Lightning

The Lightning pinball machine, manufactured by Exhibit Supply Company (ESCO) in 1938, is a flipperless novelty-play EM machine designed by Harry Williams and Lyn Durant, two of the era's most influential pinball designers.

The machine's gameplay centers on seven rollover buttons that advance the score, while seven electromagnets beneath the playfield give continuous motion to the ball as it travels down the playfield -- the magnets never pulse off, relying instead on their relatively weak field and playfield slope to keep the ball moving rather than trapping it. The bottom 1000-point rollover also rings a bell, and the game is played as 5-ball novelty play.

The Lightning's design is minimalist, in keeping with the era, without an overt theme. The playfield lists two related patents, underscoring the era's emphasis on protecting mechanical innovations: a 1935 patent for 'game apparatus' filed by J.W. Orcutt and a 1937 patent filed by C.R. Simpkins.