Starting in the 1940s, many U.S. cities were banning activities like pinball machines, under the argument that they were bilking coins from children. The machines were associated with gambling (because early forms of these machines were gambling devices), and in turn, they were tied to organized crime. That was the situation in Seattle, where suppliers of pinball machines and jukeboxes were suspected of blowing up each other’s warehouses, and threatening elected officials and public figures. Instead of banning the machines, Seattle set up a fee system to control them.
Had no idea that the pinball industry was so cutthroat back in the day.
Or are you not aware of the caliber of disaster
Indicated by the presence of a pool table pinball machine in your community
Well, ya got trouble my friend
…Trouble
Right here in River City Seattle
With a capital “T” and that rhymes with “P” and that stands for pinball
Had no idea that the pinball industry was so cutthroat back in the day.
Or are you not aware of the caliber of disaster
Indicated by the presence of a
pool tablepinball machine in your communityWell, ya got trouble my friend
…Trouble
Right here in
River CitySeattleWith a capital “T” and that rhymes with “P” and that stands for pinball
Oh wow you have dredged up some very deep memories from my childhood. Haven’t thought about the Music Man in years…
Oh yeah. It was crazy.