Buttons

"Buttons", manufactured by Exhibit Supply Company (ESCO) of Chicago in September 1938, is a flipperless novelty game from pinball's pre-war era with an impressive design pedigree: it was created by Harry Williams and Lyn Durant, two figures who would go on to shape the industry for decades - Williams founding the company that bore his name and Durant later co-founding United Manufacturing.

The game's most interesting technical feature is its use of magnets under the playfield to influence ball action, an inventive touch in an era when designers were experimenting with new ways to add unpredictability and drama to the flipperless format. The game offered 5-ball play and was available in two versions: as a straight Novelty game or as a Ticket Model for locations that dispensed prize tickets.

Little is documented about the machine's theme or artwork beyond these technical features. Still, as an ESCO product designed by Williams and Durant, "Buttons" is a noteworthy artifact of the late 1930s, and an ad in the September 24, 1938 issue of The Billboard confirms its manufacture date.