Home Stretch

Home Stretch, manufactured by Genco in June 1937, is an early electro-mechanical (EM) pinball machine with a horse-racing theme. Like virtually all pinball machines of its era -- a decade before flippers were introduced -- Home Stretch is a flipperless game, so scoring depends on skillful plunging and the ball's interaction with the playfield rather than flipper control.

Gameplay is built around 10 spring bumpers, with scoring shaped by how the ball plays out among them. A distinctive backbox light animation shows horses moving in a simulated race as the game progresses, a lively visual touch for a 1930s machine. The cabinet measures 21 1/2 inches wide and 43 inches long, typical of the compact machines of the period.

Home Stretch shares its underlying playfield design with Genco's other 1937 release, Auto Derby, differing mainly in its art and horse-racing theme. Its animated backbox display makes it a distinctive example of Depression-era EM pinball, even if it cannot be confirmed as the first game to use the technique.