Once upon a time, Michigan decided to ban a truly sinful pastime – something capable of corrupting youth and solid family men alike. It was an activity that was siphoning off important funds from otherwise stable households.
We are talking, of course, about pinball.
In 1931, women’s groups successfully lobbied for changes to state laws to dissuade Michiganders from what they saw as immoral behavior. One of their targets? Gambling.
“And essentially what the law did was make pinball and that type of gaming illegal because it was completely based on chance,” explained archivist Rachel Clark, with the Archives of Michigan, in an interview with Stateside.
Why were pinball machines banned in Michigan?
The pinball machines of yore were a little different than the arcade setups we think of today.
“The best way I can sort of describe it is, if you’re a 'Price Is Right' fan, it's like Plinko. So you still had the springs that launched the ball up onto the table, but it was the ball would just kind of fall down the table itself, which was slanted, obviously. And then it would hit some pins and metal pins and it would fall into like different holes, but that was it.”
There were no pinball wizards because it was a game of chance, not skill. (Unless you count jostling and banging on the table as a skill.) And that meant it got grouped alongside other gambling activities like slot machines.
Clark said the new gaming laws were initially enforced, particularly in larger cities like Detroit. Pinball games were removed from gaming halls and the owners were punished. But in response, the format of the pinball machines began to change.
“If you are winning money or something of monetary value, which could include a free game or multiple free games in pinball, that was considered monetary winnings based completely on chance,” Clark said. “And so in the mid-1930s, you start to see some changes to the game, and the way the games are styled and built, that sort of remove that chance component and add skill to it.”
In 1935, the first models with tilt mechanisms (designed to stop people from cheating by banging the machine around) were introduced. A dozen years later, along came the flipper. In 1947, pinball machine manufacturers began adding flippers as a way to control where the little metal ball landed. And if you’ve ever played a game of pinball, you know that it takes timing and finesse to flip that ball to the highest scoring targets.
“You can't just pick up the table anymore and chuck it around trying to get the ball to land where you want because you get a tilt violation or tilt penalty. So yeah, by the late 1940s, it really does change to more of a game of skill instead of a game of chance.”
Pinball makes a comeback
Clark said that through the 1950s and 60s, the enforcement of the pinball ban dwindled. However, the laws against the game remained on the books until 1972.
“And in 1972, Michigan completely rescinded that type of violation for pinball machines. There [is] still guidance to pinball machines and arcade games. But the original 1931 penalties…that ordinance was repealed in 1972.”
That meant all the pinball wizards out there could battle for the high scores–without breaking the law.
