Carnival (1948)

Carnival is a classic, single-player electro-mechanical game from the post-WWII "woodrail era." Released in June 1948, it is one of Bally's earliest machines to feature flippers. Designed by artist Lester Hilbrich, the playfield captures the festive atmosphere of a traditional carnival.

Interestingly, this game acted as a disguised gambling machine. It has a internal mechanism that diverts every fifth coin into a reserve, secondary coin box. When a "Special" is achieved (by hitting all 12 bumpers), the venue owner/operator was to open the box and pay out to the player any cash bonus that had built-up. This is alluded to in Bally's flyer, which is headlined "It's Bally Reserve again! Famous build-up bonus... and "All-12" skill feature."