Line-O

The Line-O, manufactured by the Western Equipment & Supply Company of Chicago in January 1936, is a single-player electro-mechanical bingo machine. Its cabinet was advertised at 40 inches long and 20 inches wide, sized to accommodate its bingo-card gameplay.

Players received 10 balls per play; each ball that dropped into a numbered hole lit the corresponding number on a bingo card displayed at the bottom of the playfield, letting players track their progress toward a winning combination as the game unfolded.

Little else is documented about Line-O's designer or artwork, which is typical for the many small manufacturers competing in Chicago's crowded pinball market during the mid-1930s. Even so, its bingo-card mechanic places it among the early wave of bingo-style pinball machines that would remain popular for decades to come.