March 17, 1937: Illinois Attorney General John E. Cassidy declared that all pinball machines were to be outlawed as gambling devices. He called them "pernicious and dangerous to the public welfare." Law enforcement officers around the state pledged their support, ready to seize the machines just as they would slot machines.
Many city officials pushed back, arguing they received substantial licensing and tax revenue from pinball establishments. The case eventually went to the Illinois Supreme Court, which ruled in 1942 that certain types of pinball machines could be classified as "mechanical gambling devices," outlawed in the state since 1895.
However, the decision did not make all pinball machines illegal. Instead, it allowed local officials to decide which devices would be banned, leaving a patchwork of local ordinances. Chicago, however, had already banned the machines outright — an ironic move, given that the industry was centered in Chicago and most of the country's pinball machines were manufactured there.
most of the country's pinball machines were manufactured in the city.
Coin-operated pinball machines first became popular in the 1930s. Early models operated on the same basic concept as modern machines: Players launched a ball onto an inclined plane, hoping it would land in one of several receptacles. These were surrounded, to varying degrees, by nails or pins — giving the game its name, pinball.
However, early machines did not include flippers to keep the ball in play. Because outcomes depended largely on the machine's mechanics, law enforcement considered them subject to the 1895 ban on mechanical gambling devices.
In many instances, they were used for gambling. Some establishments treated pinball machines like roulette wheels, with patrons placing bets on where the ball would land. Others offered prizes — sometimes even cash — based on the outcome.
Beyond gambling concerns, several churches and schools criticized pinball as frivolous and immoral, arguing the games contributed to juvenile delinquency.
This remained the case in Chicago and other Illinois cities until the 1970s, when officials began reconsidering pinball bans. With the introduction of manually controlled flippers, pinball was increasingly seen as a game of skill rather than chance. Chicago overturned its ban in 1977.
Even into the 1980s, however, a Chicago alderman described pinball establishments as "nests for gangs and drugs" and sought to restrict their use to adults.
Copy Edited by Eryn Lent
