Golden Harvest

The Golden Harvest is a flipperless payout machine from Bally Manufacturing Corporation, a cash-awarding game of the type Bally built its early fortunes on in the 1930s. Its close relationship to Bally's 1936 'Harvest Moon' - the non-payout version of the same design, sold with a backbox - places it firmly in that pre-war payout era, with a wholesome Agriculture - Farming theme dressing up what was, at heart, a gambling device.

Each game gives the player ten balls, with awards based on the player's ability to shoot balls into two or more holes marked with the same symbol. The Harvest Moon hole serves as the Skill Hole, which must be made to qualify for any award. Payouts ranged from a dime to $1.50, and several successive payouts could be earned in the course of a single game - a structure designed to keep coins flowing on location.

Compact at 42 by 20 inches, the Golden Harvest is an interesting collectible from the era when the line between pinball and slot machine was still being drawn, and payout pin games like this one were a major part of the coin-machine business.