County Fair

The County Fair pinball machine, manufactured by United Manufacturing Company of Chicago in September 1951, is an example of early-1950s electro-mechanical design. Notably, it is a flipperless game featuring mechanical backbox animation, built around a horse racing theme that fit squarely within the sports genre popular with operators of the day.

From a gameplay perspective, County Fair gives the player five balls per game. The machine's layout includes three pop bumpers, thirteen passive bumpers, and eleven kick-out holes, which provided plenty of scoring variety in an era before flippers were part of United's design here. Its electromechanical switches and relays are a testament to the engineering that went into these mid-century games.

From an artistic standpoint, County Fair carries a charming horse racing theme. Interestingly, many photographed examples show playfield and cabinet art that does not match the game in the manufacturer's Billboard advertisement but instead matches United's 1952 'Steeple Chase', a game released four months later with apparently identical rules and point values.