Silver Flash

The Silver Flash, manufactured by Genco Manufacturing Company in September 1937, is a Flipperless electro-mechanical machine from the middle years of the Great Depression. Rather than being an early dawn-of-the-Depression release, it arrived roughly eight years into that economic downturn, when affordable coin-operated amusements like pinball offered welcome, low-cost entertainment.

Gameplay uses five balls per play and seven spring bumpers to generate scoring action, all housed in a cabinet with a distinctive reclined backbox. The machine also uses a Stancor Univerter, a period electrical component typical of EM machines of the time. According to an undated Billboard article, Genco co-founder Dave Gensberg referred to the playfield's metal rollover switches as "silver flashes" -- the origin of the game's name.

Silver Flash holds a notable place in Genco's history as, per designer Steve Kordek's own notes, the first game he worked on after being hired by the company -- making it an early touchstone in the career of one of pinball's most influential designers, even though specific design credit for the game itself is not otherwise documented.