Ali-Baba

Ali-Baba, manufactured by the Stoner Manufacturing Company of Aurora, Illinois in November 1939, is a significant piece of early pinball history for a specific reason: it is the earliest game known to use mushroom bumpers. This flipperless electro-mechanical machine offered five balls for five cents, and its fantasy theme drew on Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves from The Thousand and One Nights.

Gameplay centers on its 24 mushroom bumpers. The instruction card explains the objective: shoot the ball with skill through the top gates, which light a corresponding combination of bumpers. All bumpers score 200 points, while certain lit bumpers, including yellow, score 1,000 points. The card closes with the era's familiar disclaimer, 'For Amusement Only.'

Specific details about the artist and design process remain unknown, but Ali-Baba's pioneering bumpers and Arabian Nights theme make it a noteworthy specimen from the final years of pre-war, pre-flipper pinball.