Lite-A-Line

The Lite-A-Line, manufactured by the Pacific Amusement Manufacturing Company (PAMCO) of Chicago in October 1934, is a historically significant early electro-mechanical machine. According to the Encyclopedia of Pinball Vol. 2, it is rated as the first light-up game: as balls land in playfield holes, corresponding numbers light up on the backglass as they are made on the roulette drum. That backglass illumination, taken for granted in every later pinball machine, makes this modest bingo-style game a genuine milestone.

Gameplay gives the player ten balls per game, played across three cards, with balls landing in playfield holes lighting up numbers on the backglass. The machine could accept one to three nickels at the same time, and the cabinet was advertised as 46 inches long and 23 inches wide.

As an early single-player bingo machine from a manufacturer that operated only from 1932 to 1937, the Lite-A-Line offers a fascinating glimpse into the experimental mid-1930s, when manufacturers were rapidly adding electricity, lights, and new scoring ideas to the young coin-op pin game.