Grand Derby

The Grand Derby, manufactured by Western Equipment & Supply Company of Chicago in March 1938, is a one-ball pinball machine built around a horse-racing theme, a fitting choice given the sport's popularity in American culture at the time.

As an electro-mechanical one-ball game from 1938, Grand Derby predates the pinball flipper (introduced in 1947); gameplay would have relied on plunger skill, scoring pockets, and tilting rather than flipper control, in keeping with the wagering-style one-ball games common in this pre-war period.

Little else is documented about the machine's specific rules, art, or designer. Western Equipment & Supply Company operated only from 1934 to 1938, making Grand Derby one of the later products of a short-lived manufacturer, and a rare artifact of pre-war one-ball pinball design.