Inspired by the social media posts about favorite books, original art and albums that influenced the most, I am featuring one pinball machine a day that is part of my family’s collection. First, the first pinball machine we purchased. Taxi. Manufactured by the Williams Electronic Games Company in 1988.
Pick up passengers by hitting specific shots. Marilyn Monroe was one of the passengers, but the company didn’t have permission to use her likeness, so her hair color was changed to red and she was renamed “Lola.” In the photo above, it’s obviously Marilyn because we purchased a replacement backglass with that artwork. On the playfield, it says Lola.
Other passengers to pickup are Pin-Bot, Mikhail Gorbachev, Dracula and Santa.
The Santa artwork on the playfield is next to an image that reminds me of growing up in Weiser. Do you see it?
This machine was manufactured in to the “Just Say No” to drugs era, so you see that messaging in the pinback on the taxi driver’s hat and when messages scroll on the LED display.
I wonder what Uber-themed art would look like?
This is the machine that we took to Centennial High School’s physics department last year so it could be studied and played for a couple of weeks. We were going to do it again this year, but COVID-19 got in the way.
Taxi lives at our Ugly Gold Couch pinball clubhouse in Garden City. Open to the public sometimes. It’s a hands-on museum and hobby. More about that here.
If you have any pinball machines lurking in a basement or garage, tell me their stories. Maybe they need some TLC and I might be able to help.
~Debbie