Double Feature

Double Feature, manufactured by Bally in March 1939, is a flipperless electro-mechanical pinball machine from the era before player-controlled flippers existed. Its straightforward design and emphasis on mechanical action are typical of pre-war pinball, when the ball's path was shaped by the playfield layout rather than by the player's reflexes.

Key features include twelve spring bumpers, which provided the main scoring action as the ball made its way down the playfield, along with eight illuminating posts that added visual appeal and a free play hole that rewarded skilled shooting with another game. According to IPDB, this machine may also mark the first time the phrase "Special When Lit" was used as a playfield feature, a phrase that would go on to become one of pinball's most enduring conventions.

While Double Feature was just one entry in Bally's busy late-1930s production schedule, its possible role in coining "Special When Lit" gives it a small but genuine place in pinball history, making it an intriguing machine for collectors and historians of the pre-flipper era.