Well, it's been many months since I posted photos of my 1934 Genco Gridiron restoration project. I finally got around to recording a video of the gameplay. My narration and camera angles are somewhat deficient. Nevertheless, I think that the video clip is a true representation of the gameplay so I have posted it here.
The main feature of Genco's Gridiron is its 3 solenoid-driven playfield kickers, which propel the balls upward, often in surprising and pleasing directions. This patented, subway kicker technology was licensed from PAMCO (Pacific Amusement Co.). Dry cell batteries were employed to energize the solenoids.
Genco originally released this game under the name Goal-Kick. This name was likely selected to emphasize the football kicking element and the main feature, i.e. energized kicking of the ball. Evidently, operators disliked the name, which resulted in the change to Gridiron.
The object of the game is, of course, to land balls in the high-scoring holes. Few prewar games sport such attractive playfield graphics. Coupled with the beautiful, sturdy poplar and other furniture-grade woods utilized by Genco, Gridiron is a stand-out among the games of the era. The red-uniform and green accents are stunning, against the honey-toned playfield. Likewise, the art deco motif of the cabinet and the shooter plate lend an elegance to this game, based upon American football. Indeed, relatively few pinball machines of any era draw from a football theme, which makes Gridiron even more unique. Conventional wisdom estimates are that only about a half-dozen Gridirons/Goal-Kicks have survived.
Corrections: Genco was founded by Louis, Meyer and David Gensberg. As I stated in the video, the "G" is hard in pronunciation, as was the surname of the founders, even though most pinball enthusiasts use the soft "G" pronunciation. Samuel Gensburg was among the founders of Chicago Coin Machine Manufacturing Co., which predated Genco. In the video, I erroneously stated the Gensburg surname as Genco. Also, the production year is 1934 (not 1935, as I incorrectly stated in the video).