Golden Gate

The Golden Gate, manufactured by Exhibit Supply Company (ESCO) of Chicago in August 1934, dates from the very early years of electro-mechanical pinball, when battery power rather than wall current drove a game's electrical features. This flipperless, single-player machine was powered by three large batteries, accessible through the front coin door - a common arrangement in the mid-1930s before games standardized on AC power.

Unusually, the Golden Gate was produced in two sizes: a junior version measuring 19 by 38 inches and a senior version measuring 21 by 44 inches. Detailed gameplay information has not survived, but as a 1934 countertop-era game it would have relied on a plunger and pin-studded playfield, with its battery-driven electrics adding scoring or lighting effects beyond what purely mechanical games could offer.

As a product of the Exhibit Supply Company, which operated from 1932 to 1957, the Golden Gate represents an important transitional moment between purely mechanical games and the more sophisticated electro-mechanical designs that followed, making it a historically interesting piece for collectors of early pinball.