In recent days, there have been two unboxings of EM pins:

1) Bally Silver Sails, 1962 - this is one of the kings of the bingo pinballs, and if you are familiar, you know that they are HEAVY. The packaging was only simple cardboard between each component, and it protected the game very well. I am working on editing an unboxing video to show. I was quite honored to participate in the unboxing at the White Rose Gameroom Show in October of last year.

2) A Chicago Coin Sound Stage was recently unboxed in New York - it, too, used cardboard.

Bolts and balls were shipped in either boxes or bags.

I am not familiar with the other manufacturers' setups, especially for older games, but it stands to reason that similar techniques would have been used, or crates would have been made.

1976 Chicago Coin "Sound Stage" (image not mine)
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Whoops! Sorry about that.

Here are a bunch of photos and some videos of the game being unboxed at York, starting with this post: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/bingo-row-at-the-2018-york-show#post-4640851

I peered in that Sound Stage box many times. Packaging wasn't really much different, more cardboard rather than styro, legs packaged separately in their own box.

Best unique thread topic I’ve stumbled upon in a while and quickly backed up with a solid video that’s also very recent!

Here's an image from Roger Sharpe's book entitled Pinball. 1976 Williams space mission during Factory assembly and prepared for shipping in cardboard boxes.

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"Granted, it's not likely EMs were delivered still boxed up to distributors' customers like they are today..."

I bought NIB games as an operator in the early 1970s. The distribs offered three options: (1) pick it up fully boxed, (2) they would unbox it there and load the components into your smaller vehicle, or (3) they would unbox it and assemble it and load it ready-to-go onto your truck. I think option (3) was used by operators who were going straight from the distrib to the location where the game would be operated, and the operator was responsible for providing adequate tie-downs. We used option (2) when picking up a game in a station wagon or U-Haul closed-box trailer, where the lightbox was way forward, legs along the side. We used option (1) when picking up a game in a full-size van, U-Haul box truck, or open trailer.

I don't remember anything special about the boxes, other than the fact that the outside was marked with the coin-door setup (e.g., two-chute 2/25c) similar to the way that a modern box might indicate whether a dollar-bill acceptor is installed.
.................David Marston

My still NIB InterFlip Dragon pin
was boxed with the Head and CAB
into two separate boxes