(Topic ID: 3424)
Dayton, OH
This MAYBE is the playfield that is now gone ?? :
http://www.sports-memorabilia-museum.com/baseball-history/lou-gehrig-playball-baseball-game.shtml
I wonder if this is a 'table top' that I keep reading about?
the bottom does look like a table but perhaps from the 1920s??
Bayswater
It's all simply made, probably carpenter by the looks of it. I talked to my grandmother and she said that the family story is that it holds a patent. But the rights were lost in a divorce but the table stayed with the original maker. I haven't been able to find out any names. All I know is it was passed down through the Postlewait family to me.
From the arced wear it looks like there is one big moving flipper on the right side. Clean that sucker up and send us a picture after. It has the appearance of a bagatelle machine.
Perhaps you ran the family name through the U.S. Patent office you might get a hit or even a picture with more info? 
Grimsby, ON
From the looks of it, the playfield is originally wood with the red lettering. So it doesn't look as if there was any other artwork on it. I would possibly take it to a furniture restorer to see if they could take/lift the playfield up to see if there are any markings. Also have them give it a good professional cleaning but never ever refinish it. It is always worth more with the original dings, marks/finish.
You could also contact a baseball museum and see if they know who, where, and why and when it was made. Possibly.
Play Ball Chester Pollard 1929
Play Ball H. C. Evans 1941 Brooklyn Amusement
Play Ball Genco 1942
Probably not the last ones as I think they were coin op.
You could try this guy he deals in antique machines
Call anytime 630-408-8808 (Bob) or e-mail [email protected]
Some documentation will always make it worth more.
Cool and interesting. Keep us posted on what you find out.
Antiques roadshow? 
Just guessing big time:
The big Y thing is an OUT
The other outlanes are single, double, triple, Home Run
The red marks I can't see well. It reminds me of the Poosh-M-Up Jr. I have hanging on my wall.
@erak: as far as I know nothing has been touched other than me just washing it up with a bit of wood furniture cleaner. And the under side of the table is very simple. There is really no way to lift the top from what I see. There is virtually no metallic mechanisms other than just hinges and screws which are all bronze which makes me think it's very old.
@brokedad: You're right and the writing next to the flipper is the strike.
@Hellodeadcity: This used to have marbles from what my mom said, but they were lost when we moved it to my house.
It is entirely possible that that so called "early pinball machine" was acutally built by a Bigfoot community. Are the knobs and buttons extra large? Did you find any strange hair? I speculate that it came from a forest in Oregon.
I think that's a pretty awesome piece. I have a coffee table in my living room about that size, and people would just flip if I could take off the top and it was suddenly an antique pinball game.
I agree with erak; it doesn't look like the machine had much in the way of painted graphics. I would try getting a furniture shop to restore it.
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