Trans-Atlantic

Trans-Atlantic is an obscure early pinball machine credited to designer Edward J. Wohlfeld, known today primarily through a design patent (US Patent D95,475, "Game Apparatus") that Wohlfeld filed on March 2, 1935 and was granted on April 30, 1935 — a turnaround of roughly two months. Its manufacturer is unknown, and IPDB notes that it isn't even confirmed whether the game ever went into production.

The machine carries an aviation theme, reflected in its name, but no further details about its gameplay, playfield layout, or artwork have surfaced. Given the uncertainty over whether Trans-Atlantic was ever built and sold, its historical importance is difficult to assess — it may represent an unrealized design rather than a produced machine.

Because so little documentation survives, Trans-Atlantic remains largely a mystery. Collectors and historians interested in early electro-mechanical pinball patents may find it a curious footnote, but claims about its gameplay, reception, or artistic merit cannot currently be substantiated.