The Real Reason Pinball Was Once Illegal

May 2024 ยท 1 minute read

During the 1940s, organized crime, gambling and World War II were all major issues in the country, and pinball machines were seen as a waste of materials as copper, aluminum and nickel were commonly used to manufacture the products. It was New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia who believed it "infinitely preferable that the metal in these evil contraptions be manufactured into arms and bullets which can be used to destroy our foreign enemies," according to History.

Across the nation, school boards and churches demanded the removal of machines altogether, fearful that America's children were being morally corrupted by a game that encouraged kids to skip school to play, and even starve themselves by wasting their lunch money on a few games of pinball.

In fact, Mayor LaGuardia was one of the most vocal believers that pinball fostered crime and juvenile delinquency. The mayor would go on to say that the pinball industry stole millions of dollars a year from the "pockets of school children in the form of nickels and dimes given them as lunch money," according to Pinball Showdown.

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