Exhibit Supply Company

The Exhibit Supply Company was established in 1901 in Chicago by John Frank Meyer and initially focused on producing penny arcade machines such as fortune tellers and card venders. By the early 1930s, it had expanded into pinball manufacturing, contributing to the development of electro-mechanical pin games and helping solidify Chicago’s reputation as a major hub for coin-operated amusements. Through these dual roles in arcade novelties and pinball, Exhibit Supply demonstrated a technical adaptability that set it apart in the early amusement industry.

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During the 1930s, the company introduced several innovative and memorable pinball machines, including “Play Ball” (1935), which featured an animated lighting display for base running, and “Trapper” (1936), recognized as the first game to employ mechanical drop targets. In 1938, Exhibit Supply experimented with magnetic gameplay elements in “Lightning,” and the following year released “Contact” (1939) with an early backglass animation depicting a biplane. Although World War II halted production in 1942, the company briefly shifted to wartime manufacturing before resuming coin-operated amusements in the late 1940s.

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Despite returning to the pinball market, Exhibit Supply’s fortunes diminished amid growing competition from Gottlieb, Williams, and Bally. Leadership changes following the passing of founder John Frank Meyer and two key executives in 1948 further weakened the organization. In 1957, Exhibit Supply ceased pinball production to concentrate on its more profitable electrical components division, and it was ultimately sold in 1979, soon after which operations ended. Although no longer active, the company’s early designs and technical experimentation had a lasting influence on the evolution of pinball and the broader amusement machine industry.