Dad's original pinball building was built by him in 1974. It is made "the old way" and is mostly concrete and very sturdy. It was the distribution point for games coming off the containers and into the cafe's and billiard rooms of the 70's. By today's standards, it is built of a much higher quality. Already 40 years old, it still stands strong. It once housed 90% of his route when he started closing the business in the mid 90's. I had my 21st Birthday upstairs, while around 500 pinball machines were stacked under our feet. There's a massive concrete stairwell from the street level to the first floor. Under the stairwell is the "secret room", where Dad kept some of the Bally Bingos stored before they were legalized in the late 80's. So I'm told, 90 were thrown out, only a handful were kept. So today I finally received the phone call from the current tenant;
"I've cleared the entrance to the room. But there are no machines. There is some sort of wooden panel, you might want to come and look at it.."
So I drove down there, and indeed the room had NOTHING but old furniture. I was expecting a stash of Bally bingos. Once we removed the furniture, I could see what the tenant was alluding to. The "secret (empty) room"
A wooden panel ?
A HEAVY wooden panel, that has 16 woodscrews ? Under a staircase ? So I removed the screws and prized open the panel ;
A stash of Bally Bingos ! I COMPLETELY lost the plot !
I removed the first lower cabinet to reveal FOUR complete games ;
Boxes of spare parts, and four complete heads.
I only have enough room for two bodies. The heads are too heavy, so they will be done on another trip. So I eagerly loaded up the ute and drove them to the Factory so I can have a better look ;
So it appears there is one "Showtime" and two "Beach Time" games - complete - but with playfields that have some interesting artwork - I don't care - these games are 1950's Bally Bingos, and these were bought new in the 50's and operated in Australia until 1988. These arguably are the first Bally Bingos in this country. I was so AMAZED and Happy, I drove the cabinets' to Dad's and showed him the games and he was so happy they were still there. We talked and I was completely and utterly left speechless..
Nino - "Dad, this is an amazing find. Why did you hide them away in 1988 ? Did you hope to operate them when they became legalized ?"
Dad - "No Son. I kept them for you. They are yours. I knew one day you would have the passion and knowledge to restore them to their original state."
Dad hid these games so that 25+ years later, I would track them down and restore them. I was speechless..
So I asked Dad - "How come you just didn't leave them in the garage for me"
Dad - "when you were young, you were a bum. You would have sold them or done something stupid" !
He always used to say to me - "These games were the first computers".
Personally, this is one of the most important days of my life. This is an amazing story - he KNEW they were there. He saved them for when I was "ready" to persist in finding them. It is now my mission to have him help me restore at least 2 of these games, as he would be one of the last remaining technicians that knows these like the back of his hand.
This picture of the ball arch decal is so awesome;
I have to say that today has brought back a flood of memories. I am grateful that these games were hidden in the "Secret Room". I'll post more pictures when I retrieve the rest of the games.
