William PietriSep 15, 2025
One of the fun/annoying things about starting a pinball museum is the number of historical rabbit holes that I get caught up in. Today it's how this 1936 pinball machine led me to what looks like an MLM scheme from the 1920s and 1930s. A scam that still works today! 🧵
Show threadWilliam PietriSep 15, 2025
Bally's Carom was part of the wave of pinball-ish machines that started in 1931, but they quickly veered into what at the time was legal ambiguity, but today is clearly seen as a gambling machine. Here's the Carom schematic, which makes clear that the operator can set the payout odds. Gambling! 100% gambling! 2/
Show threadvxoSep 15, 2025

@williampietri that score projection unit is adorable

also, the odds unit is an air dashpot relay?! freaking cool.

Show threadvxo
@williampietri note that by "cool" I mean, sure, for a pinball machine. Air and oil dashpot relays are a pain in the posterior in industrial automation and it's a good thing they've mostly been replaced by solid state timers. Dust gets in and halts them.
Sep 15, 2025 at 1:36pmWeb