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Did you know that the game Pinball was once illegal? This began by the spreading of a blatant lie accusing Pinball of being a form of gambling. Can you believe it? It began on March 6th, 1948 at a little cigar shop in East Harlem, NY. One man decided to try out the Pinball machine in the shop, which only cost a penny at the time. However, in the blink of an eye, the game was over. Well, the man was an undercover NYC police officer. He cuffs the owner of the place for “unlawful possession of a gambling machine.” The police would take the machines and destroy them. But this didn't stop the craze that would soon become of the Pinball machine. Pinball machines were the new big thing While there were still so many anti-Pinball people in the world, there were just as much Pinball lovers. The game originally required players to have to tilt the machine to drive the balls into the holes, and it didn't have all the flippers it does today. People would drive in large groups to bars and shops where they had Pinball machines. The Pinball machine started in the Great Depression and really began finding popularity in the 30s. Now, by the '40s, even kids were getting into it! Some kids would even skip school and meals to go play. Schools, churches, mothers, and more began to involve themselves in the complete prohibition of this "gambling" game. Read onto the NEXT page to find out what the government did with over 2,000 Pinball machines... This is when the government got involved. NY Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia believed that Pinball was a gateway game to crime and juvenile delinquency. He also claims that Pinball was a waste of resources, saying that the metal used to create Pinball machines should be put towards creating weapons and tanks for war. He officially bans Pinball on January 21st, 1942. With the official banning of the game came the confiscations from shops and bars. Over 2,000 machines were all sledgehammered to shreds and dumped in the Long Island Sound. Other states began to follow suit with the ban as well. However, despite the seizing of so many Pinball machines, they were still around. They were just a well-kept secret and people still played. One of the best players went by the name of Roger Sharpe. By the '70s, NY was facing possible bankruptcy. In an effort to capitalize off of whatever they could, they would all argue the possibility of profiting off the selling of Pinball machines, which meant lifting the prohibition. The Amusement and Music Operators Association called up Roger Sharpe. He would play a game of Pinball in front of the NYC council to show them that it's a game of skill, not luck. In 1976, with his Pinball machine, he was able to prove to the council that Pinball is not a gambling game. As a result, the prohibition ends and they began selling Pinball machines. NYC raised over $1.5 million off pinball fees and was able to lift themselves out of bankruptcy. Today, over 1,800 Pinball tournaments take place across the country every year! Can you believe that Pinball was once known as an illegal gambling game? Speaking of games, do you remember these classic playground games? You may have played them as a child!

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