- gameplay_feature
- Ball Kickers
- gameplay_feature
- Captive Ball
- gameplay_feature
- Diverters ×2
- gameplay_feature
- Spring Bumpers ×14
- ipdb.corporate_entity_name
- Chicago Coin Machine Manufacturing Company
- ipdb_id
- 2481
- ipdb.image_urls
- ["https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/Backglass.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/Playfield.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-1.png","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-2.png","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-3.png","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-4.png","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-5.png","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-6.png","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-7.png","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-8.png","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-9.png","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-10.png","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-11.png","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-12.png","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-13.png","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-14.png","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-15.png","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-16.png","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-17.png","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-18.png","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-19.png","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-20.png","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-21.png","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-22.png","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-A13.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-A14.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-A15.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-A16.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-A17.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-A18.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-A19.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-A20.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-A21.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-A22.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-B13.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-B14.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-B15.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-B16.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-B17.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-B18.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-23.png","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-24.png","https://www.ipdb.org/images/2481/image-25.png"]
- ipdb.model_number
- 46
- ipdb.notable_features
- 5 balls for 5 cents. Spring bumpers (14), Diverters (2), Captive ball (1), Ball kicker (1). Unusually, this game has outlanes with rollover switches.
- ipdb.notes
- Manufacturer articles and ads in The Billboard present two playfield versions of this game, a "fixed-score" version announced in Billboard Apr-2-1938 page 89, soon followed by a "Mystery Lanes" version apparently first mentioned in Billboard Apr-30-1938 page 92. However, we have seen three variations of the "fixed score" version. We describe all four versions below, arbitrarily numbered by us, and have labeled our playfield images in this way.
Version 1 - This fixed-score version is pictured in Billboard Apr-9-1938 page 176, and Apr-16-1938, page 96, the first pictures we found, and therefore likely is the original version. The top and bottom diverters each select a 600-point lane or a 1000-point lane directly below them. The center "tunnel" scores 1600 points (600+1000). The left and right outlanes have no point values printed on the playfield. The captive ball lane has a kicker at its bottom end to propel the ball upward. Just below the kicker is a lamp dome (the "Swing light"), probably red in color. When this lamp is lit, the two unmarked outlanes will score 600 points.
Version 2 - This fixed-score version is mentioned in Billboard Apr-23-1938 page 73 and describes a playfield resembling Version 1 except the outlanes each score 1000 points (not 600) when the "Swing light" is lit. As such, the images we label as Version 2 have a playfield with outlanes labeled as 1000 points when lit. This is a single label above the outhole trough meant for both outlane rollovers.
Version 3 - We find no acknowledgement of this fixed-score version except for the low-resolution pictures of one game that we saw in 2003 (not shown here). The top and bottom diverters each select a 600-point lane or a 1000-point lane directly below them. The center "tunnel" scores 1600 points. Above the left outlane rollover is a white oval indicating 600 points. Above the right outlane rollover is a white oval appearing to contain text but the image was too low-resolution to confirm what it said. There was no captive ball as the U-shaped rail for it was inverted to allow a ball to enter it from the top, and the closed bottom end appeared to have a gobble hole as the only exit from this lane. A red lamp dome (the "Swing light") was directly below this lane.
Version 4 - This is the "Mystery Lanes" version first seen mentioned in Billboard Apr-30-1938 page 92 and we presume this to be the final version. The top and bottom diverters each select a MYSTERY lane or a 1000-point lane directly below them. The center "tunnel" scores a MYSTERY value. One label above the outhole trough points to both outlanes as each scoring 1000 points when the "Swing light" is lit. The captive ball lane has a kicker directly above the lamp dome. In the example pictured here, the score card is labeled "SWING M" and indicates the red dome lights only when backglass scoring is at 0 or 500. On the playfield, flakes in the paint in some letters of "MYSTERY" reveal the original labeling of "600" underneath.
We are seeking your high-resolution photographs of this game to improve our understanding of these playfield variations. Also, if you see pictures of this game other than ones we show here, please contact us.
Swing music was a style of jazz that became very popular starting in the mid-30s. In a 1938 Billboard article shown here, Sam Wolberg, co-founder of Chicago Coin (with Sam Gensberg), drew a parallel between this game and the "national music craze" of that time.
- month
- 3
- player_count
- 1
- production_quantity
- 1352
- technology_generation
- electromechanical
- theme
- Dancing
- theme
- Sports
- theme
- Baseball
- theme
- Bicycling
- theme
- Golf
- theme
- Swimming
- theme
- Tennis
- year
- 1938