Scoreboard (Shuffleboard)

The Scoreboard (Shuffleboard), manufactured by Genco Manufacturing Company in 1949, is not a pinball machine but an electromechanical scoring device designed to be mounted above existing coinless, non-electric shuffleboards. It converted free shuffleboards into pay-to-play games by tracking players' scores electrically in exchange for coins.

Mounted on tubular metal legs positioned at the shuffleboard's center point, the unit featured two backglasses facing in opposite directions so players on either end could see the score, along with a coin box attached to one of the legs. Three buttons on its side let players enter their scores, and it supported several scoring styles, including frame scoring, point scoring, horse-collar scoring, baseball scoring, and standard shuffleboard scoring. Play cost 10 cents and could accommodate two or four players. The cabinet measured approximately 30 1/2 by 20 1/2 by 13 1/2 inches.

Shuffleboard was hugely popular in 1949, and many companies produced similar 'scoreboard' add-ons. Genco's version, referred to in trade press of the day as the 'Genco scoreboard' or 'Genco shuffleboard scoreboard,' sold 1,918 confirmed units between May and December of that year - evidence of just how strong shuffleboard demand was at the time.