Kicko Aristocrat
About This Machine
The Kicko Aristocrat, also identified by its manufacturer Keystone Engineering Company as "The Aristocrat," debuted at the 1933 Coin Machine Show held at Chicago's Sherman Hotel in February 1933. Produced in St. Louis, Missouri, it is a pure mechanical, single-player game built around a distinctive design: balls are elevated and then dropped onto several steel anvils with angled surfaces set at different heights above the playfield. Players pivot these anvils to deflect the falling balls toward desired scoring pockets, introducing a real element of skill and strategy.
The game's round playfield sits under a glass dome, and it was advertised as a crystal glass globe on a mahogany base — 40 inches high, 20 inches wide, and weighing 52 pounds. This distinctive presentation set it apart from flatter, cabinet-style coin machines of the period.
Beyond its debut at the 1933 Coin Machine Show and its listed specifications, little else is documented about the Kicko Aristocrat's designer or its influence on later games. It remains a well-documented example of the era's experimentation with mechanical ball-deflection gameplay.
Technical Details
- Notable Features:
- Balls are elevated then dropped onto any of several steel anvils having angled surfaces located at different heights above playfield and are pivoted by the player to deflect the dropped balls toward desired scoring pockets. Round playfield under a glass dome. Game advertised as a crystal glass globe on a mahogany base, 40 inches high, 20 inches wide, weighing 52 lbs.