Alamo

The Alamo pinball machine, manufactured by the Rock-ola Manufacturing Corporation of Chicago in May 1936, is a distinctive artifact of pinball's pre-war payout era. An electro-mechanical, single-player payout machine, it comes from a period when pin games straddled the line between amusement and gambling, and it predates World War II and the later surge in pinball's popularity.

Gameplay on the Alamo centers on its ten trap holes, which catch the ball to determine scoring, a hallmark of payout-style games of the mid-1930s that put a heavy element of chance at the heart of play. Rock-ola also sold optional ticket vendor and mint vendor attachments for the machine at additional cost, accessories typical of the payout-machine trade.

The machine's theme draws on American history, evoking the famous Battle of the Alamo of 1836. Little is known about the designer or any artists involved in creating this early game, but its age and its window into the payout side of the industry make it a prized find for collectors and enthusiasts of early pinball machines.