Dutch Pool

Dutch Pool, manufactured by A.B.T. Manufacturing Company of Chicago in June 1931, comes from the very dawn of the coin-operated pinball era. This purely mechanical tabletop counter game predates the electromechanical age entirely, representing the simple, skill-based amusements that populated store counters and taverns in the early Depression years.

Gameplay is priced in true 1931 fashion: players receive 5 shots for a single cent, or 10 shots for five cents. The machine's all-mechanical design puts the emphasis on plunger control and aim, with each shot counting as players work the billiards-styled playfield.

The billiards theme offers a glimpse into the recreational pastimes popular in the early 1930s, and A.B.T. leaned into it - the game's flyer indicates the playfield was also sold as a conversion kit for owners of the company's A.B.T. Pool Table. While details about its design and artwork are scarce, the machine's historical position as an early mechanical counter game makes it an intriguing find for enthusiasts interested in pinball's earliest ancestors.