For over 35 years, pinball machines were banned from multiple major cities in America; New York, Chicago, New Orleans. That's right, pinball, our industry's past time, was once illegal. At the time, most pinballs were manufactured in Chicago, a hotbed for organized crime, and law enforcement and politicians looked at them as "menaces to society". Before 1947 and the invention of flippers, pinballs were completely games of chance and local vendors would give out prizes to the "winners". The local authorities considered this gambling, and hence went forth with the ban. The story is fascinating and well worth the 5 minute read on History.com
So how did pinball become the scourge of society to the industry's savior? Insert AMOA and, at the time, one of the best pinball players in town, Roger Sharpe, to host New York's dignitaries for them to see firsthand that pinball was not a game of chance, but skill was what made Mr. Sharpe, and many others, the best players in town.
Hollywood has now jumped on the bandwagon of the forever loved game and, coming to theaters soon, is "The Man Who Saved the Game", a film dedicated to the story of Robert Sharpe who is well known for, well...The man who saved the game...