Jig Joy
About This Machine
The Jig Joy, manufactured by Rock-ola Manufacturing Corporation in December 1937, is a single-player electro-mechanical pinball machine from a company better known today for jukeboxes than for pinball. Rock-ola's pinball output was relatively short-lived within its broader business, making surviving examples like this one uncommon.
Little detail is recorded about Jig Joy's specific playfield layout, scoring mechanisms, or artwork. Like all pinball machines of the late 1930s, it predates the flipper -- which would not be introduced until 1947 -- so scoring relied on bumpers, gates, and skillful plunging or nudging rather than flipper control.
Despite the scarcity of documentation, Jig Joy remains a piece of pinball history worth preserving, offering a small window into Rock-ola's early forays into coin-operated amusement during the pre-flipper era.