hanging on the shell and he knew that he had to get the family to the other side of this raging river. And if he did. The Lord was going to tell him what his purpose was what he was to do with the rest of his life. And so when he got to the other side of the river when he heard was kind of unexpected. He was told to make musical instruments and giving the children ranging in age is the so loved that story he told us about tortoise River and return that intro song that we eventually called take me to the other side and we played it for countless people over the years is just become an anchor in our world back to make musical history Missy had never made his head, made Barnes chicken coops and gardeners you know everything you need Ozarks to keep, but it never made me question. He had an old guitar in Sears Roebuck silver tone guitar that he received way back in 1940 and use that preach and so he was a remedial player and exceptionally good preacher singer knew everything all him all three verses of every single encyclopedia him there today on the last man I am dad an alien that they are landing the plane. Your surveys told has no idea how to do it. He also has no resources to ask is knowing so he just figures it out one time and that's what I think about it story is that he basically reinvented and what a story your hearing and has a heart attack laying on the ground and has this vision and Americans have visions and we talk about them when I'm embarrassed.

God told him to make musical instruments and give them to children and then we hear this beautiful song about that experience should your vanity judge her pride thickly to the other side never made a guitar but God open to any just figured out, and in the end reinvented the instrument when we come back more of Ed Stilley story here on our American story back with our American stories with Kelly and phone telling the story of Ed Stilley were formerly Ozarks they befriended after learning about guitars guitars. He made a rather divine purpose. Let's get back to the store doesn't break tradition and harmony and people learn from each other but Ed just started from scratch and so his first instruments were really strange and crude and placement had nothing to do with proper fit placement so they couldn't really play music. There just experiments, but he just kept trying to learn how to put the press the right place and use his own silver tone is a model so he eventually figured out how to make a playlist were sitting here looking at this array of silly estimates while talking and the shapes are all of one here that's rectangular like a box. There's this giant butterfly shape when there's one that's oval. They're all shakes. There's a reason for that is not trying to be clever or funny or whimsical shapes even though they look like that cartoonish but the fact is we found out right away that the shape is really a result of this process is unorthodox process that he used to build. He started with bending the sides so he had this old piece of wood with pegs unit. He would boil would be inside the hog trough overnight.

They're all crazy quilt of Ozark. There's a sawmill that was given him runoffs of the current costs or liabilities. It's kind of the waste product from sawmill is the last piece cut their trash is not treasure and once it became supple.

He said he just been until they were about to pop and you start your cracking just a minute randomly as far as it would allow and then once it was dry in the morning. He taken off the pegboard statement and then whatever that shape was that was going to be the guitar so he would piece these curved pieces together and then he built a top to fit real guitar making but before he put the top on, he would start this strange process of adding metallic components in the metallic objects were basically to compensate.

He didn't have any power tools when he first started so it was impossible for him to make sin a real modern guitar guitar is made very, very thin and lightweight and that's why his were the opposite. It was frustrating because they didn't sing out so almost 1/4 inch thick so he started turning to metallic objects, something that you could put your finger in it would make a ringing sound and saw blades in the spring. Glass jars chainsaw sprockets hands when times know I'm sure next week. We had all these by the way, we took them all had x-rays. It's really fashioning to look at it in figure out why he did what he did better speak the voice of the Lord and highly argue with that.

He never heard the word reverb.

He did not know what Reaver why in creating a reamer like plate Reaver.

We creating reverb in just accidentally reinvented without knowing about either technology or the word just recently here, bringing barn very very cheap and really sweet thing instrument in recent times light carved on the top and wanted to get out letters and staff pray pray pray for his family just that my prayers answered that they say to light. Really, that's all it one purpose in doing this and that is for you to read those words that was no small thing. He wanted people to see that this probably a good time to mention his connection to the family Bible now is really interesting because we had in his workshop and it was sitting out there that had been in weather and some rain bonnet and some may think that I wanted that is just kind of archival name. He is our project or something just because last thing I like this. So Bible and she was embarrassed when treated well, so she said no. So she took me into the extra bedroom was a barrel and a dresser drawer.

The six drawers in it and open the drawers at every drawer filled with finals that he he would wear out a Bible in a couple years and it would be his writing all over the margins underlying thing totally wearing out in tears and around little plastic sacks and everything she gave us one to show people the Bible visits is astounding. Looks like it's being is composting real time is just literally falling apart through the tender pages.

There's no section of untouched. Many realize that's a three year use in any just when you think that the Bible but is not. It's one of many Bibles.

But the really profound part of the is that's really key to understanding why it is such a time capsule living time capsule because when he was a young man he decided that his devotion was really his priority and that he would for the rest of his life never read anything except the Bible that's all he needed. He didn't feel deprived, so he never read a book, magazine, newspaper, never listen to the radio, never listen to the television. It was only the Bible and for that reason, the fact that he was an isolated community without any technology. He didn't basically notice that the 20 century have. He lived his life the way he lived when he rested and is it just telling you it's almost as if you have found a cure time capsule where you can actually visit early America way that I can imagine finding so is very valuable in that way you know our relationship been so wonderful over the years in New York until the radio that I have very long hair and some but my seeming hippie so you would think such a traditional person might be judgment have a judgment about that but there was never a judgment about that at all from the very beginning, we showed up on the doorstep and he just they both laughed.

Yeah, I think.

Later some of the few people outside of their immediate family and their immediate circle more than the worldly people that were part of their life and that the application change honor and when was crossing over. He was in hospice wanted us to come and sing to him and we spent days hospice.

One thing I think really is important about what it did is artistically back to where you started is a very idea that he didn't even know this. He wasn't craving recognition that was not part of what he needed.

It was 100% devotional that was the motivation to appear so.

But but artistically it is our know whether you like it or not that's what is it very very rarely can you find August does not suffer from the burden of ego. You can't just decide to be know how hard you try, you can't be done.

I make artwork possibly self analyzing and second-guessing ourselves like this system to be good for our concert is this good note were constantly doing that ourselves and that's our ego and we can't see anybody can we been listening to Kelly and Donna Mulholland tell the story of their friend and still you can go to still on the Hill.com view edge instruments and 70 x-rays. Special thanks to Catrina Hines reflecting the story and Monty Montgomery for audio pre-and post production left over word from a local sawmill there. Trish is my treasure on every guitar true faith truly have faith in God and still he story here on our American story