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Created on 11-03-2016 - Last Update 03-01-2023 _ Broadway _ Now here is a truly “rare” Bingo and one with a
bit of a sketchy history and legitimacy`…As you can see, I reference it here
as Broadway If you look elsewhere for this game, both Phil
and the IPDB refer to it as Broadway 51`…and I assume that is based upon its
release date` This game kind of popped up out of nowhere in
2016 when Dennis Dodel shared his and now we know of (3) total and have a
photo of a 4th Another name tied to this Bingo by the old-dogs like Freddy Bailey is 42nd & Broadway Which is interesting, since most of the known history is
tied to New York and that Broadway is clearly the theme of this Bingo Credit and thanks for the “best” detail goes out
to Dennis & the IPDB`…Read the write-up on the IPDB`…just excellent` Note: I
refer to this Bingo as Broadway due to the advertising in Billboard and due
to the name on the known schemtaic` Note:
For some reason, in my mind, I have the theory that a “single buyer”
purchased all of these machines` OK, this first photo is the Bingo owned by
BingoButch
I wanted to start here with the theme, point to
the comment from Bill on Phil’s webpages, and share that Freddy’s game was
purchased in New Jersey Since
they support a crazy idea I have always had`…that all of these Bingos were
from New York and purchased by a “single-buyer” Likely all these things are part of why I think
like I do`…They all seem to frame the Market, bounding it to New York OK, if I am correct, then why is there a machine
in Texas with Dennis, and a machine in New Orleans for Evauation Well, I think that comes down to this may not be
a true Bally machine`…But as they went to Market it, they still ran it
through the paces` It
would be another stretch, but maybe Dennis’s machine is the New Orleans Bingo _ Regardless, this is a very interesting Bingo _ And I say this because all the machines we see
are different`…Very different, staring with the base configuration` Here are a couple of the pictures that Dennis
sent to the IPDB This is the 1st of the machines
that popped up`
The cabinet and playfiled from the 1951 Ball
Bright Lights`…Released in May of 1951 The guys report that the interanls in this
machine are ripped-up, chopped-up, and kind of thrown toegther` Well of course, go ahead and convert a 6-Card
to a 1-Card game`…Laugh, you kind of have to “gut” the thing` I am
not 100% sure, but this is “likely” the machine we see on Phil’s webpages` Here is Freddy Bailey’s machine with ties
back to J.H. Keeney`…Bally’s silent. secret, Partner This is the 2nd of the machines
that popped up`
That is a cabinet from Keeney’s Lite-a-Line and
Holiday
And the playfield here in from Keneey Holiday
OK, this is another interim configuration`…Bally
backglass and Keeney cabinet and playfield` As this game was being cobbled together, it
seems that Bally still worked at converting Bright Lights Now,
this begs the question: Why would Bally/Keeney also work to covert some
Keeney games` And
this adds to and starts supporting my crazy theory that Bally was scrambling
to capture a “sales opportunity” in a big hury` If
true`…you might just do something like this`…start woking with a competitior
to get something in place` This
machine here might be a 1st or 2nd revison on a “fast
track” to respond to a potential sale`…a huge order` Another
question is why didn’t Bally post any pictures in the advertsiments in
Billboard Magazine for Broadway All of
these games are likely the answer, they are all prototypes, mock-ups`…that
Bally didn’t have a “finished” product` What we
do know: Is this is the “Freddy Bailey” version of the Bingo`…and is it our
only “known” example of a machine from the New York area` So,
were these the games that “were seen all over New York” – There is a good
chance` Here
is the machine owned by BingoButch and it seems to be “all” Bally This
is the 3rd of the machines that popped up`
Yes, that looks like a more mature
Bingo`…Playfield and backglass that really match - Nice`
Bally everything`…Including a “1951” playfield
specially made for this Bingo “Blue” verses the “Red” 1951 Bright Lights Mike says that this “blue” playfiled was for the dedicated
Broadways 51 and in a follow-up message` Mentions`…that, every other one that I ever seen was converted from a bright lights and
he has never seen one that was factory` Very interesting`…Part of the mystery, suggesting that
Bally never finished/produced their Broadway 51
Well,
everyone was curious when these games popped up and there was talk`
Hmmm`….a bit more mystery: The serial number on the machine
Dennis helped post is A2331
So, the story
fills in a bit more and gets a bit more convoluted, laugh`…good-and-bad` Still a lot
of unknowns`…and still maybe more questions than answers` OK, once I knew what to look for`…I stated going through my old archives
and found this image` This is the 4th machine I mentioned`…the “test site” game
Bally deployed in New Orleans Photo courtesy of Maunsel White
New
Orleans Jazz Club circa 1951 So,
this shows us that things were progressing`…shows us Bally’s engineering was
involved and they were working their process` Working
to develop a Bally Broadway and as such, sending games down south for
evaluation`…on-site testing and feedback` New Orleans was the main test area for the
Bally Bingos – Take a close look at that Bally Bright Lights; quite a bit of
it was masked-off to shield its identity` A
common thing they did back then, to keep other coin-op companies from
spying`…I wonder why the Broadway was so exposed`…Hmmm _ OK, so what do we have here`…What does it all
mean`…Well let me complete my Guesswork _ Various coin-op vendors list this game “for
sale” in Billboard starting in 1951-08, but Bally dosen’t post an ad` Bally doesn’t post a picture, any pictures and
this is the “only” Bingo that, that is true for` To me,
that suggests that this game was on a fast track, that Bally didn’t really
have a finished product` We have (3) actual machines with (3) different configurations`…One of
which is from a competitor J.H. Keeney And all of the machines are 6-Cards games being converted to 1-Card
games` To me,
that suggests that this game was on a fast track, that Bally didn’t really
have a finished product` Maybe Bally doesn’t have parts, materials, manufacturing capacity`…So,
they start working with their Secert Partner Maybe working with Keeney is the only way for them to capture and
respond to big 1951 sales opportunity` So, maybe they are scrambling and it is why we see different
machines`…Maybe what we see are a few “early prototypes and iterations” Things ramping up, before Bally’s engineering can finally catch up` And just maybe they never do`…later Mke texts me “He’s never seen a
factory game” To me,
all of this suggests that this game was on a fast track, that Bally didn’t
really have a finished product` _ Freddy just sent me this text here in 2023 _ Danny, Keeney made the first 6 card Bingo called Holiday
in 1951 Bally took the cabinet from that model and rewired it and called it
42nd & Broadway, Bally made the first 25 hole bingo in 1937 called Line
Up, that machine was designed by Herb Breitstein then
Don Holder developed a circuit testing feature that took Bally to the front
building Bingo's Herb and Don later joined Westronics
along with my late partner in Las Vegas Mickey Wichinsky
along with Billy O'Donnell who was president of Bally at that time. the only two major bingo game manufacturers that survived
was Bally and United through the 1960's. Hope I have helped you a little bit,
I am developing a new bingo that I am hoping will take over in the illegal
Video Poker market that is dying. My one came from a guy in New Jersey, so it is very
possible it came from the New York area, my machine was defiantly a converted
Keeney Holiday/Light-A-Line, there was a lot of
parts with the Keeney name on them. If you do not know, Freddy is old-school and knows these games`…he was
there from the beginning, tied in with the Bingo Community Likely that is why he happens to have one of these`…Connections and one
of the rarest of all the Bally Bingos It’s my guess that all of the Bright Lights were
conversions as Bally was scrambling` Except maybe Mike’s with the “blue” playfield,
which I think is the machine Bally wanted to finish` It is my guess that Bally “actually sold” the
Keeney Holiday conversions that matches Freddy’s Bingo I further “toss out” that the “big rush” was to
meet a sales order from a single-buyer in New York And that, that is the reason we do not see a
“ton of machines” left over today` If a
single owner had all of these machines and/or they were all concentrated
(located) in one area`…in New York They could have easily all went “end-of-life”
together`…either puleed by the owner and/or gutted/scrapped back in the crazy New York “gambling” history
and the “purging” that is well documented` As usual,
laugh, I throw out that this is all crazy conjecture and “that I maybe
completely wrong here” Although
said, you know I like a good story and mine is plauasible`…too bad we may
never know` _ Here are some dates and detail from Billboard
Magazine _
I am not too sure if this timeline helps or
convolutes the story further` Broadway gets mentioned 3-months after Bright
Lights is released`…a very long time in the Bingo World In the meantime, Bally was working on Coney
Island and starts advertising Bright Spot in December These
guys are busy, these Bingos are getting very popluar and (5) companies are
vying for that business – It’s 1951 Bally never releases a final version of Broadway
51 from their factory and they never advertise it` Yet we know they were out on Route in numbers,
in the New York area` The only example of a machine from the New York
area is a converted Keeney Holiday and Keeney Lite-a-Line has full ads for this
entire period, so likely they have materials` But
along with your cabinet, you need a 25-hole playfield, and that’s where
Holiday fits in` It also
maybe a timing thing on the “sale” too – Quite a coincidence that “all”
mention of Broadway stops` So am I correct, was Bally scrambling to make a
“one-time” sell to a “one-time” buyer` Did they use Keeney parts to finished the
deal`…Were the machines all destroyed in a New York purge` People
talk about the “secret” partnership Bally had with Keeney`…well it sounds
like that started right here` _ There is more than a little mystery in this
Story _ Jay
Stafford got me looking again at Billboard Magazine`…Thank you` I don’t
know how many times I have read through the 1951 issues before`…and everytime
over-looked Broadway _
Billboard 1951-08-04 _
I love this next one`…3-years after this game
pops up, the software guys run with it` Dated
October 2019`
Broadway 51 BINGO now updated for VPX. Plays “EXACTLY”
like the VP9 version did. A TON
had to be updated for this one to work right but it plays wonderfully. Enjoy! Will
and the guys are quick, they always have been – Sweet` _ Trivia _ Interesting, and another sign that this is not a 100% design from Bally This is the “only” Bally Bingo that had a noise adjustment: “Turn the
adjustment screw for desired sound effects!” Laugh, what, on an American Bingo – “Not
Enough Sound” _ Trivia _ Bally never released a photo/ad of
“their” 1951 Broadway Bingo The “only”
Bingo from that period where this is the case`…I bet things happened way too
quickly` It really
wasn’t their design, I think they helped Keeney meet a “specific” one-time
order` _ Other links on this Website _ http://danny.cdyn.com/42nd%20broadway%20bingo.htm http://danny.cdyn.com/Broadway%201951.htm ~ |
