Improved Whiffle

The Improved Whiffle, produced by Automatic Industries, Incorporated of Youngstown, Ohio in May 1931, is an early entry in the coin-operated pin-game boom that grew out of bagatelle-style games. According to Bueschel's Pinball 1, it was the first Whiffle game to carry the company's patented trademark — the Whiffle name with an arrow through it. As a Pure Mechanical (PM) game, it lacks any electronic components or scorekeeping mechanisms.

Gameplay on the Improved Whiffle would have relied on a plunger, gravity, and mechanical routing of the ball toward scoring holes — flippers were not invented until 1947, so players had no way to actively deflect the ball back into play. The machine's construction required precise mechanical engineering to achieve smooth, reliable operation without any electric assistance.

Detailed information about the Improved Whiffle's specific features is scarce, but as an early, trademarked entry in the Whiffle lineage, it remains a notable relic in the development of what would become the modern pinball industry.