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Thread: 1940s pachinko photos

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    Sandwich Shooter sharmoni's Avatar
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    Default 1940s pachinko photos

    from mudfud
    hey sharmoni!

    I was viewing your collection - way cool, btw- and noticed your last machine from the 40's had nationalist chinese flags crossed in the center. I asked my dad to translate some of the chinese, as he's a big chinese history buff, and he agreed that it commemorated the nationalist chinese war effort.

    do you know where the machine was made? we couldn't figure out when the japanese would be celebrating the chinese during this time period.

    can you send me closeups of the screen that dad can translate?

    also, i'm fascinated with what the back of the machine looked like. from the front I would guess that it didn't really have jackpots, since the bottom cup is so small?

    would love to know more about this machine.

    thanks,

    chewy
    I haven't seen many pachinkos this old—which is the reason I bought it when it showed up on eBay. I've tried to estimate it's age based on a number of design elements.

    The first dating clue is the graphics relating to the Chinese Civil War. I'm not sure why the Japanese would make a pachinko with this theme. The Chinese Civil war started in 1927 and was interrupted by Japan's attack in WWII (taking advantage of China's internal turmoil). After Japan was defeated in 1945 the civil war continued until 1950. So my initial timeframe for the machine was 1946 to 1950.

    The second dating clue is the fact that it doesn't have a Masamura Gauge. (It's actually pretty cool the way the top center of the playfield has nails circling around a spinner.) The nails that funnel balls onto the spinners are the only ones with a pattern similar to Masamura's Gauge. Winning Pachinko states that Masamura finalized his gauge in 1951 (p22), so I'm using that as my timeline. Also he developed the "All Ten"—where pockets would pay out 10 balls—in 1948. The fact that my machine is an "All 5" and doesn't have a Masamura Gauge means it's likely to have been made before 1948.

    This article on the Pachinko Museum in Japan (The pachinko museum - we make money not art) shows an "All 10" from TenW dated 1950. It looks very similar to this pachinko—with the three vertical rails at the bottom of the cabinet and the shape of the payout tray—so my guess is that the manufacturer is TenW. Around the base of the launching lever are the words "MADE IN - NAGOYA - YOSIDA - NO 1006." Nagoya is the Japanese city that was the source of most of the pachinko machines made in 1946, after WWII, and it was also where Shoichi Masamura opened his factory.

    The third indication of its age is the lack of plastic (other than the laminate over the printed playfield backdrop—which I removed because it was yellow and warped), and the amount of hand-crafted parts. All of the ramps and chutes are hand-cut and bent out of sheet metal. The beauty of this machine is the simplicity of the mechanisms. The ramps, pocket holes, and payout lever are pretty much the absolute minimum needed (note that the cover for the holes in the back is missing—I use a piece of cardboard there, but I imagine the original was a piece of wood that slipped into the slots).

    So given all these dating clues, I'm guessing 1947.
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    “It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.”

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    Sandwich Shooter sharmoni's Avatar
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    Default Re: 1940s pachinko photos

    Ok, now I'll post the photos of the Chinese characters for translation. My brother's wife is first generation Chinese, so I'll add the translations I get from him later.
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    wearing a suit birdbrain's Avatar
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    Default Re: 1940s pachinko photos

    the jet pictured appears to be a stylized version of a french Dassault Ouragan MD450. these started flying about 1952-53
    Last edited by birdbrain; 12-21-2008 at 11:32 PM.


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    Sandwich Shooter sharmoni's Avatar
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    Default Re: 1940s pachinko photos

    Since most forum members will never see a machine this old, I figured I'd take a bunch of close-ups of the various features. Here's the illustrations of the Chinese Civil War including the flags of the Republic of China. I put them in the order a ball would go, from launch to the top and then falling through the center.

    There are 10 pockets in all, one behind each metal plate. The ones with Chinese characters are stamped embossed metal where the edges and the characters are bare metal and the inside is painted (but looks like it could be a machine-printed paint). The irregularly cut pocket covers are handpainted. I think all of the pocket covers are aluminum, because the metal shines where the paint has chipped off. The rails and launch ramp are also aluminum.

    I'm guessing the cups and saucers have tea, since that seems an obvious connection to China. I'm not sure what the birds in the cages symbolize.

    The payout tray is cast aluminum and has a brass plate around the ramp from the back that has become a little warped because the ramp has pushed through. There are next to no machined parts on this pachinko, so lots of the fittings are a little sloppy.
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    “It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.”

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    wearing a suit birdbrain's Avatar
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    Default Re: 1940s pachinko photos

    boy, that is really something. thanks for the pics.


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    Sandwich Shooter sharmoni's Avatar
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    Default Re: 1940s pachinko photos

    In some of the first set of photos you could see the over-all structure of the back mechanism and some close-ups of the more interesting hand-crafted ramps and chutes. Here's some photos of the jackpot ramp lever so you can see how simple the payout mechanism was. This tipped ramp style was used as late as the mid-sixties in the early Nishijin single-shot machines—only by then the ramps had doubled to hold 7 and 7 balls (with the 15th ball being a return of the jackpot ball to the payout tray).

    The leverage is very simple: a winning jackpot ball drops down the chute and pushes down the horizontal lever which pivots to raise the vertical lever, which tilts the ramp holding the jackpot balls down so the balls roll under the nail blocking the ramp and into the vertical chute that leads to the front payout tray. There is a metal tab at the end of the ramp so no more balls can enter the ramp until the 5 have left and it tilts back into place.

    The losing balls are routed around the center drop chute to an exit chute below which a collection tray would be placed. You can see the end of that chute in the photo of the back of the lever.

    The lever mechanism is as simple as you can get: a hinge and a spring. It doesn't even have a tension adjustment. As a matter of fact, the spring on this is so strong at full release a ball will loop around the outside rail four times before falling into the center. It's much harder to finesse and aim with such a strong spring, so it is likely that these early games were considered more games of luck than games of skill.

    The last photo shows a close up of the pockets and spinners. The pockets are simple boxed ramps hidden behind the metal plates and the spinners are made of metal folded into a concave triangle behind a metal circle. All of them are pinned to the board with the same brass pachinko nails.

    I hope you enjoyed the photo tour. I'll post translations when I get them (and of course, I welcome all comments and speculations, since I'm no expert, just an enthusiast).
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  12. #7
    Gibisans - Japan West compirate's Avatar
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    Default Re: 1940s pachinko photos

    Quote Originally Posted by birdbrain View Post
    the jet pictured appears to be a stylized version of a french Dassault Ouragan MD450. these started flying about 1952-53
    Not flown in that area and the MD450's intake is in the nose, in the pic they're forward of the wing, looks more like a P/F-80/T-33
    Last edited by compirate; 12-22-2008 at 12:15 AM.

    人生は恐れなければ、とても素晴らしいものなんだよ。
    人生に必要なもの。それは勇気と想像力、そして少しのお金だ。

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    Default Re: 1940s pachinko photos

    This is very interesting, I can't wait to read how it all translates.

    Thanks!
    Dawn

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    Default Re: 1940s pachinko photos

    I've always wondered if pachinko manufacture in the 'good ol days' was a 'garage' industry, where you can buy the pre-made payout tray, shooter lever/hammer with bearing and stop post from a manufacturer and came up with the rest yourself. Otherwise, I would think the rear mechanism would be more standard instead of hand made. Other than the nails, the rest could be made from scrap materials.

    人生は恐れなければ、とても素晴らしいものなんだよ。
    人生に必要なもの。それは勇気と想像力、そして少しのお金だ。

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    Waste not, Want not mudfud's Avatar
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    Default Re: 1940s pachinko photos

    here are translations that dad can make out, war time slogans

    my dad is second generation, so he learned all his chinese, after regular school, in school when he was young. it's amazing how much he remembers and how well he speaks chinese, being born in central california.

    picture 1: "Republic of China", and below the center "live forever", or more literally "10,000 years", which is the same as the japanese "banzai"

    #3: "concentrate your efforts"

    #5: " return to me my rivers and mountains" (give me my land back)

    he can't make out #2 or #4

    let us know what your relative says.

    this is a fascinating machine. how long have you had it? do you know how the previous owner came to own it?

    thanks,

    chewy

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    Waste not, Want not mudfud's Avatar
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    Default Re: 1940s pachinko photos

    also, the vertical plaque above the ball hole says

    "it is imperative that we succeed in recovering our country"

    sounds like this was made by someone from nationalist china wanting to fight the communists... late 40's?

    is that the island of taiwan in the lower left of the cell?

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    Default Re: 1940s pachinko photos

    I won the eBay auction for it in February (2008) from a professional seller who had acquired it at an estate sale. I paid $385 for it with shipping. It was the second (maybe third) pachinko I bought. It was the first time I ever bid on an eBay auction and I sniped it with esnipe.com.
    “It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.”

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    Default Re: 1940s pachinko photos

    You said you used esnipe.com. That one cost money. The one I like to use and its free, is.
    Service Plan for Snipe Software at JustSnipe.com The free part is what I like. Its says it only updates the current price every 12 hours, easy way around this is just refresh the page.
    Last edited by ironworkerdalton; 12-22-2008 at 03:33 AM.

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    Captain Weirdo Sid's Avatar
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    Default Re: 1940s pachinko photos

    Sharmoni that is one very cool machine you have there!

    it is beautiful! thanks for taking the time to post the pics and the write up!


    "I've stopped fighting my inner demons, we are on the same side now."

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    Mr. Vintage wrkey's Avatar
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    Default Re: 1940s pachinko photos

    Truly an amazing machine. I love the simplicity of it. Do you play this on a regular basis, or is it more of a 'show piece'? This is truly a uniquie machine and I am envious!
    Rusty Key

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    Default Re: 1940s pachinko photos

    Sharmoni

    a couple things regarding the payout, when a winning ball activates the lever and starts the pay out. how does the system reset itself?

    and how is 1 ball heavy enough to activate the payout lever?

    the pay out system fascinates me. any more info or pics on it would be appreciated!


    "I've stopped fighting my inner demons, we are on the same side now."

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    Gibisans - Japan West compirate's Avatar
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    Default Re: 1940s pachinko photos

    That's the balance and leverage of the system. It's just very slightly weighted to return to normal.

    人生は恐れなければ、とても素晴らしいものなんだよ。
    人生に必要なもの。それは勇気と想像力、そして少しのお金だ。

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    Default Re: 1940s pachinko photos

    It's a functional machine, but because I had to remove the warped laminate to allow the balls to roll through the playfield, I don't play it other than to demonstrate (or occasionally just for the heck of it). I haven't cleaned the rust (or even the dust) out of the back ramps, so the balls can track grime over the bare paper of the backdrop. Since I only have a few of the gold colored balls (which came mixed in with the balls of my first pachinko from vintagepachinko) it's pretty easy to stop after a few plays.

    YouTube - 1940s antique Pachinko in action

    The small payout tilt ramp is balanced so that one ball dropping through the jackpot chute can tip the lever and let the balls out. Three of the balls are on the down side of the ramp and the trigger lever at the bottom has a long arm. The ramp only needs to tilt half the height of the first ball on the downslope to let it under the nail, and then the weight of the balls rolling down the incline keeps it tilted. Once the balls are gone the weight of the long arm of the bottom lever pulls the tilt ramp back to level and the next 5 balls roll into place.

    YouTube - 1940s Pachinko payout lever mechanism
    “It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.”

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    Eye Shooter Mike's Avatar
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    Default Re: 1940s pachinko photos

    Fascinating stuff - thanks for sharing.
    Star Wars, Spin Luck#749. Jet Set Radio, Space Shuttle Pinball & Monolopy quiz machine

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    Default Re: 1940s pachinko photos

    Info from my brother:

    I had one person look at this and will get some other people also.

    In broad strokes it is about Taiwan standing strong and maintaining possession of the land.
    The flags are of the Republic of China.
    This makes more sense to me than it being just about the general Chinese civil war. Many Chinese have great animosity towards Japan, but Taiwan was different.
    I wonder if it was made for use in Taiwan in the post war period? Tensions with Communist China continue even today so the dating could even be in the fifties or beyond rather that the late forties?

    Anyway
    I will have a few more people look at it and give a more definite translation.

    Taiwan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia :
    “Japan's rule of Taiwan ended when it lost World War II and signed the Instrument of Surrender of Japan on August 15, 1945. But the Japanese occupation had long lasting effects on Taiwan and Taiwanese culture. Taiwanese tend to have a more positive view of Japan than other Asians. Significant parts of Taiwanese infrastructure were started under the Japanese rule.”

    “People educated during the Japanese period of 1900 to 1945 used Japanese as the medium of instruction. Some in the older generations only speak the Japanese they learned at school and the Taiwanese they spoke at home and are unable to communicate with many in the modern generations who only speak Mandarin.”
    “It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.”

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