Flippers

Player-controlled paddles mounted near the bottom of the playfield, operated by buttons on the sides of the cabinet. Harry Mabs designed the first flipper mechanism for Gottlieb’s Humpty Dumpty in 1947, and the invention transformed pinball from a game of aim into a game of reflexes and timing. Early machines used six flippers scattered across the playfield; by the early 1950s, the layout had consolidated to two flippers at the bottom — the configuration that became universal. Three-flipper and four-flipper layouts appear periodically when designers want additional shot options from the upper playfield.