{"id":68,"date":"2017-03-16T19:06:37","date_gmt":"2017-03-16T19:06:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/historyoftech.mcclurken.org\/pinball\/?page_id=68"},"modified":"2017-04-25T14:50:53","modified_gmt":"2017-04-25T14:50:53","slug":"interaction-with-american-society","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/historyoftech.mcclurken.org\/pinball\/interaction-with-american-society\/","title":{"rendered":"Interaction with American Society: Post World War II"},"content":{"rendered":"

From 1947 to 1967, wages doubled [1]. With this increase in wages, many teenagers found themselves playing pinball to spend their time and money [2]. During the Great Depression, children were more likely to graduate high school, because of the lack of work available for them [3]. By the time World War II ended in 1945, the participation of children and teenagers in the work force was limited. The “lack of productivity” resulted in teenagers forming “their own distinct forms of popular culture” [4]. The increase in wages as well as the increase of leisure time contributed to the increased popularity of pinball and the arcade scene, especially among teenagers.<\/p>\n

Arcade<\/h5>\n
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Penny Arcade, a group of African American fair goers enjoys the Penny Arcade at the Missouri State Fair.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Amusement Arcades were places that housed coin operated machinery and games, including Pinball. Alongside pinball, many of the first arcades housed the game of Skeeball, which was originally was played outside and required a lot more strength to play in comparison to the game we know today. The original arcades were often referred to as penny arcades, patrons would be able to attend a variety of stations and could play these collections for either a penny or a nickle. [5] The first successful coin-operated game was called Baffle Ball and was created by Daniel Gottlieb in 1931. Many coin-operated machines were considered gambling, especially pinball because it was marketed as a game of chance. During this time Pinball embraced the “three classic elements of the generic definition of gambling: consideration, chance, and prize”. [6] In 1947, the inclusion of flippers made the game to appear to be more of a game of skill which in turn made the game appear to be more family friendly. [7] \u00a0Soon after, businesses started installing these machines to bring more consumers through, often becoming popular among youths in bigger cities. Eventually, pinball and other older games began to be replaced with electronic video games in the early 1970’s. The first ever coin-operated electronic video game was Galaxy Game and it was installed at Stanford University in 1971. Later, in 1972 Atari released the first commercially successful coin-operated electronic arcade game, Pong. Over 35,000 units of this game was sold, jump-starting the birth of the video game and leading in the new era of electronic game arcades, making pinball a thing of the past. [8]<\/div>\n
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By the end of 1974, there were more than fifteen different companies actively producing video game cabinets. [9]<\/div>\n
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Arcade Games,\u00a0<\/em>Several arcade games at DisneyQuest in Florida.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Music<\/h5>\n

While invented in America, the influence of the pinball has been far-reaching. In 1969, the Who, a British Rock band, released a single titled, \u201cPinball Wizard.\u201d According to an interview given in 2004, Pete Townshend created the song because a music critic had not been as impressed with the Who\u2019s current project, \u201cTommy\u201d [9]. Townshend shared that when he sarcastically asked if a song about pinball would get a good review from the critic, the critic responded, \u201cOf course I would. Anything with pinball in it is fantastic!\u201d [10] \u201cPinball Wizard\u201d ended up being the Who\u2019s second most popular single in America, reaching no. 19 on Billboard\u2019s Hot 100 [11]. The popularity of the song \u201cPinball Wizard\u201d demonstrates that pinball was more than just a game to play at the arcade. Despite the joke around which the song had been written, the popularity of the song suggests that Americans had a fondness for the game and valued those that were skilled at playing.<\/p>\n