Around the World

Around the World, manufactured by Stoner Manufacturing Company of Aurora, Illinois in August 1937, is an early flipperless electro-mechanical pinball machine. Built a decade before flippers existed, it comes from the period when the newly introduced electric scoring bumper was transforming pinball design, and it embraces the trend fully.

Gameplay centers on the machine's 16 scoring bumpers, a generous count that turned every plunge into a pachinko-like cascade of points. The travel theme, celebrating famous places around the world, gave the game its identity in an era when exotic destinations were a popular subject for playfield and backglass art. As with many games of this vintage, documentation is sparse and no designer is credited.

As a product of pinball's bumper-driven late 1930s, Around the World is a fascinating example of early electro-mechanical design, illustrating how quickly manufacturers like Stoner adopted and multiplied the new scoring technology.