Tee-Off

Tee-Off, manufactured by Co-Operative Amusement Co. of Los Angeles, was produced starting in November 1934 as an early electro-mechanical, single-player pinball machine built around a golf theme -- one of the earliest known instances of a sports theme applied to pinball. Manufacture of the game was taken over by the Standard Novelty Company of Los Angeles in January 1935, which continued producing it under the same name.

As an EM machine from this era, Tee-Off predates the flipper (introduced in 1947), so gameplay would have relied on tilt skill, plunger shots, and target or hole scoring rather than flipper control. Its golf theme reflects the sport's growing popularity as a recreational pursuit in the 1930s, though no designer credits or detailed rule descriptions survive.

Little else is documented about Tee-Off's artwork, production numbers, or distribution. Its age and rarity as one of only two closely related 'Tee-Off' releases -- this one and Standard Novelty's 1935 follow-up -- make it a notable curiosity for collectors and historians studying the earliest days of themed pinball.