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Episode 261 - 1951 Chicago Coin Thing

For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·16m 19s·analyzed·Nov 27, 2015
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.018

TL;DR

Detailed retrospective on Chicago Coin's 1951 Thing EM machine and its song-inspired design.

Summary

Nicholas Backbone presents a detailed deep-dive into Chicago Coin's 1951 'Thing' pinball machine, inspired by the 1950 novelty song of the same name. The episode explores the machine's clever design features—including the mystery box center playfield element, 'boom bumpers' that simulate knocking sounds, Roy Parker's exceptional backglass artwork, and innovative playfield layout with 12 slingshot kickers. The machine combines strong thematic integration with thoughtful mechanical design, earning Backbone's high praise.

Key Claims

  • Thing's score motor is set up so that for each full revolution of one of the cams it will pop the bumpers whether the ball is in there or not, simulating the effect of knocking on the mystery box.

    high confidence · Nicholas Backbone, citing Bruce Zemos' write-up on the technical mechanics of the game

  • Thing was illustrated by Roy Parker and represents some of his best work, with the entire backglass story illustrated from the song across multiple vignettes.

    high confidence · Nicholas Backbone describing the artwork section

  • The game features 12 individual slingshot kickers located around the playfield.

    high confidence · Nicholas Backbone, noting this as an exceptional design feature

  • The V post on Thing functions in reverse compared to Alvin Gottlieb's design—it prevents draining in the down position and lifts up at a certain score threshold to light the drain hole.

    high confidence · Nicholas Backbone explaining the mechanical differences

  • Completing the T-H-I-N-G sequence either through bumpers, rollovers, or the center mystery box advances a question mark counter from 1-10 and awards replays based on the final number reached.

    high confidence · Nicholas Backbone detailing the scoring example provided by Bruce Zemos

Notable Quotes

  • “Now this can happen anytime that the score motor is turning and it plays into the big main playfield feature on this game, but it's something important to keep in mind that it can be activated by hitting something that scores a lot of points or scores a medium amount of points or by hitting this big playfield feature.”

    Nicholas Backbone @ ~7:45 — Explains the core mechanical innovation—the autonomous bumper popping mechanic tied to the score motor

  • “Thing is a Roy Parker illustrated machine, and it is some of his best work, hands down. If you look at the back glass, the entire story is illustrated from the song, from the man finding it on the beach and bringing it to the pawn shop, bringing it to his wife, bringing it to the homeless man, and on and on. It's incredible.”

    Nicholas Backbone @ ~13:20 — High praise for Roy Parker's thematic artwork integration on the backglass

  • “Think about that for a moment. 12 slingshots. the ball must go flying in this game from the time that it reaches one of the pops on the left and right side of the top of the arch all the way down the play field. That's incredible. What a fantastic design.”

    Nicholas Backbone @ ~22:30 — Emphasizes the exceptional playfield design and ball action expectations

  • “For many of us pinball enthusiasts, we'd be pleased to be flipping away in just about any afterlife venue, as long as the lineup includes our favorite games. For me, that lineup will include a whimsical machine called Thing, which is everything that a pinball machine ought to be.”

    Bruce Zemos (quoted by Nicholas Backbone) @ ~24:00 — Closing statement of Bruce's write-up expressing the profound appreciation for the machine's design philosophy

Entities

Nicholas BackbonepersonBruce ZemospersonRoy ParkerpersonCharles Randolph GreanpersonPhil HarrispersonAlvin GottliebpersonChicago CoincompanyFor Amusement OnlyorganizationThinggame

Signals

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Cabinet artwork uses tri-colored stencil work (yellow base, red scrolled illustrations) depicting song characters rather than simple geometric shapes typical of competing manufacturers.

    high · Description of cabinet stencils showing man carrying box, wife with rolling pin, man running; front coin door stencil showing couple fleeing from box

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Innovative playfield layout with 12 slingshot kickers creates highly dynamic ball action expected from early 1950s design philosophy.

    high · Nicholas Backbone emphasis: 'the ball must go flying in this game from the time that it reaches one of the pops on the left and right side of the top of the arch all the way down the play field'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Chicago Coin's Thing demonstrates strong thematic integration where the novelty song narrative is translated directly into playfield mechanics (mystery box, knocking sounds via bumpers, story elements in artwork).

    high · The score motor automation mimics knocking sounds; the center mystery box is the primary playfield feature; Roy Parker's backglass illustrates the entire song narrative across multiple vignettes; cabinet stencils depict characters from the song

  • ?

    product_strategy: Chicago Coin's V-post design on Thing reverses the typical Gottlieb function—prevents draining in down position and lifts at score threshold to expose the drain, adding strategic depth.

    high · Technical explanation contrasting Chicago Coin's reverse-functioning V-post with Alvin Gottlieb's standard design

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.049

0:00
what's that sound it's for amusement only the em and bingo pinball podcast so While I was walking down the beach one bright and sunny day, I saw a great big wooden box afloatin' in the bay. I pulled it in and opened it up and much to my surprise, ooh, I discovered a... Right before my eyes, ooh, I discovered a... Right before my eyes. Welcome back to For Amusement Only, this is Nick Baldridge.
0:48
And to my U.S. listeners, Happy Thanksgiving. Tonight I have a special treat coming to us courtesy of Bruce Zemos.
0:58
Bruce has written a very detailed write-up on Chicago Coin's 1951 thing. To understand the game, one must first understand the song, which was originally recorded in 1950 by Charles Randolph Green. The Phil Harris version, which you'll hear interspersed throughout this episode, tells the story of a man who finds a box sitting on the beach. I picked it up and ran to town as happy as a king. I took it to a guy I knew who'd buy most anything. But this is what he hollered at me as I walked in his shop. Oh, get out of here with that before I call a cop. So our protagonist tries to pass off this box to various people without much success.
1:56
So let's talk about the machine. Once you understand the basics of the song, the fact that there's a mystery box with something inside that's so terrible that no one wants anything to do with it, then you understand the inspiration for Chicago Coins' thing. One of the fascinating touches of this game is the fact that the pop bumpers are called boom bumpers.
2:26
And as you may have guessed, any reference to what's inside the box is punctuated with a knocking. well the score motor on thing is set up so that for each full revolution of one of the cams it will pop the pop bumpers whether the ball is in there or not simulating the effect of this knocking which is pretty darn cool now this can happen anytime that the score motor is turning and it plays into the big main playfield feature on this game, but it's something important to keep in mind that it can be activated by hitting something that scores a lot of points or scores a medium amount of points or by hitting this big playfield feature. So the feature that I'm talking about is this huge plastic representation of the box. And when you shoot the ball up into that, there's actually a kick-out hole that's hidden inside.
3:42
And the score motor revolves, and it'll play its little tune, and then shoot the ball back out. That's pretty cool. Get out of here with that and don come back no more So this poor fellow wanders all over town tries to give the box to his wife His wife kicks him out
4:09
And then he finds a homeless man on the street, tries to give the box to him. He was a desperate man, but when I showed him the... He turned around and ran. Now let's talk about the artwork.
4:23
Thing is a Roy Parker illustrated machine, and it is some of his best work, hands down. If you look at the back glass, the entire story is illustrated from the song,
4:41
from the man finding it on the beach and bringing it to the pawn shop, bringing it to his wife, bringing it to the homeless man, and on and on. It's incredible. Each little vignette is highlighted and very well illustrated.
4:59
Now, the points are scored up above the title. It says, Chicago Coins Thing, and the word thing is written in wavy, mysterious letters, which are fairly thick and yellow. It's a very cool effect in contrast with the red of the man's jacket. Now, the points show in the ten thousands in the little vignettes. In the hundred thousands, there are little paisley-shaped bubbles up above from 100 to 900,000. And then you have millions spelled out on the back glass at the top in a little arched section. written in reverse from 5 to 1 million. Now, down on the playfield, things get really interesting.
6:02
You have the word thing spelled out on five individual bumpers. Only two are pops. Written on the playfield by the T and the G bumper is the representing the thing in the box. And in between H, I, and N are three different people with their nose sticking over a little inset that says Mystery Score with an arrow pointing down towards the large plastic box in the center of the playfield.
6:36
There are question marks floating above their heads because they want to know what's in the box. Now along the sides of the playfield, on the left and right of the box,
6:46
there are long rubbers that score 10,000 points with each hit. If you go down, you'll see a woman on the left with a telescope,
7:01
and it spots one of the letters in thing. It's a rollover. On the right hand side you have the same thing Except it's a man with binoculars And his hat is popping off, he is so surprised by what he sees Special is also lit at the rollovers And you have on the left hand side What looks like a stork bringing the box And on the right hand side it looks like a milkman Bringing a box Now these are obviously not the same box as is depicted elsewhere. They're imposter boxes.
7:41
And right in the center of the playfield, in this lower third, you have a giant question mark. Now this question mark has inserts from 1 to 10.
7:54
Each time that you complete this sequence, T-H-I-N-G, either by hitting the bumpers at the top or by rolling through the rollover lanes or by shooting into the large box in the center of the playfield which instead of advancing T will automatically complete the sequence for T You'll advance the unit in the question mark area from 1 to 10, and from 10 to 19. And depending on the number, it will award you a certain number of replays. The example that Bruce was kind enough to let me have a look at here shows that if you score 9, you earn 1 replay. If you score 12, you earn 2. 14, 3.
8:43
And it appears 16, 4, and 18, 5. I wonder how difficult that actually is to do, because it sure seems like it would take some skill to get up to 9 full sequences of thing. But that said, I've never played one.
9:04
Now this game does have flippers. It was made after 1947. They are 2-inch flippers, which are mounted on the left and right side,
9:15
along with a V up post, which was common on Gottlieb games at about this time. So it pops up this metal V. Now, before I go further, it's important to note that this metal V works differently than the godly ones. When it's in the down position, you actually can't drain.
9:40
Unless you go under a flipper or something funky happens. But it's supposed to be there to prevent you from draining. And when you reach a certain score threshold, it will lift up. and when it lifts up it will light the insert that says keep out of here with an arrow pointing down towards the out hole again very clever and the design is a little more interesting than Gottlieb's design because it functions in the reverse now it's activated as soon as you shoot the ball. There's a little rollover switch as you leave the gate, and that will lower the gate. Now, as this is a wood rail from the 1950s, the balls sit out in the open down at the bottom,
10:35
so you can see exactly how far you've progressed and how many balls you have left to play. Now, there are two side rebounds down at the bottom, very similar to the ones up at the top, and they score 10,000 with each hit. There are also a second set of pop bumpers to the left and right, directly above these rebounds and below the side rollovers. And then in the bottom left and bottom right, there are additional rebounds which score 50,000 points right in line with the flippers. There are no outlanes on this game.
11:16
So the only way to drain is right through the center. here with that and take it down below. Now I suppose you can see where this is heading, and this part of the story is reflected in Roy Parker's artwork as well. One of the vignettes on the back last shows him at the gate with St. Peter,
11:46
but also on the playfield you have the devil on one side with the pitchfork, and the bottom portion of the question mark is in flames, and on the right hand side is our hapless narrator holding the box and looking rather nervously over his shoulder Now the cabinet artwork on this game is also unusual for the time Instead of simple geometric shapes like Gottlieb used at this time
12:23
this Chicago coin game has a tri-colored stencil, a yellow base coat with a red scroll type illustration,
12:38
and on that you have a man carrying the box, his wife pointing and holding a rolling pin, and the man running.
12:50
Now one of my favorite pieces is the stencil actually on the front of the machine covering the coin door and the rest of the front. You have a man and a woman on that same scroll-type surface running away from the box right in the center.
13:08
Very cool. I mean, what a great idea to model that after that song. Now, one item of playfield scoring that I didn't mention is that to the left and right of the entrance of the mystery box in the center of the playfield, you have two kick-out holes, Each would score 100,000 points.
13:27
So that's a nice consolation prize if you miss the mystery score right in the center. Also of note is that the game has 12 individual slingshot kickers located around the playfield. Think about that for a moment. 12 slingshots. the ball must go flying in this game from the time that it reaches one of the pops on the left and right side of the top of the arch all the way down the play field. That's incredible. What a fantastic design. I really hope to be able to play one of these one day.
14:11
Such a gorgeous piece of artwork as well as a well-thought-out pinball machine. Bruce's write-up, which I will include in the show notes,
14:24
is very detailed, and he goes into all the aspects of the song and how they're incorporated on the play field. The last line of his write-up.
14:34
For many of us pinball enthusiasts, we'd be pleased to be flipping away in just about any afterlife venue, as long as the lineup includes our favorite games. For me, that lineup will include a whimsical machine called Thing, which is everything that a pinball machine ought to be.
14:51
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody. And thank you very much to Bruce for allowing me to use portions of his write-up, as well as to post a couple of pictures of his beautiful machine. I'll be posting those to the Facebook and Instagram feeds. so for anybody that would like to look at those, check those out and I'm also very thankful to you for listening my name again is Nick Baldridge you can reach me at 4amusementonlypodcast at gmail.com or you can call me on the bingos line that's 724-BINGOS1 724-246-4671 you can listen to us on iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Cast via RSS, on Facebook on Twitter at Bingo Podcast You can follow me on Instagram, also at bingopodcast. Or you can listen to us on our website, which is foramusementonly.libsyn.com. Thank you very much for listening, and I'll talk to you next time. The moral of the story is if you're out on the beach and you should see a great big box and it's within your reach, don't ever stop and open it up. That's my advice to you Cause you'll never get rid of them No matter what you do Oh, you'll never get rid of them No matter what you do