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Atlantic City Article, posted 6/16/05
OK. As advertised, and without further ado, here I go.First,I would like to acknowledge and touch briefly ona few of the very first Bally bingos, then go on toATLANTIC CITY.
Back in the 60's, there were a lot of penny arcades up and down the West Coast, and I'm sure the EastCoast as well. In Seattle, down on 1st Ave, a very historic waterfront and original "skid road", there were a bunch of 'em. One night in '67 as I was headed back to my ship from liberty, I stumbled upon one of them. I couldn't believe it! There they were, all of the machines I remembered as a kid! It was our last night in port, and boy did this "kid" make the most of it! There must have been 35+ machines, all bingos, Bally's and United's, in there! I didn't have much time, so first I played ATLANTIC CITY then visited as many of the rest as I could. I distinctly remember a
CONEY ISLAND, SPOT LIGHT, and PALM BEACH, three machines I had never seen before. I had no idea I was looking at three of Bally's first machines. If I had to bet on it, I'd wager that there was a BRIGHT LIGHTS, or a BROADWAY'51, or both, in one of the arcades down there somewhere. So I think that is as close as I ever came to Bally bingo history,et the BRIGHT LIGHTS. Back to ATLANTIC CITY.
I love the colors, theme and scene on the ATLANTIC CITY backglass. The scene and the colors are about as 50's as it gets! And the cabinet, also. I first played AC in the fall of 1958, at the neighborhood pool hall/juke joint called Cashman's Cafe. I'm sure many Rapid City natives here remember it. There were a lot of pinball machines in there, and two bingos as I recall. I was playing flipper machines like most kids. One fateful day I decided to drop a nickel into the AC instead. After shooting three balls, I was set up for a vertical 4 in a line on the first card. The 4th ball came down on the right side and swirled around 18 then hit the spring and I bumped it right back into 18,
pretty as you please, for my 4 in line! The machine racked up 20 replays, a lot of replays for a kid used to flippers! The short story is, after that, I was
hooked. Later on I came into contact with an individuals who witnessed the evolution of the first bingos. I heard some pretty wild stories about AC, like stepping all over coin wrappers when walking anywhere near it. So I have to believe AC was Bally's first big hit.
The first three coins light each card, and each coin flashes the DOUBLE panels, CORNER'S panel and the *S 14,15,16,17,19,and 22, on the cards, with these features then spotting up at mystery intervals. Additional coins are then deposited to continue for more features, etc. The DOUBLE feature combined with SPOTTED numbers, CORNERS panel, and EXTRA BALLS makes for a pretty exciting 3 card machine. I think these features must have accounted for a lot of those coin wrappers on thr floor. The early bingos, including AC, contained most of the internals in the bottom, et, the CU, mixer, spotting unit, etc. There is a removable side panel provided
for access. Servicing this system was a nightmare for operators, from what I understand. The only components in the head are the replay counters, search relays, and replay register. This system changed just before or with BEACH CLUB, when the internals first appeared in the head, a big relief for operators, no doubt. Well, I think I' ve gone on long enough for my first
article. Thank you all for bearing with me, and keep checking Jim's Corner for BEACH CLUB, my next post!
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