Cross-Country

Cross-Country, manufactured by O. D. Jennings and Company of Chicago in June 1935, is an early example of an electro-mechanical (EM) pinball machine. Made in the period when the game was evolving from purely mechanical to electrically powered components, it also carries an American travel theme—a subject that would recur in pinball design for decades to come.

The machine's most distinctive gameplay characteristic is that it has no outhole: every ball scores. Combined with its four kickers, this gives the game an unusually generous feel, since no shot goes entirely unrewarded. As a single-player game from the mid-1930s, it predates flippers, so players relied on the plunger and careful nudging.

Little else is documented about the machine's artwork or design team, but as a surviving example of Jennings' brief run as a pinball manufacturer (1932-1938), Cross-Country holds genuine historical interest for collectors of pre-war games.