Purim Pinball Prizes

Cafe Society
1

Some people know that for years we had drunken brawls parties to celebrate the holiday Purim, part of which was always a Pinball tournament.

We didn’t do them during lockdown, and the last couple have been smaller, and subdued, but this year, we’ve decided to invite quite a few people. It looks like we might get weather where guests can wander outside if they feel crowded, and the boychik is out of the house now, so we have his room for overflow, not to mention 2 bathrooms.

I just turned 59, and I feel like doing this, and don’t know how many more times I will.

We’ve replenished savings a lot since what we fell back on during the pandemic, and can afford the kind of bash we used to have-- we spend some money on it, and it’s kind of our thing-- people who invite us to things all year, this is when we reciprocate, with lots of booze, and we provide it all.

We also get a van and give rides, and arrange Ubers for other people.

That long explanation out of the way, we need prize ideas.

In the past, we’ve given Amazon Prime year-long memberships for first prize, and TP with Trump’s face on it for second prize, and handed out two or three.

Basically, first prize is pretty good, and second is “sixth night of Chanukah” stuff, only a little more useful-- sometimes with a joke component, but something useful.

This year, we want to give a REALLY good first prize, and something like the Amazon membership for second prize. 3rd prize might be a gift card, if we can think of something equally useful to everyone we know, and maybe a roll of TP to all who played.

Any suggestions? what would you want? A lot of our friends have a lot, but not everyone does.

2

Is “Pinball” a typo in the title. I see nothing about the Art of The Flipper.

Ever since I was a young boy, I’ve played The Silver Ball.

3

Airplane size booze.(To take away)

Gift cards to Starbucks.(Or local place)

Temu junk. (Hey I love my junk) Especially funny if they just send a tiny couch. Or a real fake out.

Grab bags of you stuffed things. Whatever you can get at, say Dollar tree.

I found these really cute hand sanitizer at Dollar general. Look up Touchfeel hand sanitizers, incredibly over priced but the ones at DG are $1. They have poo-poo spray ones too. Bonus prize if some person tries to use the wrong one on their hands. They actually smell similar, probably the same stuff.

4

We have four pinball machines in the garage and throw a Pinball Happy Hour on the last Friday of each month. The only prize is putting your initials up when you get a high score.

5

This is for Purim. It’s the biggest party holiday on the Jewish calendar.

Beck, I like a couple of little gift bags for maybe 3rd and 4th place. Maybe a couple of $10-15 gift cards, and some stuff that bring the total up to $50.

This year, I’m also celebrating that after almost falling off the planet with sequential crises a while ago, I have my shit together again. I got the maximum raise and bonus at work, and a couple of other things went my way.

I also wasn’t going to say so, because she wants to be more anonymous than God (that’s a Jewish joke most people won’t get) but I have a benefactor who remembers the parties from the before time, and wants to help make them happen again.

So the prizes have a budget like never before.

She’s also taking care of the safe rides, so people can get smashed, if they want.

I asked her for her input, though, and her answer is just that she wants to be a guest, not have any hosting duties, and that means being surprised by the prizes.

6

So, is this a Purim Pinball Tournement? Do you have pinball machines or go somewhere in the neighborhood? What basic geography are you located at?

I played wicked pinball in the 1970’s. The kind where you had one quarter, 2 games, and you either won games or was done. And if you won more than a few games you could sell them to some other kid. I am not near the same level, but one out of maybe 10 games still have that flipper magic. And I’m retired these days so mildly interested if I could take part???

7

A website with a few options:

I looked this one up because party gifts + food generally have a wide and fun appeal, but since yours is more of a brawl, they might be too tame.

I remember a Purim festival as a child where I got a bunch of WWE wrestler figures in a draw (I was 9, so, yeah, easily pleased), and since we’re moving towards a tragicomedy of a world led by an honest-to-FSM Reality TV Show Host, something leaning it that might be fun such as a luchador mask.

I know Prime and Amazon gift cards are a great all purpose gift, useable by nearly all, but in the day and age, I feel slightly guilty gifting them because of, well, you know.

Moving into Gag gifts of questionable taste (IE I like them :wink:)

(gag + stress relief)

(if you’re 59, I’m guessing your friends are close, and it’s a practical gag gift and a way to joke about getting older)

And the infamous dumpster fire toys (soft, vinyl, squishy, etc.), because face it, it’s always appropriate)!

Hopefully one or more might tickle your fancy or spawn new ideas.

8

We are giving shlach manos to all attendees, and discussed putting the Trump paper in all of them, but while we are pretty sure of everyone’s politics, we are not sure there won’t be someone who might be offended at using the US president in such a way, whoever he is.

Got a third place idea. Need to post a pic, though, and have to get ready for work.

So we have second and third place, and TP for all who played. We still need a BIG first place prize.

And to the poster who asked, yes, we have our own pinball machines. We have several, and set them all on “tournament,” which means they don’t give free games as specials, just extra balls and points.

The way we do it, is to pick some machines based on to number of players, and people draw names on machines from a hat. Then, they play on these machines, 2, 3 or 4 players (if there is an odd player, they play my oldest machine for fun (and it’s whoever draws it), but basically get a “by.”

The top scorer on each machine faces the others on another machine (or two, if necessary). Anyway, once we are down to one machine, we get the winner by the highest scorer on that machine.

This is the final event of the evening that starts with a buffet with lots of hamantashen, and booze, followed by singing (my friend Bob brings his guitar, and sometimes I strum along a little with a capo) and booze, an abbreviated reading of the megillah Esther in Hebrew & English, and booze, then shmuesing and booze, with free play on the machines, and finally the tournament, and awarding of the prizes, with crowns for the top 2 winners, since it’s Purim. Then home in a van or Ubers.

Officially starts at 6, but people are welcome to come straight from work, if it’s easier, so people drift in starting at 5:30. A few people leave after the reading, and some come just for the tournament. We don’t care.

9

(Emphases added by me.)

Could you translate the bolded terms, please? I don’t understand.

As for a grand prize, I don’t know what your budget is like, but since you mentioned a lot of boozing, how about a bottle or two of Dom Perignon, or an expensive single-malt Scotch? For that matter, how about a $300 gift certificate/card to an upscale steakhouse? I’m thinking Smith and Wollensky’s or Del Frisco’s, and while that won’t cover the tab for two at those places, it will make the final tab a lot easier to take.

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shlach manos a gift basket of food, traditional to give on Purim
hamantashen a cookie that’s traditional to eat on Purim
megillah Esther the book of Esther, the basis of the holiday, and traditionally read at Purim
shmuesing I’ve always spelled it shmoozing, but this just means people hanging out together and talking. It’s a Yiddish word that is commonly used on the US, especially in parts of the US that have a lot of Jews.

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The bottle of booze might work. It’s traditional to get drunk on Purim. The upscale steakhouse won’t. I’d guess most of her guests keep kosher, and no upscale steak house is kosher.

How about a gift certificate to a local amusement park?

12

“Haman’s pockets” or “Haman’s purses”, Haman being the bad guy in the story of Esther. Take a round piece of cookie dough, put a dab of filling (usually some sort of fruit jam, in my goyish experience) in the centre, then fold up the edges like the brim of a tricorne hat and bake it.

13

Eep! I didn’t even think of that. Good point!

And thanks for the translations of the words. Much appreciated!

14

I’m old school. I don’t buy jam– I boil down my own fruit, to make fillings, add orange zest and sugar. I also make my own dough from scratch, and kind of unusually, I use a yeast dough. I don’t go out and buy pre-fab sugar cookie dough. Seriously, the “Pshhhht” of a roll of Pillsbury dough popping, and the click-pop! of a new jar of apricot preserves being opened does not shout “Jewish holiday” to me. But I guess it might be tradition for some people.

I love making hamantashen, though. I make some sugar-free ones and I even developed a gluten-free recipe that is pretty good. The last year I made them, I even made a few that were sugar & gluten-free, and they actually got eaten.

Also, folding the edges of the circle is not that simple: it’s an art; you can’t have them open again in the oven.