**Date:**
February 2020
**Location:**Willkomm’s Travel Center, I-94 and Route 20, Racine, WI, USA
“*There is nothing quite as comforting as a slice of delicious Kringle and a cup of hot coffee.*” – Olesen family saying.
About 20-or-so miles north of the state line between Illinois and Wisconsin, and 22 miles south of Milwaukee is the town of Racine. Racine was founded in 1834 as *Port Gilbert* but the name never was popular with the residents. In 1836 the town name was changed to Racine which is a French word for the nearby Root River.
With the establishment of the Matt Frank Lloyd Wright-designed buildings of the S.C. Johnson administration and research complex, there came an influx of Scandinavian immigrants to the area.
Part of the heritage these Scandinavians brought to the so-called New World was the range of tempting baked goods for which the Danes are well-known.
Easily the most famous bakery in the Racine area, if not the entire Great Lakes region, is the O&H Danish Bakery. It was established in the early 1940s, but they had been baking tasty treats for at least a generation prior to that.
[](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/sites/o-and-h-racine/06-o-and-h-racine.jpg)
O&H Danish Bakery
The ‘O’ in O&H is the Olesen family, and they are credited with bringing the Danish Kringle treat to Wisconsin. The Kringle is scratch-made at O&H and is available with 21 fillings, including the popular apple and cherry as well as less well-known fillings such as Mediterranean Apricot and Tiramisu. Each Kringle takes 3 days for O&H’s bakers to make.
[](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/sites/o-and-h-racine/11-o-and-h-racine.jpg)
O&H’s Kringle
[](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/sites/o-and-h-racine/08-o-and-h-racine.jpg)
The raspberry and the pecan Kringle
O&H features Gokstad premium coffee named after the 9th century Viking longship. The coffee beans are roasted right in Racine for best freshness, and I can assure you that this coffee hits the spot!
[](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/sites/o-and-h-racine/07-o-and-h-racine.jpg)
More than just Kringles
The Washington Avenue bakery location (from which all of the tasty goodness originates) is hard to miss with the replica Viking longship out front!
[](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/sites/o-and-h-racine/12-o-and-h-racine.jpg)
O&H’s Washington Avenue location
So, you might ask, what does all of this have to do with pinball? Just a bit more patience from our readers and I will explain it to you.
O&H Danish Bakeries had several locations in the town of Racine and became somewhat of a tourist destination where people on Wisconsin holidays would buy Kringle or other baked goods to take home with them. O&H wisely established satellite sales locations along Interstate Highway 94. Not only could tourists stop and sample O&H’s delicacies, but these satellite locations became popular with long-distance truckers who would buy a slice of Kringle, or a Danish pastry and a cup of coffee ‘to go’.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s the O&H Bakery locations along I-94 became part of large Travel Centers. Such things as petrol, diesel, sit down dining, grocery and sundries, laundry, medical clinic (including a Chiropractor), his and hers salon, showers, and even a chapel were part of these roadside centers. In the 1970s the travel centers added coin-operated Arcades to the list of their attractions and here is where our story begins in earnest.
One of the O&H bakery satellites is located inside Willkomm’s (Dutch for ‘welcome’) travel center. It can be found at the intersection of I-94 and State Route 20 at exit 333. They have a well-equipped game room with video games, ‘pusher’ games of skill/chance and, yes, pinball.
[](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/sites/o-and-h-racine/01-o-and-h-racine.jpg)
The three pinballs at O&H Danish Bakery
The current pinball line up at Willkomm’s includes *Star Trek* Pro (Stern, 2013), *The Walking Dead* Pro (Stern, 2014) and *Game of Thrones* Pro (Stern, 2017) . It would appear as though the games have been cleaned and serviced recently, and a prior problem with an overly sensitive tilt on GOT seems to have been resolved.
Prices are the usual $1/game or $2/3 games. There is a change machine nearby for quarters, and the travel store will break large bills for you if need be.
Other games in the arcade area include a stand-up *Multicade*, *Super Bikes 3*, *Daytona Championship USA*, *Golden Tee 2016*, and the aforementioned bank of six *Jack’s Hi* ‘pusher’ semi-gambling games.
[](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/sites/o-and-h-racine/10-o-and-h-racine.jpg)
Super Bikes 3 from Raw Thrills
[](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/sites/o-and-h-racine/03-o-and-h-racine.jpg)
A Sega Daytona Championship USA
[](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/sites/o-and-h-racine/09-o-and-h-racine.jpg)
A six-player Jack’s Hi Pusher by Coastal Amusements
So, in summary, we have at this site the lure of a Danish bakery serving as the come-on for a coin-op amusement arcade for tourists and professional drivers.
Why not check it out if you are in the area? If the games don’t suit you, I am certain that the baked goods will.