This is on my gameroom website, just so (the non-pinball) people know where it all started:
'It all began in 1965 when at the tender age of 8, I was taken along by my Mother when she visited some friends who had a pinball game and a Coke machine in their family room – a very hip thing back in 'the Day.'
I can still recall that as we left the house, I tugged on her coat sleeve and exclaimed, "... Some day Mom, I'm gonna have a house with a room just like THAT!"
In the late '60s and early '70s my parents were big into league bowling. What better place than Lincoln Lanes, to stand around and watch the action? Our local bowling alley had a pinball machine and that cool Coca-Cola Vendo machine that dispensed drinks in little triangular paper cups for 15 cents.
Bowling? Is there bowling going on in this place? Funny, I hadn't noticed.
"Can I have another quarter, Dad?"
A few years after graduating college, my Mother made the tragic mistake of asking what I wanted for Christmas. Without any hesitation, "A pinball machine!" came from my mouth.
So off we went to see her high school classmate who happened to be the local coin-op amusement tycoon. After 2 hours of looking over more 300 machines, I selected a 1977 Williams 'Big Deal' four player electro-mechanical (EM) game – for the unforgettable price of $200.
The day it arrived was like Christmas. I couldn't wait to get home from work to find a real live pinball machine in my very own apartment. I was like Ralphie with his Red Rider BB Gun!'
Funny - it STILL feels that same way - that feeling that ONLY a fellow pinhead knows - that in your own house you can walk in, turn it on and play a game anytime you want!
