Main > Main Forum
Origin of American style (leaf/IL/Happ etc) pushbuttons?
BadMouth:
I was curious and went down the rabbit hole as well, although I don't know much about pinball machines.
Oldest I came across was the Bally machine you mentioned and a couple others also released in 1967.
https://actionpinball.com/parts.php?item=AS-2443
I couldn't find anything older with a button of that appearance, pinball, EM or otherwise.
pbj:
I knew a collector that had a room full of Bally EMs, mostly from the 70s. They always stood out to me as the games that didn't feel so dated relative to their peers. The licensed themes, artwork with bright colors and a style that doesn't look so antiquated, playfield layouts. Really with just some minor tweaking you could believe they came out in the early-mid 80s. So my suspicion was that if anyone did it first, it was them.
RandyT:
--- Quote from: pbj on July 10, 2024, 03:47:37 pm ---I knew a collector that had a room full of Bally EMs, mostly from the 70s. They always stood out to me as the games that didn't feel so dated relative to their peers. The licensed themes, artwork with bright colors and a style that doesn't look so antiquated, playfield layouts. Really with just some minor tweaking you could believe they came out in the early-mid 80s. So my suspicion was that if anyone did it first, it was them.
--- End quote ---
Based on the image BadMouth found and your experience, I'd tend to agree. Now what I am curious about is whether, at their inception, they actually had the internal spring or whether they relied entirely on the spring metal of the leaf switch to return the button home. Based on the 1967-1971 part number description, it almost appears that the spring was an afterthought, possibly due to issues with the spring action of the metal leaf weakening over time, causing the buttons to feel mushy or less responsive. If that was the case, this would further bolster the idea that Bally did it first, as it shows steps in the evolution of what would be the final design.