Whiffle

Key takeaways

Whiffle belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Whiffle to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Whiffle from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Whiffle is a pinball machine that was invented in 1931 by Arthur L. Paulin and Earl W. Froom out of Youngstown, Ohio. The Whiffle machine is commonly referred to as the first pinball machine despite the lack of flippers, standard on all modern pinball machines. The Whiffle game shares many of the game elements one would find in any pinball machine; various obstacles (pins, posts, walls), different scoring hole values, clear glass covering playfield, limited number of balls (10) and differently colored balls for scoring incentives. One way Whiffle is different from pinball is that there are no bumpers or other electronic scoring mechanics as the Whiffle predates electricity being added to pinball The object of the game is to score as many points as possible by using the spring-loaded plunger to propel one of the games 10 balls into a scoring hole and repeating this until all the balls are played. With very little practice one could be able to place the balls around on the table much the same as Pool.

History Arthur Paulin found an old board with holes and nails, in his barn, around Christmas 1930. This board is often linked to British bagatelle marble games and its said that Paulin adapted this board into a Christmas gift for his daughter Lois. Lois loved the game so much that it drew other neighborhood children, leading to its commercial potential. Paulin partnered with his friend Earl W. Froom, a salesman, and two others Myrl A. Park and William B. Howell and on January 28, 1931 the company Automatic Industries was founded. With their first prototype "Old Jenny" being worked on and perfected after Park mentioned to Earl and Arthur that they should put a coin device on it and let the public pay to play.

Company and production

Automatic Industries was based out of Youngstown, Ohio with additional offices in Kansas City, Missouri and Toronto, Ontario and it grew rapidly. Along with a rented, second-floor space, the company outgrew multiple locations before deciding to build their own facility due to the demand for the Whiffle. At its peak the company employed 53 shop workers and 13 office staff. During this time the company produced several Whiffle variants, including; Automatic Whiffle, Baby Whiffle, Champion Whiffle, Improved Whiffle, Whiffle Board, Whiffle Board Deluxe, Whiffle Delux, Whifflette and Whiffle-Zip which was the first electro-mechanical version of the Whiffle which included the use of magnets to move balls. While exact production totals are unclear Earl Froom was quoted as saying, "We Built 27,000 Whiffle games the first year. Then things got tough. We sold it for $100. It had some real cabinetry, real walnut. We made a fine machine. Then Bally comes out with something small for $12.50 in a box with some colored silk screening on a board. It was junk and was in a lot of colors. How do you fight that?"

Design and mechanics

The Whiffle machine features a real walnut cabinet with brass hardware, a glass-covered wooden playfield, and a manual operation system. The playfield consists of pins (small nails) and numbered holes (ex. 10, 20, 30, 50, 60, 80, 100, 300) with the balls propelled by a spring-loaded plunger. The Whiffle is one of the first coin-operated pinball machines in the US. For 5 cents players would receive 10 balls, 9 white and 1 red and the object was to try to place the ball in the highest possible scoring combination.

Cultural impact and controversy The Whiffle's popularity spawned many imitators and outright copycats which sparked the "pinball patent wars" of the 1930's. Racketeers got involved with the business and would often smash other operator's games on location and replace it with their own game.

Collector value and scarcity Today, Whiffle machines that are intact are rare. The International Arcade Museum classifies them as "Rare". Pinside has a map on their listing of the Whiffle machine that lists all the known locations of the Whiffle game and there are 11 listed with only 4 public locations to view the Whiffle.

Obsolescence and decline While Whiffle was popular Automatic Industries could not keep up with demand and the incoming pressure on price by competitors like Baffle Ball which was much cheaper and could be bought outright as opposed to lease only as the Whiffle was. Bob Froom (Earl's son) tells a story about how the game was easy to copy and Chicago game manufacturers began to produce copies of the game. One North Carolina company actually started copying the Whiffle so closely that they went to the trouble of putting Automatic Industries name on the clones. Froom was quoted as saying, "The problem got so bad that many places tried to pass laws banning pinball games, which often resulted in court decisions against the games business". There was also gambling that occurred and led to the banning of pinball in New York on January 21, 1942.

Components

Cabinet The cabinet of the Whiffle is rectangular and wooden (walnut) with the playfield contained inside under glass.

Playfield The playfield is an inclined wooden surface beneath the glass top, designed to guide balls downward via gravity. It includes multiple scoring holes or zones of varying size and score. The balls are placed into the playfield by means of the plunger, a spring-loaded device that consists of a rod extending through the cabinet wall and fitted with a spring.

Plunger The plunger is a spring-loaded device at the front-right corner of the cabinet, positioned at the lower right end of the ball channel. It consists of a rod extending through the cabinet wall, topped with a wooden knob for manual operation. A helical spring launches the ball forward and up the playfield ball channel when released. Balls elevated by the ball elevator roll into position in front of the plunger allowing the player to shoot balls into the playfield with controlled force.

Ball elevator The ball elevator returns played balls to the launch position via an elevating wheel housed within the cabinet's right side wall, mounted on an external panel. The wheel has two holes that when rotated, collects a single ball from the inclined runway beneath the playfield, then when rotated again, deposits that collected ball into the ball channel. This process should be continued until all 10 balls have been played.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Whiffle

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Whiffle claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Whiffle before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Whiffle ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Whiffle

In research: Whiffle appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Whiffle in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Whiffle is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1931 pinball machines, Gambling games, Individual sports, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Whiffle outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study Whiffle in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Whiffle means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Whiffle out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Whiffle in simple terms?

Whiffle is a pinball machine that was invented in 1931 by Arthur L. Paulin and Earl W.

Why does Whiffle matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Whiffle?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Whiffle.