Mar-blette

The Mar-blette, crafted by Nu-Way Sales Company of Muskogee, Oklahoma in 1932, is a rare and interesting addition to early pinball/counter-game history. It is a pure mechanical, single-player tabletop/counter game from a small manufacturer, and it serves as a fascinating link to the sport's early years. Notably, a game called "Marble-let" by the Enid Mint Co. of Enid, Oklahoma, described in Dick Bueschel's Encyclopedia of Pinball, may in fact be the same game under a variant name.

Play on the Mar-blette features a straightforward design, typical of early tabletop pinball machines of the period. Players would aim to guide marbles through obstacles and onto scoring targets, accumulating points as they navigated the playfield. The game's simplicity is part of its charm, offering a glimpse into how early counter-game enthusiasts experienced the game, relying on gears, levers, and other purely mechanical components rather than any electrical parts.

Despite limited information available, the Mar-blette remains an interesting find for collectors and historians. As a small-manufacturer counter game from 1932, it offers a window into the pre-electric, coin-operated amusements that predate modern pinball.