Show Boat

The Show Boat pinball machine, produced by Chicago Coin Machine Manufacturing Company (model 90) and dated June 29, 1941, is a Flipperless, single-player electro-mechanical (EM) game with an Entertainment - Happiness theme. Chicago Coin confirmed production of 1,200 units.

As a Flipperless design, gameplay revolves entirely around the ball's interaction with the playfield's 15 scoring bumpers rather than player-controlled flippers -- a common approach for pinball machines of this pre-flipper era. This electro-mechanical design relies on relays and timers rather than the solid-state electronics found in later machines.

Little further detail is documented about the machine's designer or specific artwork, but as an early Chicago Coin release from 1941, Show Boat offers a window into pre-flipper pinball design of the early 1940s.