Big Race

Big Race, produced by the Mills Novelty Company of Chicago in November 1937, is an electro-mechanical one-ball payout machine with a horse racing theme. Mills was one of the giants of the coin machine business, and Big Race reflects the gambling-oriented side of the industry that flourished in the late 1930s.

The game's most distinctive feature is its group-play coin arrangement: one ball cost 5 cents, and up to seven players could stake a bet on that single ball by each inserting an additional nickel, for a maximum of 35 cents. Everything rode on where that one ball came to rest, mirroring the winner-take-all excitement of a day at the races.

No designer is credited for the game, and detailed documentation of its artwork and playfield is scarce. Nonetheless, Big Race remains an evocative piece of pinball's formative years, capturing the era when the line between amusement and wagering was at its blurriest.