Random Lake, WI
Quoted from I_P_D_B:I've always kept a fuzzy, wordless idea in my head for what "pre-war" was. From working the IPDB, I think I've moved away from a day or a week to more of a transitional period of time.
Excellent perspective Jay. I'm of similar thought, and feel it was a softer transition from pinball production to wartime efforts. As you know during the war, corporations such as United Manufacturing Company produced numerous conversion games. While their first conversion '42 Midway' was clearly a commemorative design, an interesting but little known detail surrounds many of their subsequent wartime titles. Most obvious was their 3rd release '43 Arizona'. Cursory observation might suggest the game was merely a nod to the state, however the mast and naval pennants boldly displayed on the flanks of the backbox leave little doubt the design was paying homage to the US battleship sunk little more than a year before the game was released. To be certain, the cabinet graphics including bald eagle, and red, white and blue flowing ribbon were thrown in for good measure.
Less obvious were United's succession of wartime 'state' conversion games which followed their production of Arizona. Far more than coincidence, the string of state titles just so happened to pair with several US Naval vessels which all played significant roles throughout the war; '43 Santa Fe' (USS Santa Fe CL-60), '43 Idaho' (USS Idaho BB-42), '44 Oklahoma' (USS Oklahoma BB-37), '47 Hawaii' (USS Hawaii CB-3), '47 Nevada' (USS Nevada). Although I have not verified this through official UMC documentation, the random odds of chance are clearly more than coincidence. These titles were selected with intent.
While our focus here remains on prewar pinball, I believe the very limited number of games produced during the war (albeit conversions), and the conditions under which they were allowed to be manufactured, should be recognized as a significant category in it's own right.
