# When was pinball popular? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 9, 2025, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-pinball-popular/1014066 "2025-02-09T00:10:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-pinball-popular/1014066/1 "2025-02-09T00:10:14Z")
I’m reading Haruki Murakami’s _Pinball 1973_ and now I’m wondering about when pinball was actually popular. My “back of my mind” assumption before starting the book was that pinball was mostly a 1970s thing. Looking this up on google, however, leads to dates as early as the 1930s, with the Google AI claiming the 1930s through 1950s, and many other sites claiming the 1950s through early 1980s. As a Gen Xer (born in 1977), I don’t have first hand experience of those earlier dates, but they seem off to me. I can maybe see the 1960s, but I certainly don’t associate the 1950s with pinball, much less the Great Depression or WWII. So what’s the straight dope? When was pinball popular? ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-pinball-popular/1014066/2 "2025-02-09T00:12:04Z")
1970 kid here. Definitely into the 80s, although video games pushed them out starting in the early 80s. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-pinball-popular/1014066/3 "2025-02-09T00:18:15Z")
Yeah. I remember the decline. In my hometown it was the debut of _Super Mario Brothers_ that led to the decline of pinball in the mid ‘80s. I witnessed that first hand. But the early dates seem way off. Were teenagers back in the Great Depression, WWII, or even during the Eisenhower years hanging out playing pinball? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-pinball-popular/1014066/4 "2025-02-09T00:20:33Z")
New pinball machines were still being designed and sold in the mid to late 1980s - I saw this one in college (note that it featured Gorbachev - topical!) > **[Taxi (pinball)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxi_(pinball))** > > Taxi is a pinball machine designed by Mark Ritchie and Python Anghelo. It was released in 1988 by Williams Electronics. > The goal of the game is to pick up five passengers: Pinbot, Gorbie, Lola (or Marilyn Monroe in the original version), Dracula, and Santa. The passengers are represented by lighted illustrations in the center of the lower end of the playfield and are also featured on the backglass. If Carry Passengers is not lit, all passengers are lost when the ball drains. The original game... ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-pinball-popular/1014066/5 "2025-02-09T00:23:31Z")
I recall playing them in the bar in the 60’s when I was 8 or 9 while my dad had a few drinks and played cards with his buddies. I wasn’t quite tall enough for the pool table yet, that happened when I was 11 or 12. But I recall from popular culture that they were a standard fixture back in the 50’s when they wanted to show juvenile delinquents in leather jackets smoking cigarettes and being a menace. But the 70’s took the game to another level with the Who’s album Tommy and the games got much more complicated and flashier. The first arcades I went to in 79 had them side by side and people played both, by 83 the video games all but took over and the pinball games were more of an afterthought. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-pinball-popular/1014066/6 "2025-02-09T00:37:00Z")
Article offers a decent history of pinball’s popularity, among other things: > **[Know the Truth: Why Was Pinball Illegal?](https://www.jerseyjackpinball.com/blog/why-was-pinball-illegal/)** > > Discover why pinball was banned in the mid-20th century, the surprising link to gambling, and how the game’s reputation was restored in later decades. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-pinball-popular/1014066/7 "2025-02-09T00:37:16Z")
The types of pinball machines popular in the '30s and '40s were quite a bit different than modern models; the flipper was only introduced in 1947. Before that, they were more like pachinko/bagatelle machines. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-pinball-popular/1014066/8 "2025-02-09T00:43:22Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > The first arcades I went to in 79 had them side by side and people played both, by 83 the video games all but took over and the pinball games were more of an afterthought. I was born in 1965, and this generally tracks with my memories. Pinball machines were really common (and popular) through the 1970s, in bars and restaurants, as well as gaming arcades. Video games largely supplanted them by the early '80s, but there were still always a few pinball machines around; the pinball companies responded by making their games more electronic and flashier, and there’s still a niche for them. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-pinball-popular/1014066/9 "2025-02-09T01:05:34Z")
The Slow Mo Guys and a pinball machine. > **[How a Pinball Machine works in Slow Motion - The Slow Mo Guys](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tmg5WOvPKpU%2F)** > > Gav whips out the Phantom and proves that some strange things happening on a pinball machine when viewed in Slow Mo! The first 1000 people to use this link w... ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-pinball-popular/1014066/10 "2025-02-09T01:08:57Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > New pinball machines were still being designed and sold in the mid to late 1980s New pinball machines are still being designed and sold today. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-pinball-popular/1014066/11 "2025-02-09T01:45:15Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > Yeah. I remember the decline. In my hometown it was the debut of _Super Mario Brothers_ that led to the decline of pinball in the mid ‘80s. I’d date the beginning of pinball’s decline to the appearance of Space Invaders in early 1978. Even though the local mall had ~5 machines, people were lined up to play it. I can’t remember anything like that ever happening with a pinball game. After that, at least IME, arcades had more and more video games, and fewer and fewer pinball machines. But during the 1960s and most of the 1970s, pinball was popular. Video games like Pong and Breakout were different, but really didn’t supplant pinball. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-pinball-popular/1014066/12 "2025-02-09T01:59:31Z")
Pinball heyday was prolly the 70’s. Tommy the movie was ~1976. The 80’s saw a transition to space invaders, mario and the ilk. Pinball arcades started to fade out. Used to be a lot of bars had 2-3 machines. Now it’s retro, but nothing like it was in the 70’s. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-pinball-popular/1014066/13 "2025-02-09T02:13:37Z")
Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-pinball-popular/1014066/14 "2025-02-09T02:45:23Z")
I grew up with video games (was born at the tail end of the 70s) yet I have always loved and still love pinball. There’s an appeal to seeing actual physical things happening over a flat 2D representation. I think they will always have a niche. But video arcade machines definitely were the death knell for them as a common pastime and major draw for people. These days people basically carry an entertainment device in their pocket everywhere. I miss the days when the arcade was an exciting place to hang out and have fun. [/old man grumbles] ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-pinball-popular/1014066/15 "2025-02-09T02:48:37Z")
Pinball games took up a lot of floor space and repairs compared to a video game. That and games like Ms PacMan and others appealed to girls more than pinball ever did. I don’t recall seeing pinball games in most bars after 85, and then people mostly used them to sit there beer on while playing pinball. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-pinball-popular/1014066/16 "2025-02-09T02:52:28Z")
> [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > Definitely into the 80s, although video games pushed them out starting in the early 80s. Yep. We used to go to the local bowling alley after D&D to play pinball, then video games, and so forth. > [@hogarth](#): > > The types of pinball machines popular in the '30s and '40s were quite a bit different than modern models; the flipper was only introduced in 1947. Before that, they were more like pachinko/bagatelle machines. Yep, but you were allowed to use your body to work the balls, or so i heard, buy tilting the machine- which later would cancel that ball or entire game. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-pinball-popular/1014066/17 "2025-02-09T03:02:22Z")
I play pinball on my phone several times a week, does that count? ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-pinball-popular/1014066/18 "2025-02-09T03:30:15Z")
I played one on my Nintendo for a couple of months in the 90s. It was fun, but no it don’t count. ---
**Author:** ![pirviii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pirviii/32/3233_2.png) [@pirviii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pirviii)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-pinball-popular/1014066/19 "2025-02-09T06:12:07Z")
Anyone interested in pinball and is in Las Vegas, they should visit the Pinball Hall of Fame. They have hundreds of machines from different eras, plus some other coin op machines. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-pinball-popular/1014066/20 "2025-02-09T06:27:47Z")
Cecil discusses the history of pinball and alludes to its post war popularity following the invention of the flipper in 1947. > **[Did they used to make flipperless pinball machines?](https://www.straightdope.com/21341467/did-they-used-to-make-flipperless-pinball-machines)** [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-pinball-popular/1014066.md?page=2)