Black Out

Black Out, manufactured by Baker Novelty and Manufacturing Company between 1939 and 1941, is a scarce, little-documented example of a flipperless electro-mechanical pinball machine from the years just before World War II. Its warfare theme, complete with backglass and playfield artwork depicting WWI-style Brodie "doughboy" helmets (a design the U.S. Army continued to use into the early years of WWII), places it firmly in the pre-flipper, war-themed era of pinball design.

The gameplay on Black Out features 13 bumpers that correspond to numbers displayed on the backglass, adding a layer of strategy to the game's aim-and-shoot mechanics -- there are no flippers, as the machine predates their introduction to pinball by nearly a decade. This numbered-bumper scoring scheme was likely intended to engage players and encourage repeat play.

With only limited documentation existing about this model, owning a Black Out provides an opportunity to study a relatively obscure entry from the twilight of the flipperless pinball era.