Log Cabin

The Caille Bros. Log Cabin, dating to January 1903, is a pioneering piece from the prehistory of pinball. Designed by Adolph A. Caille and manufactured in Detroit, Michigan, this Pure Mechanical (PM) game is known as the "Round Top" version of Caille Bros.' 1901 Log Cabin, with improved appearance and an internal ball inventory reduced to 250. It was cataloged as late as 1910 and sold actively on the used-game market into the 1920s.

Play cost 5 cents per ball. The player turned a front dial handle to lift the ball to the shooter lane, then launched it using a small "throwing device", a vertical plunger. Landing the ball in the top center hole paid a prize. Of the thirteen score troughs at the bottom of the playfield, a manufacturer advertisement claimed six were winning pockets, though close inspection of at least one surviving image shows seven.

The cabinet held a magazine of 250 balls, dispensing one per play; played balls collected in a separate area and did not recycle, so once all 250 were played the operator had to open the game and transfer them back. This version was advertised at 21 inches long, 15 inches wide, and 9 inches high, weighing 65 lbs when boxed. In models from around 1907 onward, a horizontal straight shooter rod replaced the small vertical plunger, and that later version weighed a much lighter 22 lbs. As an early surviving coin-op prize game, the Log Cabin is a fascinating ancestor of the pinball machine.