How Pinball Conned America | Nostalgia Nerd
Visit https://www.totalav.com/nerd70 to get 70% off sponsor TotalAV Today! ~ Welcome to a video about the sea, a video about loss, a video about slot machines, a video about pinball machines. This is a historical look at gambling machines, the sea, pinball and the great pinball ban in America. It’s journey, just make sure you have a lifeboat.
This video was scripted and edited by @octaviusking
Alternative Titles:
Why were Pinball machines banned in America?
Why Slot Machines are under the sea
America Pinball Ban
00:00-23:55 Pinball!
23:55-24:50 TotalAV
24:50-29:10 More Pinball!
🔗Video Links🔗
EARLY PINBALL GAME https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinball#/media/File:Flipper1948.jpg
FORTUNA GAME AT MEDIA MUSEUM – WIKIMEDIA COMMONS https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fortuna_game_at_Media_museum_Rupriikki.jpg
IMPROVEMENT TO BAGATELLE BALLS SHOOTER PATENT https://patents.google.com/patent/US115357A/en
BAFFLE BALL https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baffle_Ball
WHIFFLE BALL AD https://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=3552&picno=79593
Bolo Board https://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=340
Stevo-ball https://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2375
Priscilla Dean in Outside The Law 1920 film https://archive.org/details/OutsideTheLaw
Chicago in 1936 https://archive.org/details/0994_Chicago_01_45_18_18
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a42BphkVqhc LaGuardia smashing up slot machines
https://pinball.fandom.com/wiki/Roger_Sharpe?file=RogerSharpeCourt.png Roger Sharpe showing councillors the game
https://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=131&picno=39919 Baffle Ball – IPDB
https://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=1254&picno=60529 Humpty Dumpty board -IPDB
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagatelle#/media/File:Bagatelle.jpg BAGATELLE BOARD – WIKIMEDIA
https://archive.org/details/silent-episodes-in-the-life-of-a-gin-bottle Episodes in the Life of a Gin Bottle – ARCHIVE
https://archive.org/details/NewsOfTheDay19391937 – News of the Day 1937
https://ia800902.us.archive.org/21/items/SaintPau1941/SaintPau1941.mp4 St Paul police detectives
https://archive.org/details/GamblingwithSouls Gambling with Souls film 1936
https://www.loc.gov/item/00694394/ New York subway in 1905
https://www.replaymag.com/roger-sharpe-and-pinball-the-man-who-saved-the-game-movie/ Roger Sharpe demonstrating (photo from Replay magazine)
https://picryl.com/media/mayor-la-guardia-7680ee LaGuardia in 1937
https://picryl.com/media/playing-the-pinball-machine-at-the-steelworkers-serbian-club-in-aliquippa-pennsylvania 1941 pinball being played in Pennsylvania
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@Frame_by_Darney
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
VERY informative video, thank youuu
@DoctorProteus
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
Funny that pachinko got mentioned because until fairly recently Japan had anti-gambling laws that required pachinko players to do the same thing as those old pinball players and go through a trading rigamarole to actually get their winnings
@martyfromnebraska1045
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
Those silly religious nuts and their bans on fun. Without them, we'd have a utopia of sports betting, pornography, and legalized drugs. None of these would come with any problems.
The idea that "gambling overstimulates the nervous system" isn't nearly as absurd as you're pretending it is either. The fact you have the benefit of hindsight and know it actually causes a massive release of the neurotransmitter "dopamine" doesn't make that priest a mouthbreathing idiot. How do you feel about hunting and shooting, btw? They're fun.
@joeydurant6267
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
The research on the addictive nature of this shit was done in the thirties and in the eighties someone said "we should start a rat themed children's casino." Kind of funny when you think about it.
@TomiTapio
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
You contributed to the #TimelineOfMankind project with this video's so and so concepts.
@4d5e6f
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
Your videos are so well researched! Thank you
@CrazyByte2007
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
they must just have been mad that they didn't think about it to get donations for the church.
@Sevenigma777
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
1:38 for 40 years ive counted the same way as this song. Such an earworm!
@1000PaperCuts-f3j
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
Moral panics are a defining feature of American culture.
@1000PaperCuts-f3j
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
Thank you for pronouncing 'Spokane' properly. Even most Americans can't do it. Well done.
@parkerbohnn
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
The only gambling on pinball machines was people making wagers on how many free games I'd get on the first ball.
@parkerbohnn
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
Pinball was banned because of me. I would have won every last dollar that was every printed in circulation just by playing pinball machines. The fine line between mortality and immortality a the real Tommy a the world champion.
@noelht1
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
Damn! There has been some research gone into this video. Well done it’s brilliant
@donchaput8278
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
Ahhh, so that's how Whiffle Ball was invented
@HellJustFroze
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
The reason why Kinder eggs are banned in America is simple, there's a blanket prohibition on non-food items being completely encased in food. Yes, it's unlikely something like the capsule in a Kinder egg would be eaten mistakenly/choked on, but you can't tell me that's a bad law to have, and rewriting it specifically to make exceptions for Kinder eggs is nobody's priority.
@MisterVercetti
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
Just goes to show the massive gulf of moral standards between the 1940s and today. Back then, pinball was pretty much exorcised from existence for having even a whiff of gambling on it. Nowadays, you have video games with blatant gambling mechanics, which often deliberately prey on minors, and it's nothing but crickets.
Guess the pinball industry didn't have the money to pay off the government like the AAA video game industry does.
@thesteelrodent1796
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
in Denmark, only machines that have a payout are considered gambling (otherwise video games would be illegal), and the laws regarding them is very strict. Thus you normally will not find payout machines in an establishment that have machines without payout – thus no pinball or video games next to the slot machines. We otherwise have very relaxed regulations for pinball and other machines – they can be as expensive or difficult as they want, but if they cost money to play they must be beatable
@JPMonteith
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
I like the one dollar coin slot in the video on that pinball game. Unlike the one pound coin in Britain, it is flippin' hard to find one dollar ones used anywhere in the USA. They do exist, but there are precious few in circulation.
@notsyzagts7967
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
Please don't rely on clickbait titles. Let your content speak for itself.
@NegativeReferral
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
It's interesting to think that in the 70s, if you wanted to make a kid in a movie look rebellious or carefree, you'd show them in front of a pinball machine at the local pizza joint. Never mind that nowadays, pinball almost seems like something very straight-laced, some good clean fun to be had. It's like chewing gum – something that was once seen as trashy, rude on principle, piggish, or perhaps unladylike – used in cinema for some time to suggest a rebellious (for better or worse) persona, only for it to become ordinary – perhaps a personal sensory choice or a way to freshen your breath – not something that is supposed to convey subtext about the character.
@jwillisbarrie
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
Thanks for adding actual captions for the Deaf
@helterskelter9020
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
We love our 2nd amendment in the United States. ❤ . The UK will fall far faster than us without it. Peace ✌️
@thomasslone1964
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
it's time for the make America great again pinball machine and it will go bing bing bong
@robblumenberg5965
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
My grandpa on my dad's side was a part of the Jewish Mafia, his job was fixing gambling machines.
@eightcoins4401
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
As an european, some context to the Kinder Egg anecdote.
First of, the FDA used to consider any candy with toys inside a safety hazard.
This got changed, but to be safe Ferroro changed the toy holding capsule to contain breathing holes.
Alledgly said breathing holes meant people could easily smuggle drugs in the capsules by swallowing them though.
I dont know how much of the last part is urban legend and how mcuh is true though.
@danieldougan269
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
As a lifelong American, I had never heard the word tinhorn before either.
@GameOfDepth
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
The Coin in Safecracker would activate a SUPERGAME mode on the machine. They were quite the collectable.
Good show!
@sergeant5848
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
Horrific to think about the loss of, what now would be, collectable vintage/classic pinball cabinets. They'd probably be worth 1000s.
@jwdickieson
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
Was he a PINBALL WIZARD 🤣🤣
@klausstock8020
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
8:15 Naturally, they would ban kids from playing "Billiards, Bagatelle, or any other game" in Jackson County, GA. To keep them safe and happy, children worked in the textile industry instead.
@MS-06Borjarnon
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
I love when the government just transparently embraces the fact that they're literally nothing other than the biggest racket there is. The honesty is refreshing, y'know?
@vhfgamer
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
The right to defend ourselves is a god given right. That includes firearms.
@venomdust1
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
1:32 old school Sesame Street . Although he is not in the clip RIP Mr Hooper big bird can’t torment you anymore 🙏🏼
@halfsourlizard9319
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
Ya know, I get the sneaking suspicion that the lesson of history is that trying to legislate morality isn't such a great idea …
@ehrenloudermilk1053
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
Kinder banned because fat american eat toy. Or something like that.
@jafwilding
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
I’m a seaside town near me, an arcade purchased a South Park pinball machine, around the time that the show was becoming popular.
The first time I used it, Mr. Hankey had popped out of the toilet.
When I went back, a few weeks later, the toilet opened, but all that popped out was a metal bracket. The arcade owner had clearly instructed the handyman to remove Mr. Hankey from the playfield.
@box-botkids3267
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
I'm impressed that the Brit narrator knew how to pronounce 'Spokane'. Most Americans can't get it right.
@Mizai
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
lame sponsor moment
@Pauldjreadman
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
Back to a string of incredible documentaries. North Korea lol they banned everything aside from weed which I found laughable but I feel sorry for their citizens. The reverend was probably in on it lol That got banned? Another thing that went underground.
@x7heDeviLx
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
Can I please get some context on this Snickers rename from Marathon. It’s all I can think about now lol
@KOTYAR0
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
Thank you so much for allowing me to listen to this, this is a feast for the ears
@informobyte3211
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
Yep, always been free here in America. 🙄🙄
@TheDiveO
March 23, 2026 at 1:05 am
just a series of shutter stck clips appended one after another … nontent
Comments are closed.