How Old Do You Have to Be To Play Pinball?

It sounds like a joke, but it isn't.  What if I told you that in South Carolina you have to be 18 to play pinball? When my oldest daughter sent me the information I was sure it was not correct, because it seemed ridiculous. South Carolina is the only state in the country that still has this law and currently there is a bill to get rid of it. It has existed for over sixty years although the law is not enforced.

Why would they do that? What could possibly be the problem with pinball? In the 1940's and 1950's states and towns banned pinball because it "Lured children into delinquency and school-yard debt." Back then, the game was looked at as a game of chance and not skill. It was created in the 1930's and before flippers were invented on the sides of the machine, players would be jostling the machine to score points.  Store owners would give out rewards for high scores and the game was very popular with young people, some who spent their lunch money.

In the early 1940's New York City's Mayor Fiorello La Guardia ordered raids to crack down on pinball due to organized crime being involved.  In 1942, the city banned pinball machines entirely and the law would remain on the books in New York City until 1972. 

And, that brings us to 1978 and Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, New Jersey. I was a college freshman and my roommate, Steve, introduced me to pinball.  We did not spend any lunch money, but we did spend some money on the machine pictured below.  It was a lot of fun and we set many, many records on this machine and another one called, "Pioneer." We left many free games on the machine for the next player because we had to go to class, or lunch, or dinner, or sleep.

My pinball skills came in handy after college when my wife and I went over one of her co-worker's house in the 1980's. The woman's husband had a pinball machine in his basement and in a very short time I set the high score on the machine. I knew my college roommate would be proud. I often thought that one day when I got older I would get a pinball machine for my basement, but now I don't have a basement and I don't have a television set either.  I may not be a pinball wizard, but I am confident that I can still play pinball well and I'm over 18 too!