Pamco Palooka (Junior)

The Pamco Palooka (Junior) is an intriguing piece of early pinball history, produced by the Pacific Amusement Manufacturing Company (PAMCO) of Chicago in June 1936. As an electro-mechanical payout machine, it belongs to the pre-flipper era of pinball, when games rewarded skillful ball placement with coin payouts or tickets rather than replays.

One notable feature of the Pamco Palooka (Junior) is its single coin slide, which was designed to accept multiple nickels rather than the six separate coin chutes found on its larger sibling, the Pamco Palooka (Senior). The payout model, equipped with a check separator and Electropak, sold new for $159.00, while the ticket model, fitted with a ticket unit and Electropak, sold for $169.00. The cabinet was advertised as 50 inches long and 24 inches wide.

Little is known about the machine's designer, artwork, or theme, which adds to its enigmatic appeal for collectors and historians studying the pioneering days of pinball's development.