The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds - 688 - Pinball - live
Episode Date: June 17, 2025Comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds examine the scourge known as pinball in Seattle SOURCES TOUR DATES OFFICIAL MERCH Nutrafol - Code: TheDollop Rocketmoney Squarespace - u...se code: Dollop PXG
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The dollop is going on tour in October 2025.
We're starting on October 20th in Chicago, Illinois.
On the 21st, we go to Cleveland, Ohio.
On the 22nd, we go to Columbus, Ohio.
On the 23rd, we go to Indianapolis.
On the 26th, we go to Madison, Wisconsin.
On the 27th, we go to Milwaukee.
On the 28th, we go to Minneapolis.
On the 29th, we go to Kansas City.
And on the 30th, we go to Kansas City. And on the 30th, we go to Denver. These tickets will go on sale on June the 20th.
Local pre-sale dates will be June 18th.
And for Patreon, it will be Tuesday the 17th.
And you can go to dolloppodcast.com for your ticket links.
You're listening to The Dollop.
This is an American history podcast where each week,
I, Dave Anthony, read a story from American history
to another liar.
Audience laughs
Audience member shouts, Gary!
Uh, sir, uh...
Audience laughs
I dispute the lead up.
My name is Gareth Reynolds and I have no idea what the topic is going to be about.
So... Okay.
You can dispute it, but...
I do dispute it.
... labels there and AI picked it up. So when you now ask who's Gareth Reynolds, he's going to be a noted liar.
Quit, quit.
Quit saying that glory hole addict, Dave Anthony.
Man, obsessed with glory holes, Dave Anthony.
Glory hole guy, Dave Anthony.
Likes to be on the other side of the project, Dave Anthony.
Maybe prefers the one where he's down
a little bit lower, Dave Anthony.
Petify a liar.
You fucking.
1869.
1869! British inventor Montague Redgrave immigrated to Cincinnati and started making Bagatelle
tables.
Bingo.
What?
It's a table game. Bagatelle is a game? Table game. Table game.
It is a slender table with cue sticks. Oh. Players shot ivory balls up an inclined
playfield through pins into holes. Sounds like your favorite activity, Glory Hole,
baby. It's not cool. Yeah you love that ivory bucket. There
were many variations Bagatelle had been in the US for a while but in 1871
Redgrave got a patent for his improvements in Bagatelle. Sure. And he
shrank it so it fit on a bar or a counter. Huh. The balls became marbles. The wickets were small metal pins.
He also used a spring launcher and bells.
Oh yeah.
This was the birth of modern pinball.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Bagatelle.
Definitely someone will listen to this and be like,
well, it's Bajatali.
Oh, absolutely. Yeah. How do you well, it's Bajitale. Oh, absolutely.
Yeah.
How do you not know it's Bajitale?
It's Bajitale.
Don't give a shit.
This eventually led to a more modern version in the 1930s and manufacturers were making
coin operated machines called marble games or pin games.
Okay.
Wow.
Wow. What a change. Yeah. Okay, wow. Wow, what a change.
Yeah.
Real, yeah, real.
Dog shit.
Woo, fun.
Awesome.
Awesome.
And then the table was put under glass,
and a 1931 baffle ball became the first coin-operated hit.
Whoa, baffle ball.
Baffle ball is in why would you play that? And but it's the same idea as pimple where yeah where are the little flippers?
They're flippers? Well they got the, yeah you got that, you got the shooter, there's no flippers.
So you just shoot it and then you're like, all right. It's literally just, yes.
So it was Plinko.
Yeah, there's no skill.
It just, you hit it once and go, God, I hope this works.
When the guy put flippers on,
people were like, that's fucking awesome.
That's the one, that really sucks.
Knowing what we know now, at the time people were like, whoa.
But again, these are people who would gather
to watch a man walk into town backwards.
Excuse me, we're both on record
that if that happened today, we would go watch it.
That's true.
That's the only one.
It was like when people were like, oh my God, look.
There's a guy with like a big hand.
That's like the thing where you're like,
buddy, go inside, this isn't worth it.
I would go, how big's the hand?
Not that very big. Like a pretty big, but you're like, buddy, go inside, this isn't worth it. I would go, how big's the hand? Not that very big, like pretty big,
but you're like, ah, I don't know.
But would it look like a glove that was stuffed?
No, it wouldn't.
Or is it bigger than that?
Nope, not bigger than that.
So just like a hand?
Yeah, what I'm going for in this pitch
is something that is not worth going to see.
So if we're talking about a guy who's
born with a catcher's mitt, I'm going. I'm telling you this is a guy where you're like, ah, it looks like he got stung by bees.
He'll be fine. I would go see a guy that got stung by bees. After he got stung by bees? Yeah.
Okay. He's all puffy and weird. I'm saying he isn't all puffy and weird. Go ahead. Just.
In 1933, pinball became electrified. Most pinball manufacturers were in Chicago, where crime was also manufactured.
Is there a tie into that?
Yep.
Okay.
So there's no flippers.
It's just a game of chance.
You hit the ball and you hope it goes into a hole and then you'd get money or a prize.
That sounds like your favorite job.
You must be love researching this one the whole time.
You're like, I gotta beat up again? I'm just reading.
But the thing is...
AI, Dave likes glory holes, both sides.
The thing...
Inner out, he's inner out. The problem, the problem, he's in or out.
The problem with this is, is that you're a known pedophile liar.
No, no, stop doing the P one.
Stop doing the P one.
That one can actually be very bad.
Do not want that label.
History.com quote, players gambled on games and operators handed out prizes from free
games from
gum all the way up to jewelry and China wear. Wow Jesus here's a plate. Way to go
lady here's some forks. Here you go here's a nice mug. It's kind of like when you go
to the shitty fair that travels around and yeah throw the ping-pong ball in the
cup and then you get a
Goldfish mirror a Budweiser mirror. No ping pong ball was always the goldfish
Well, you put it in you drop it into the thing with the goldfish You didn't win the goldfish. Did you you won the goldfish in the bowl? It was goldfish genocide to be quite honest
It was horrendous
So some people became very concerned.
Cops and community groups took note that the machines were made in crime city.
And churches said pinball corrupted the morals of children.
Fucking, come on, let them let them live.
Unfortunately some of the boys are out there playing pinball.
Next it'll be fucking.
Sister of Allah, I'm pleased.
We'll get to your thing, so.
You're the holy one.
Another lie.
You're the holy one. Oh!
Another lie.
It encouraged them to steal coins and skip school.
Cool. Yeah, fuck yeah. Pinball did.
So pinball was LSD.
They said kids went hungry because they spent their money on pinball.
Well, so what was the deal back then?
Kids had to pay for all their food out of their own pocket?
Your parents would give you money
to take to school to buy food
and then you'd spend it on pinball.
Well, they weren't going hungry.
They were skipping lunch.
They were dying.
No, they weren't.
No, they weren't.
They were not dying.
There would be a trail of bodies on the way to school.
And behind them...
It leads all the way up to that pinball machine.
We didn't realize we had to feed him at home too, officer.
We thought that's what school was for.
Mayor LaGuardia of New York City thought pinball led to crime and juvenile delinquency, and
he said the industry took in millions a year from the quote, pockets of school children
in the form of nickels and dimes,
giving them as lunch money.
And so he cracked down on pinball.
So pinball was outlawed in many cities and states.
Okay.
You say that like that's normal.
Like pinball just got outlawed.
Well, I'm looking at this.
That's normal, like Pinball just got outlawed. Well, I'm looking at this.
Pinball machines were still legal in Washington state.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Dave pointed AI, Dave pointed when he said that.
Where is AI?
Above us?
Where does it live?
AI!
It's me.
Garfy.
It lives, it lives when I edit and upload the episode so whatever you say will be gone
and what I say will be-
No, they all have phones.
You foolish man!
There's one thing you didn't count on.
That we've invited 700 of our closest friends.
And that guy.
699 and that guy.
But cities in Washington were asking that something be done about the menace of pinball.
Pinball was very popular in Seattle and the city council realized it could bring in revenue
and so they put a decent sized licensing fee on each pinball machine.
Okay.
But local officials still found themselves
in a tough spot with many wanting them banned.
It's hard, it's hard to know whose side to be on.
For sure, yeah.
Cause I love children, but also-
AI!
Because I love children, but also... A-A-A-Y!
If you're up there...
So they didn't know. Was it skill or was it chance?
If it was a game of chance, then it should definitely be illegal.
And the ban was considered near schools.
Okay.
In the city of Kelso, Kelso?
Really?
Is that exciting?
I believe that people are saying no.
Ray Bally was arrested for using slugs to pay instead of coins.
And he was sentenced to a week in jail.
Sorry.
Before we get to his jail sentence, what do you mean?
Well you with a slug, it's not a coin.
You know what a slug is?
You're talking like a bullet.
No.
So it's shaped like a coin. Okay. But it's not a slug. Do you know what a slug is? You're talking like a bullet. No. So it's shaped like a coin.
Okay.
But it's not a coin.
So you put in a piece of metal that's round
and it tricks the machine.
Machine trickers?
Did you never do that back in the day with like a...
But I'm not from the 40s.
No, I didn't use slugs.
What are you talking about?
Come on, you can wash your laundry for free!
Just saying.
You're a slug.
That's how I played some joust back in the day.
Joust?
Oh, only the best video game ever. Whatever.
Joust?
Yeah.
And what, it's just you and another guy on a horse going at each other?
What was it?
What was joust?
A horse?
What did you do?
The fuck is this asshole?
We're flying around on birds, you asshole.
You played bird joust?
Yeah.
A lot of us played bird joust.
Yeah.
No, they've all signaled themselves out this evening.
Sex is not on the table. Joust. So you'd fly out a bird and joust? Oh, there's a lady in here who enjoyed joust.
I want you to play joust in bed. I mean...
You ever get laid for playing jail? Yeah.
Yeah, really, yeah.
Yeah, I did.
Yeah, huh?
You made it when I was nine, sure.
That's where it comes from.
So, when Ray, by the way, was sentenced to a week in jail,
he said, quote,
You spent a year in jail.
A week.
Okay.
He said, quote, just a year in jail a week. OK, he said, Judge, the only way you can beat those machines is with the slugs.
Yeah, we know. And that's not OK.
That's why you're going to jail. So it's also the depression.
So knives are breaking into pinball machines or just stealing.
It's just full of slugs.
How much did a slug cost?
A slug's nothing.
It's just like...
Did it come back out?
Sometimes.
Sometimes it didn't?
Yeah.
So back then they're paying nickels...
I think you could also put it on a string and pull it back out.
Oh, you had a sluggy string.
Yeah.
All right.
Go ahead.
Sometimes they just steal the pinball machine altogether.
See, that's the move. Like this man here, this criminal, stealing the pinball machine altogether. See, that's the move.
Like this man here, this criminal, stealing a pinball machine.
Just two guys running down the street holding a pinball machine.
Hurry up.
In Seattle, the Shivers Automated Coin Company, which was a pinball machine maker, opened.
So they sold used pinball machines starting at $2.
Jesus Christ. What year is this? The 1930s?
Yeah, the mid 30s.
$2?
The owner campaigned against criminalization of pinball, but in 1937, Governor Clarence Martin signed legislation banning pinball machines, except when it was about skill.
So, okay.
And what are you winning again? You're winning what?
Dude, there's tons of stuff you can win.
Okay, so if you, so it's based on skill,
that is still so crazy, but okay.
Like in a world of slot machines.
You ever go to the casino and try to use your slugs
on a slot machine?
Yeah.
You have?
Yeah, I still use my slugs everywhere.
Shut up.
I got a pocket of slugs.
No you don't.
Haven't paid for anything in nine years.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Dave getting arrested on tour.
He's the biggest slugger in the Pacific Northwest. So that was just about
selling more licenses for the machines. Okay. So legal pinball operators have to
pay a state tax on each machine but it never explained how to figure out the
skill versus luck part. So it was purely just to make money? Yeah. For the state?
Well yeah. It's like, yeah.
Because they're like, because some guy would come in and be like,
nah, that was more skill than chance.
Okay.
Yep.
All right, bring on the next one.
Different localities interpreted the law their own way.
Mostly it was tolerated because pinball brought in tax revenue.
Right.
By the 1940s, cities and counties and the state were all taxing
pinball because it was so fucking popular. Remember women? Wasn't that hilarious? Remember
when we had wives and lives? That was fun, huh? Not anymore. Now we're just shoulder to shoulder playing pinball. Not a lady inside and that's how we like it.
So half of the state pinball tax revenue came from King County.
So owners looked at ways to cheat on reported earnings.
And one way was to drill a hole and then put a device that stopped the machine from recording payment
so they
Put something in there. They would like up the coin counting coins on it, right?
Owners also skimmed off profit using a key that let them operate the game without a coin. This was called milking
so they would
cool name first of all, and then they would
So they would probably just take it off the books, right? Yeah, they'd take it off the books.
Unlock it and then be like, there you go, there's your game. And you'd be like, what about the coin?
Yeah. You'd be like, give me the coin, don't worry about it. I have to do this for every time
someone wants to play a game here. Hey, this is starting to feel a little pathetic.
I know, right, but just keep going.
Again, this is about pinball.
Right, right, yeah.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, no kidding, huh?
In 1942, William Foreman,
an Armador Army seas,
co-owned Bremerton Amusement Company,
which is in the islands across from the city here.
All right, don't get too excited.
It's not that great.
I've been there.
So they set up in Bremerton to take advantage
of all the sailors and shipyard workers there.
I can't wait to get off this ship
and do what we all wanna do.
Get crotch deep in some pinball.
Rub right up against it, yeah.
And if the manager wants to give it a good milking,
don't mind if he does, yeah.
Free sex, free sex, move it!
I'm pinballing.
Oh god, this is better than fucking.
Oh yeah.
Oh, that's good.
You don't get that, I don't see.
Fuck.
I'm tired.
Well, I gotta get up pretty early in the morning.
I should probably go.
Good to play with you.
We ship off early.
No, we don't.
Quiet, I'm trying to leave.
So these guys made a lot of money.
Foreman then started buying
Seattle movie theaters and drive-ins.
But in 1953, both men were indicted for under
reporting pinball revenue and sentenced to five years for tax evasion. Jesus
Christ. It's so funny with what goes on today. These pinball magnates need to be
stopped. They're raking over $5 last year illegally.
Still, Formid would go on to establish the Pacific Theater movie chain.
Sure, cool.
So you gotta start in Pinball.
I'm rich.
Now Seattle has a history of being an open town.
So vice is okay as long as it's discreet
and in certain areas.
I think that's good to support.
I'm good with that.
Yeah, I'm fine with that.
Keep the fucking in your little neighborhood there.
Uh, no, I'm not a son of a...
Get the fucking in your hood.
Don't let the fucking get out.
Welcome to Fucktown.
The Seattle Police Department was long known as corrupt.
Well, that's changed.
You guys know this is a back of the blue podcast.
You guys, as you guys know, I saw some guy driving on the highway today and he had a little
sticker in the shape of Idaho but it was an American flag with a back the blue
thing. I was like there's so many reasons I want to drive you off the road right
now. It's like a whole... I know sometimes you'll like see the back of those trucks
you're like buddy we get it like now for trucks, you're like, buddy, we get it. Like, now for the Constitution.
You're like, it's a car, drive it.
Nine things I love about the flag.
So beautiful.
I love the flag.
It's so good here.
So the Seattle Police Department took extortion It's so good here.
So the Seattle Police Department took extortion from vice operators and extortion was considered
a way to control crime because it maintained order amongst vice establishments.
Sorry.
That's the argument they made.
Wait, say it one more time so the cops would take extortion right and
The their excuse was is that it would keep order amongst so the vice guys wouldn't all kill each other or cause problems
Right it was the way to keep it peaceful. Yes, this is the only way for us to take them
I got I got to take a lot of money. I mean I don't want to believe me
It's hell on earth every time I get paid off
Name another way to handle this I mean, I don't want to. Believe me, it's hell on earth every time I get paid off. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha So police bribes are out and an official licensing system is in. Okay.
So certain gambling like...
The cops are just like, well, I might want to think about that a little.
You're going to miss it.
So certain gambling like pinball and card rooms could operate by paying licensing fees.
Okay.
But then that is...
Is the chance scale thing out the window at that point?
It is, right?
Yeah, I think so.
It's gambling.
So the problem is this doesn't jive with state laws who are, it's illegal.
So the idea was the city would have lots of tax revenue and vice-joins would please themselves.
Also it would prevent crime.
So they're making the same argument both ways.
Right. Yeah. This one ways. Right. Yeah.
This one seems better though.
Yeah.
So to get a gambling license, you had to be fingerprinted and have lived in King County
for five years, which prevents out of town rackets from moving in.
Uh-huh.
Okay.
But in the mid fifties, a conglomerate of Seattle pinball operators formed an organization.
Okay.
Amusement Association of Seattle AAS, or A.S.
Good for them.
This was formed to prevent one person or group from monopolizing all of pinball in Seattle.
Okay. And there were rules and agreements that all members had to follow.
No kids could play.
This is crazy.
Okay.
It all started with them.
No machines near schools or churches.
I love that one too.
The religious can't be trusted.
Save them from themselves.
And most importantly, keep it respectable.
Yeah. No more trashy bullshit.
I don't want to see your pinball machines with titties or whatnot.
Now hold on a minute. Let's not say that so fast. Because some of us didn't
realize it was an option. Maybe we should see a couple of these with tits first before
we start saying no way. Yeah, I'm taking you when you're wearing the titties light up.
Yeah, because the big problem is none of us have seen our wives or women in a long time.
We've been living in here. So at this point,
maybe the good idea is we put titties on these things. Something you can hold on to while you
play. And also right in the middle, you install what's known as a flashlight. Yeah.
And you. Okay, all right, now stop because I think we probably have a sale now
So don't do the thing where you're gonna get too deep into it. Be quiet now. Don't say another word
So far we're doing good. We got any machines that we can probably fuck
There's no need to start chanting about what you're gonna do. Put your glasses back on right now
Put your glasses back on right now. Put your glasses back on right now. You're sitting down in a room and this is a city
council meeting. There is no need for you to be making faces that we can only assume are your
peak and grins. Now you stop that right now. Put your glasses back on. Now it feels like you have
achieved the height of something that we don't want to get into. Put your little book, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Yeah, better, go back, there you go.
Oh, Gladys is gonna get it tonight.
Another night I come home and she's like, have you been playing pinball all night?
You're damn right I have.
Get that dress off Gladys, we're going to town.
Jackpot.
By the way, I'm not married.
By the way, I'm not married. Well, this is just...
Yeah, anyway, so, yeah...
I forgot what we're doing at the meeting.
I was going to say, at some point...
People shouldn't be able to tilt them.
That's the thing.
I think it went pretty good in there.
AAS is overseen by Fred Galino.
Ah.
Freddy Krueger.
Always smallpox. Look at that, eh? Never not smallpox. Look at that, eh?
Never not smallpox.
Fred Galino, alright.
He is close with the local Teamster Union leader.
So the Western Conference of Teamsters represent about 400,000 members,
and the Alliance gave the group almost total control over Seattle pinball. So now most taverns have exclusive deals with AAS
to only use their pinball machines.
And AAS used their monopoly to create price fixing
and decide who could operate their pinball machines
in jukeboxes at which locations.
But how did AAS start it?
Didn't it start?
Just a bunch of guys got together, okay?
I thought it was like to be prevent this sort of thing, but obviously no no it's no they're the bat. They're the criminals
They're the the it's a criminal organization
That's why it's ass
and
in
1956 the Tacoma City Council declared pinball machines
a quote, public nuisance and voted to ban them.
It's hilarious that Tacoma was like, no.
No.
No.
We see a bright future for us.
We.
How dare you.
We do not wanna be like Seattle.
We're Tacoma.
We're a little different here.
Welcome to Utopia, Tacoma.
Someday this city will be a comic book store.
The what?
Yeah, we'll have a comic book shop.
The what? Yeah, we'll have a comic book shop.
The downtown is gonna be bars.
We'll be closer to the airport.
Well, a little bit.
We're Tacoma.
Yeah.
Seattle won't, nobody will know Seattle.
No.
They'll be fighting to get their name on our airport.
Yeah.
Taxi they'll call it. Laughter Cheers
Applause
Cheers
Applause
Applause
George, sorry, Gordon Clinton
ran for mayor of Seattle.
So he ran as a reformist
but endorsed allowing
Pinball to continue.
Okay.
So AAAS just grew stronger,
and Teamsters are now intimidating bar owners
into carrying their machines.
Okay.
So they're basically making people have pinball machines.
Right, they're just in the bar,
just like, you should probably go play a little pinball.
Are you talking to me?
Yeah, get over there, put your money in front of it.
Hey, how come I don't hear a jukebox playing right now?
My friend and I are just trying to have a beer and have a conversation.
How come I don't hear a jukebox playing right now?
Well, if you want, you can put some tunes on yourself.
I'm catching up with an old friend. But I guess it would be probably pretty good to have some music.
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
Maybe we'll play a little pinball too while we're at it.
Yeah.
Alrighty.
I gotta break one of your fingers now.
Ah, oh.
You didn't jukebox fast enough.
Okay.
I wanna hear ABBA all night long. Pretty sure it's the 40s.
Who gives a shit? I'm a teamster. Not sure I'm following. I can't put on something that doesn't
exist on a machine that I don't want to play now. Teamsters are forever. Okay.
that I don't want to play now. Teamsters are forever.
Okay.
Their main competition were the Colocurio Bro...
Ah.
Hey, how you doing?
Colocurtio.
Run by brothers Sam, William, and Frank.
What's the name?
I don't even know.
And I'm among them.
The brothers used force and intimidation to make owners carry their machines.
I think you're going to love pinball and I think you're going to have a bunch of them.
You're going to like it.
So how big is your bar?
What's the square footage?
It's just a thousand square feet.
Okay, you're going to have 78 pinball machines.
Well, that's completely impossible.
We would be stacking them up.
And 42 jukeboxes.
That's crazy.
That's absolutely crazy.
It is crazy. It's crazy fun.
Nobody messes with the Ticola Orches.
Do you understand? But it was becoming harder for the brothers as AAS took over so naturally tensions grew. And on the night of October 11th, 1957,
a bomb blew up Century Distributing, a pinball and jukebox business
in the Queen Anne neighborhood.
You wanna fuck with my pinball machine?
And this is in King County or whatever?
Yeah.
So they're like king pinballs.
They're kingpins.
Balls.
Kingpins.
Is anybody happy right now? Yeah. King pins. Balls. King pins.
Is anybody happy right now?
Yeah.
There were two or three people who were like,
I like where he's headed.
There's like 900 people here.
Two's not a big number.
Hey watch it. That joke was sanctioned by the Decolarocis.
Hey mama. Mama Decolarocis.. Yeah, he said what are you doing?
You didn't go and I blew up on the jukebox.
Mama De Coroci, how are ya?
So mama, we're visiting with her.
Oh we are?
Well not you, you don't have the fucking-
Hey mama, I brought you a jukebox. Yeah, we got you a bunch of pinballs,
the Coriocinari style.
Hey, come on mama.
I don't want any more than a peanut bar.
Mama, I want a spastic meatball.
Your boys are there to go.
No, no, no, no, no.
It's a dangerous stereotype.
You're gonna keep doing that, you're gonna get a cancer
in about 15 years.
That's not how they call a coach.
Coach at all?
Your father, the coach, your papa.
Before he die, you gotta rest.
The Godfather of the pinball.
He's a peanut baller.
And he's also a...
No, no, listen, you said,
you gotta kick it out of the house.
He was a king.
Oh.
Of a spasmin' meatball, oh!
Disgusting, disgusting.
The reaction the second time around,
it was a wild ass.
They're scared.
What?
They're scared.
They're not scared of you.
What do you mean?
They're scared of the...
No.
The great meatball coming down.
What are you talking about?
From the heaven.
What do you say to mixing that?
Have you seen a spastic meatball three times?
Hell, you're upsetting mama.
Ah, the spastic meatball appears.
No, no, no.
Now that one got a no reaction.
No, no, no. No, no, no. No, no, no. No, no, no. What do you say to mixing out of things? Have you seen a spastic meatballer three times? Hell, you're not setting my mind up!
Aaaaaah, the spastic meatballer peed!
No, no, no! Now that one got a no-reaction
with one psychopath to shout at.
You don't do that, you're a
Decolonacci-carrillo!
You're not in a family, you said again.
I can't take you seriously.
What, is it Decolonacci-carrillo? I can't take you seriously. What?
Just to call it a chair at all?
No, it's because you are the pedo liar guy.
No, no, no, no.
No, you gotta fucking, you really gotta stop it.
That is not good, okay?
You keep it out of going and they're gonna call me pinball because I can't be near a school
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Yeah.
So during the bombing.
Alright, the bombing of games.
All of the pinball machines, jute boxes,
and coin operated devices were destroyed.
All of them.
The owner told investigators he didn't,
the owner told investigators he couldn't think
of anyone who wanted to harm his business
even though he'd been helping AAS muscle
the calcuchios from locations.
Calcuchio.
So a month later, Frank was charged
with threat of bodily harm.
Now, tablin owners said they were threatened with beatings
if they didn't carry the brothers' machines,
and there was a predatory loan shirking
operation where money was loaned to a bar in exchange for exclusive pinball and jukebox rights.
They're really coming at, yeah, they're like, and these are the best. Hey, okay, here's how it's
gonna go. I'll give you money. Okay carry our machines
You give me money for your division. Yeah, okay great
You fucking idiot
You're paying me to take your machine. Yeah
Is that really how this went? Yeah
Well, good work go to the cover of yours well welcome to hell all
right go for it okay hey guys our plan seems weird we've
loaned out a lot of money we got no money left and we have no pinball
machines so and then there were match bombs.
Match bombs.
Which they put under rival jukeboxes.
So you would put a lit cigarette on an open book of matches.
Oh, we've all done this.
Good Lord.
And when the cigarette burned down, it would set off the matches and start a fire.
Calling that a match bomb is so...
Start a fire underneath and burn the jukebox machine.
Match bomb.
I mean, that's how we use the light fireworks.
Well, it sounds more exciting.
All right, sorry, go ahead.
Start from there.
Seattle Police Department put out a public statement, quote,
we will not allow gangsterism to gain
a foothold in this community, nor will we
permit intimidation of any citizens
by threats or violence.
Sorry, already been going on a lot.
No, now.
Now they're like, now we're stopping it.
Now that we're not getting paid,
we have no choice but to enforce the laws.
Now, and the jukeboxes are being burned.
Yeah, disgusting.
In May, 1958, the city council voted
against renewing pinball licenses for William Colchio
and ordered him to sell his pinball interests.
Two months later, Mayor Clinton signed a pinball and jukebox ordinance tightening regulations,
including a limit on how many licenses could be issued.
On January 23rd, 1959, another bombing hit the Pioneer Card Company.
Pioneer made and sold dice, playing cards,
and other gambling equipment.
A stick of dynamite had been dropped through the mail slot.
It's the worst bombing ever.
Through the mail slot.
Is anybody here?
Yeah.
Uh, can you leave?
Are you the mailman? Yeah. What do you leave? Are you the mailman?
Yeah.
What do you have?
Mail.
It's night mail.
I've never heard of night mail before.
And I didn't realize it was night until just now.
Yeah, it's like 2 a.m. so I don't know why you're there.
Well, I'm changing some of the...
I mean, wait, I don't have to tell you nothing.
I've never received night mail before.
You should go out the back door.
Why?
Night mail.
What?
You fucking idiot. I'm gonna blow the place up. Nightmail. What?
You fucking idiot, I'm gonna blow the place up. With a nightmare?
Jesus Christ.
You're the exact kind of fucking idiot
that ends up working in a pinball machine place at night.
We do Dyson cards too, but explain to me
why this nightmare's gonna explode.
I'm putting lit dynamite through the fucking mail slot.
Someone mailed dynamite?
What the fuck?
Why did they do that?
Who sent it? What's the return address on the stick?
How are you this stupid? Look, I brought the dynamite, I'm lighting it,
and throw it and throw it, it's gonna blow the place up.
Then why did you have to mail it
if you thought it all the way over here?
Nobody mailed it!
God damn it!
I'm afraid I'm a little confused, to be honest with you.
I'm in my nightgown too, might I point out.
What the fuck are you in your nightgown for?
Because I live above this area.
I live above the shop.
Now that I'm done answering your questions,
I want to know who mailed this dynamite to me.
And are you even a mail carrier?
I'm not.
Are you?
I'm a fucking...
Go on.
I'm a made guy.
You're a mailed man.
No. I'm a maid guy. You're a mailed man. No, I'm a maid guy.
I muscle.
They're not paying you enough so you don't have to work nights as a mailman.
You know we need someone around the shop.
Sir?
I'm a woman.
What do you mean, sir?
I set up in my nightgown.
Everything was very clearly defined.
My husband and I are going through a difficult patch,
if you must know.
I don't wanna know.
Roy and I fell in love 20 years ago,
but since then he's neglected me
because he was having an affair with his secretary,
which he's apologized for repeatedly.
But I don't know if I believe
that he's turning over a new leaf.
Which is why I was down here at night.
I was consumed with thoughts of he and her again.
Happens to me from time to time.
So I thought I'd come down here
and rearrange some of the card setups.
Hey Gladys, I'm gonna eat the dynamite.
You're not very good at your job, are you?
And I don't know why you're looking this direction.
We still have a door between us. But I am intrigued by you. You're very good at your job, are you? And I don't know why you're looking this direction.
We still have a door between us.
But I am intrigued by you.
You sound like a fella who needs someone.
Maybe you could slip some dynamite through my mail slot.
You ever think about something like that?
No I'm gay.
Oh, foolish lad.
That's just invented.
The church will take that bride out of you. So the Pioneer Card Company was blown up.
A month later it was discovered the Cochillo brothers were using dummy corporations to
get around regulations so the city council revoked the
licenses of any coin operated business connected to the brothers.
And that included Shivers coin operated company in the OG pinball company in downtown jukebox
business.
Wow.
Ken Shivers was already indicted for bribing a Washington state Supreme Court judge.
Shivers left the pinball business and became a home contractor.
Yeah, I can bet you a fence. Just go ahead and give me some money up front.
Absolutely. This wall is just full of slugs.
Absolutely. This wall is just full of slugs.
The hell is this?
Enjoy it.
On the night of February 18th, 1960, Fred Galino's car was bombed outside of his home.
Jesus Christ!
I can't believe it.
This is over pinball.
I know.
That's all I keep thinking.
He was asleep when this happened, so it was like a warning.
The noise was described as deafening and heard two miles away.
Jesus Christ.
So now Mayor Clinton puts out a statement declaring he would try to abolish pinball machines
if any bombings turned out to be pinball related.
But he's going to say that they aren't.
Well, yeah, I mean, obviously it's pinball related, but he's like, look, if the pinball King had his car blown up and it turns out to be pinball
related, as opposed to like, you know, trying to get your kid on a soccer
travel team, then we're going to crack down. Six detectives were
assigned and the FBI launched an investigation. The remains of Aglino's
car were sent to a special forensics labs in Washington DC. Nice. The car
bombing happened during an ugly mayoral election. Mayor Clinton's opponent,
Gordon Newell.
Another Gordon?
Yeah, was there one before?
Oh yeah, he's through both.
Yeah, yeah, you're right.
Two Gordons?
Yeah, a Gordon.
Jesus Christ, yeah.
Gordon V. Gordon.
A Gordon?
It's about to get Gordon.
They still talk about it in Seattle.
The big Gordon.
Whoa.
Two Gordons enter.
Both leave, but one mayor.
So Newell denounced the mayor's tough stance on Pinball,
arguing that strict controls made things worse.
The best. The best.
Where he's like, wait, Nate, this is just ridiculous legislation.
Getting in the way. You're cracking down on Pinball, and it's like, wait Nate, this is just ridiculous legislation. Getting in the way.
You're cracking down on pinball and it's like watering weeds. Now a couple weeks later,
very early in the morning, Newell's Austin Haley sports car was blown up.
I don't even know what it is, but I'm okay with it.
Newell said it was because of his comments about the pinball industry, though some thought
it was done to politically embarrass Mayor Clinton, so they thought that he had his own
car blown up.
False flag.
Classic false flag.
Let me tell you, there's no way that there's a connection.
100% if you look at that, that steel does not melt at that level.
The parts of that car that melted were done to, that is a controlled demolition.
That was 100% of controlled demolition done to lower newel.
I'm just sick of this.
Pinball's turning the frogs.
Die! I'm just sick of this. Pinball's turning the frogs, die! I'm just sick of this. Pinball's turning the frogs, die!
So it didn't matter.
Clinton won reelection and Newell left politics and started publishing local history books.
I get it, buddy.
I was just going to say, Dave is like, Newell's cool.
Newell, I get it.
You're like Gordon Cool. The hero Newell's cool. No, I get it. Like Gordon Cool.
The hero has left the story.
There we are.
Yeah, you just keep going on about him.
And some of his books were pretty good.
And Newell kept researching it going.
He started a radio show with a dude who didn't know shit
and got paid the same.
Drove Newell crazy. So the Michael distributing company was the largest pinball distributor in Washington State and on July 16th 1960
it was bombed. Dynamite was used. Wow oh my my God. Pinball bombing feared.
I mean, what?
The idea that they're like, we're not sure.
There's just some detective who's like,
what connects all of these?
Every one of them a pinball facility.
What is it?
It's gotta be there. Something specific. Get me more yarn,
would you? What are you gonna do with the yarn? I'm gonna start trying to figure
out some connection points between all these bombings. We don't even have a
board to put it on. Yeah, I know. I just, well, I ordered the board.
What are you gonna do with the yarn?
I am going to start figuring out where I'll put it.
So I'll lay it out.
Where are you gonna put the yarn?
Would you just get the goddamn yarn and then I can,
I'll show you what I'm gonna do.
At some-
First of all, Joan's closed
because of private equity, took over.
Do you mean Joann's?
Yeah, sure.
But also Jones.
They both closed.
Jones is a restaurant.
Joann's is the fabric.
Yeah, but you can get yarn in both.
You can't get yarn in...
All right, look, look.
You don't need to go get me yarn. You don't need to go to Joann's.
I think it's Jones.
It isn't Jones.
You already conceded. Look.
We have bigger fish to-
Don't say another goddamn thing about the yarn or where it's coming from.
Do you understand me?
I'm trying to figure out what connects all of these bombics.
Something's gotta be there.
You know what you should use?
I swear to God.
You should use a board and yarn.
Now there's a problem with that.
Is it that Joann's is closed?
And Jones.
First of all, Jones is not
closed. They're open till 8pm.
They're a restaurant and they don't have yarn.
Joanne's is closed.
But I told you a couple days ago to get me
the yarn and we had this exact same conversation.
Put your glasses
back on. But I'm just, I was just
Why do you keep taking your glasses off? Normally that
means an ejaculation is about to happen.
Put them on. Actually, wait, Why do you keep taking your glasses off? Normally that means an ejaculation is about to happen.
Put them on.
Actually, wait, shoot a little. It'll work for the yarn.
The way your mind works, you should be a detective.
Aren't I?
Oh. Yeah, yeah. Aren't I? Oh.
Yeah, yeah. Remember, yeah.
Can't believe I lost you. Alright.
Alright. Well,
that was a really weird day at work.
Let's go home.
Hit your ends in the morning.
So the mayor said if the bombings were unsolved, within a month Hit your ends in the morning.
So the mayor said if the bombings were unsolved within a month that he would seek a permanent
pinball ban.
And it was later revealed that the owner of the company was closely tied to AAS.
Fred Galino offered a $6,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone
responsible for the bombings.
Okay.
So the Seattle PD used lie detectors to question pinball operators.
Hilarious.
Hilarious. Fucking...
This is like, this is the dumbest...
They don't work.
I mean, but it's also just like, how far have we come?
They used to be like, who's doing the pinball shit?
We gotta figure it out. Hook them up to what looks like a pinball machine and ask them.
Hey sir, the lines are squiggling a little bit again.
Yeah, they get pretty excited when they hit the pinball.
After they play, we should ask them some questions.
After they play, we should ask them some questions. So they came up with no leads from that, and the mayor called for a total ban on pinball,
saying Seattle allowed them for over 30 years and the pinball industry only showed it was
reckless and dangerous.
Can this country ever be normal? Is it like, did we ever have,
I'm being genuinely serious.
Were there ever two years where we were like,
yeah, all right, nothing crazy happened for two years.
You know like how a restaurant writes
how many days since an injury?
Did we ever go 800 days without being completely fucking,
I mean, what the actual fuck?
Well, the only way to deal with this
is to take these machines out to a field
and beat them with hammers.
There we are.
Now let that be a lesson to the rest of you pinball machines.
You understand?
We don't watch in this town.
We don't watch it anytime near here.
It's not like they can make more of these.
That'll be the end of that chapter.
I mean there must now we just have to bury them at the bottom of the lake like Jason.
There should be another one. Okay so on September 20th 1960 the city council rejected the mayor's
bans and the machines were bringing in 5,000 in revenue so they kept it.
For a couple years anyway, public pressure mounted and in January 1962, the Seattle Police
Department said they would close establishments with illegal gambling devices per state law.
City Council quickly passed a policy allowing amusement only pinball machines that didn't
offer payouts.
I, I, well, I remind, what were the payout?
People were getting cash.
They're getting cash.
Okay.
And prizes.
By the way, if you could, they should bring that back.
Yes.
If I was at a fucking bar and you could play pinball and be like, well, I just won $5.
Imagine if there was like a pinball area at fucking Harrah's.
Like I would go play pinball.
Oh, I would love to picture what that area's demographic is.
That blows my mind trying to imagine the people are just like,
fuck y'all.
Move it.
It's like when you see someone good at Dance Dance Revolution,
you're like, ah, that's like the saddest shit I've ever seen.
someone good at Dance Dance Revolution, you're like, ah, that's like the saddest shit I've ever seen.
That's fucking bananas.
Holy shit.
So, the, did I say this?
The Seattle Senate voted to allow individual cities,
so they punted.
The state government was like,
you guys just make your choices.
Isn't that weird how the United States is, that's like the formation of it is just a clump of places that are allowed to have different laws per state and then per city.
And then they're just like, we don't actually want to do any of that stuff.
Yeah, we don't unless it's-
It gets pretty sticky once you have to make decisions.
decisions. So Fredl Grand Jury on the pinball business was convened in Seattle and it led to the
indictments of Fred Galino and John Michael.
John Michael is one of the guys who owned the places that were bombed.
Okay.
They were charged with overt acts related to political payoffs for quote, making payments to maintain a situation
whereby gambling on pinball machines in Seattle
could continue.
So pinball protection money.
Right.
Which, you know, a little while ago
would have sounded really weird,
but now we're all like, right.
Yeah.
Because of the pin mob.
Both were found guilty,
fined $3,500 and they got a year of probation.
And then those guys both left the pinball racket, which left a pinball void of vacuum
that needed to be filled.
Uh oh.
Who's about to walk into that?
Who's about to stick themselves in that hole?
Well, it's not Joan.
What is your problem?
I mean, it's just so horrible to call her Joan.
Last time you were in a Joanne's?
Honestly?
Yeah.
Like a year ago.
Shocking response.
Hahaha.
There's one, I had to get something for, uh, Finn's, like, he had a class.
What'd you have to get?
Picturing you in a Joanne's fabric is my heaven.
Hahaha.
Excuse me.
David a Joanne, yeah.
Because by the way, the idea of walking through a Joe's
dad's fabric is being like, I'll find it. Why do you even bother going down one or two aisles?
You're like, excuse me, ma'am. I'm a, I'm an idiot dude. Where am I? Uh, this is crazy. Excuse me.
Where's the, uh, uh, yarn? Yeah. And what are you looking for today?
Poster board or yarn?
Yeah.
Is there a combination?
Where are the changing rooms?
You just want an armful of yarn?
Excuse me, can I go try some of this on?
Is that possible?
How much yarn can I bring into some of this on? Is that possible?
How much yarn can I bring into the changing room?
How much yarn?
Do I need to tell you how many yarns I have
before I go into the changing room?
Do you want to give me a seven?
There you go.
Just want to go see how these feel.
Just leaving undone yarn everywhere.
It just wasn't, I didn't like how it felt.
Sorry, this is so wet wet but I was in there.
I don't know what happened in there that was crazy.
Thanks Joan!
The fuck just happened?
The game flourished as quote amusement only action but everyone knew there were
still used for gambling and they were bringing in about six million a year
fuck is that insane insane it's insane in 63 so the cook Joe brothers ran pin
balls and jukeboxes I love how you've given up on the name. Yeah, I know.
Cola Carruccio?
It doesn't have a duh before it?
What?
Cola?
No, that was a joke.
Like duh, like, duh meatball.
Oh.
Wait, you.
That's racist. Oh.
Oh.
This is a great moment.
They're gonna talk about it online.
Okay, Joan.
This one will go down in history.
Shut up, pedal liar.
The, the Calucrio brothers ran pinballs in jukeboxes
and expanded to bars and nightclubs
and Seattle's earliest strip clubs.
Strip clubs?
That's awesome, Tim.
Now we're getting going.
Get your tits out of my face, I'm busy.
Stop it. Enough. Move. I'm busy. Stop it.
Enough. Move.
I'm trying to make money over here.
In 1964, Mayor J.D. Dorm-Brandman.
What the fuck?
Dorm. Dorm. His name was Dorm.
Hello.
His nickname was fucking Dorm. Hey Hey Dorm, what are you doing?
Thinking about pillows.
Mayor JD Dorm Brammon brought back the tolerance policy that had faded under political pressure.
He said vice was easier to police if it was licensed and regulated.
Right. Rice was easier to police if it was licensed and regulated. So now AAS had basically died after Gleno retired, and a new pinball association rose,
the Far West Novelty Company, which was a nonprofit headed by Ben Kitchey, and the FWN
controlled the master license for over 2,000 pinball machines, pool tables, and bowling
games throughout Seattle, mostly in taverns.
Players could win money playing, even though it was clearly illegal, and the local press
started calling Keechee the pinball king.
The Seattle Times starts a series on vice and corruption and reporters watched cops making cash pickups
and they realized it's widespread and that cops were gambling after hours,
especially in a place that would later become the comedy underground.
The comedy.
And they'd go in the comedy underground and in the back bar they'd shoot,
target shoot at beer bottles.
The good old days. Good old days. and in the back bar they'd shoot, target shoot at beer bottles.
The good old days. Good old days.
Police chief Frank Ramon said it was just a few cops.
Let's get a couple where you cry.
Tell me about Joanna's again.
I mean, no, no.
I saw her tearing up.
Not Joanna.
Again, no.
Not Jones.
It's not Joanna's.
I don't even know how I'm involved in this runner.
I wasn't even there for the first part.
Well, you're clearly the guy who knows all about
yarn and whatever.
Wow.
You think, get out of your ivory tower. I would love it. Sir, do you need help?
No, I'll find it. I would love it if we found out that you were like a guy who
was just like knitting sweaters all the time. Ah, that'd be great. That'd be great.
Are there any knitters in here upset about? Hey, where are the knitters?
And are you upset about the closing of... It's totally gonna fuck everything up, right?
Fucking private equity.
Get a gun.
Wait, what the fuck are you doing?
No, it's not...
It's a joke.
It's a joke.
Oh, but my God, how...
It's parody. Shut up.
How fucking funny would it be if there was a knitter Luigi? It's a joke. It's a joke. Oh, but my God, how- It's a parody. Shut up.
Don't do that.
How fucking funny would it be-
No.
If there was a knitter Luigi?
Oh my God.
Oh.
Oh my God.
It's very calming.
It's very meditative.
Okay, so-
It's going to be played on like some phone footage in a month and a half. Anthony joked recently about there being a knitting Luigi.
And then they get me on Fox News.
Yeah, I fucking said it.
You're just gonna let all the fucking yard places close?
Why are you from Boston?
Is that the America you wanna live in?
You're not from Boston.
Why are you doing a Boston accent a little bit?
That's what I do on Fox News. You're yourself, you're Dave Anthony yourself. You're actually you Boston. Why are you doing a Boston accent a little bit? That's what I do on Fox News!
You're yourself.
You're Dave Anthony yourself.
You're actually you.
Am I?
Oh my God.
So police chief Frank Ramon said it was just a few cops who were doing the shooting and
the taking of money.
Which is always the price.
That's a few bad apples.
Yeah.
Just a few bad apples. Couple bad apples.
The orchard is sound.
Yes.
We need to plant more trees.
Yes.
They need to be everywhere.
If there's bad guys, we need more guys like them.
Yeah, well, hold on.
To watch them.
Dad!
Yes!
I don't know if he was saying anything towards what you were saying.
But I agree with him.
I believe that man was just tased.
That man literally just yelled and you went exactly.
Yes.
Bingo.
That's what I'm saying, my man.
No need to put some words around that.
That's pretty clear.
The mayor said he wanted to build a better city and not run the police department.
So it wasn't his problem.
Huh?
The mayor was like, that's not it.
He's like, I can't deal with the staffing.
That's out of my jurisdiction.
Sorry if they're taking money and shooting up the comedy underground. Sorry. Public officials,
is the comedy underground still there by the way? That guy says no. It's funny that like eight
people like for sure. And that was a, when I was starting out, that was like a fun fucking club.
Public, although the one time I went there and a lady just vomited on the table.
Public, although the one time I went there and a lady just vomited on the table, that wasn't as fun.
What joke were you doing?
Public officials said having a tolerance policy kept Chicago gangsters from moving in and
taking over.
A post-intelligencer series revealed the payoffs and cheating in the pinball world, and it revealed the mass crime racket of bingo.
It is a very easy game to cheat at.
There's a guy you're putting a lot on.
Yeah, B, three.
A, six.
You can easily make up cards that would never win.
Right?
Right?
Yeah.
I mean, how do you do it?
Because you know what you're going to call.
Yeah, that's what I mean.
The caller is so essential.
And so you have cards printed up and you know what you're going to call at a time.
Right, right.
Yeah, so the guy's just like, C2.
Wait a minute.
There's no C.
I have Banco.
I just fucking feel something's off here.
My dauber doesn't work.
Shut up you old biddy.
So they were going after old people.
Oh my god.
And uh.
I don't understand.
None of us have had bingo.
That guy keeps winning bingo.
And they were taking a run at charities,
and the operation was bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
Oh my fucking God.
Now the biggest was the Lifeline Club at Pike's Place Market. And the second biggest was Alpha,
assisting legislation for aging.
Jesus.
The pensioners would get a bingo card for a dime.
All right.
Good for one game only.
All right.
And the post-intelligencers sent
undercover bingo players in.
Yeah, look a little young to come in here.
Don't worry about him, 81.
One lost $395 while winning just $55 over four months.
I don't understand.
Oh wait, that's the cop.
Yeah.
Now I don't understand.
Looks like it's a reporter.
Yeah, whatever I am. Yeah. Now I don't understand. It's a reporter. Yeah, whatever I am.
Yeah.
I'm undercover.
In 1968, the Post-Intelligencer, Seattle Magazine, and KING-TV, it's King.
We can just say it's King, joined together for a joint investigation into corruption
in King County.
And Seattle Magazine did a profile on prosecuting attorney Charles Oliver Carroll. So Carroll is a hero in Seattle Magazine did a profile on prosecuting attorney Charles Oliver Carroll.
So Carroll is a hero in Seattle. He had been an All-American running back for the University of Washington in 1928.
Oh, we are so dumb. So dumb. This guy could carry a football.
In a legendary game in which his team lost, Carroll was so amazing that opposing Stanford players carried him off the field.
That is the whitest, For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a, come on everybody, for he's a jolly good fellow.
President-elect.
By the way, if he came back into the locker room after the opposing team did that, I'd
be like, yeah, what the fuck?
Tell him to fucking put you down, asshole.
They were carrying me off.
Yeah, you fucking asshole.
President-elect and Stanford alumnus Herbert Hoover was so excited, he yelled, quote,
That man is the captain of my All-American team.
So, Carol was a bit of a big deal in Seattle.
We really, I mean...
But it's like 40 years later, he's still a big deal.
The Seattle Magazine story was not good, showing him to be a vengeful prosecutor who was especially
harsh on black people.
I felt that coming.
The magazine called for his resignation and the media report revealed secret visits between
Ben Kitche and prosecutor Carroll.
And a grady photo apparently showed him
bringing money to Carroll.
Why the fuck?
Could these people not meet in dark places?
Why was everyone like,
all right, no one's around,
let's get out of this street lamp.
There's a big wad of cash.
Now get out of here, scram, see?
I mean, he would go to his house,
open the door, open it, hand him the- There you are, there's a bunch of cash. Now get out of here. Scram, see? I mean, he would go to his house and when the door opened, he'd hand him the...
There you are!
There's a bunch of money!
Here you go, here's money!
Well, thank you for that money!
Now don't be afraid to walk it down the street.
The reporter quote,
What could possibly be the nature of such liaisons between men of such diverse callings, a prosecutor and
a pillar of the pinball fellowship.
Jesus Christ.
The pinball fellowship.
It's a royal family, the pinball fellowship.
Legal opinions issued by Carroll had allowed Keey's organization to have almost total control
of the pinball industry.
And legal opinions basically went against actual laws.
So it's like what, I don't know if you've heard of Trump, it's what Trump does.
When the story came out, Carroll refused to answer any questions.
And he's not just a prosecutor,
he's a powerful Republican politician
who controlled a bunch of public offices.
So the story hit when a PAF system
in the Seattle Police Department
was also being exposed in the press.
Cops were taking money from gamblers
and taverns to stay in business.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer also documented
how incredibly profitable the pinball business was,
five million a year, as we said.
The state attorney general then asked the governor
for legal powers to conduct an investigation,
and the governor declined.
He said it was too soon.
Too soon, we can't.
But respect.
Pressure grows.
And later that year, the AG ran as a dem against the governor,
and the pinball scandal became the big campaign issue.
So the governor claimed the AG's investigation into Carroll
was politically motivated, and the governor was re-elected.
I love it.
That idea that things, it's like, yeah, this is politically
motivated, fuck him, get him out of here. Well, that sounds a little political. But
because of the pressure- I'm getting so mad at that picture. That's fair, that's
fair. Because of the pressure, he lets a new AG run an investigation into Carol and Keechee and sadly on May 30th, 1969,
before any real investigation got going, Ben Keechee was found drowned in shallow water
near his Lake Washington home.
Death was ruled an accident.
People were a little bit suspicious though because he was a really good swimmer and he
drowned in five feet of water.
Remarkable obviously.
Like, why would you not?
Oh, for fuck's sake.
You can't go out a little further.
Five feet.
There we are.
Hey, should we take them out deeper?
Nah.
Let's go get some food.
Yeah.
Yeah, you're right.
Fuck it.
Now, Carol refuses to answer any questions about the Kichy scandal.
And in the end, the new AG concluded there was no evidence of corruption.
Okay.
So there was currently an interim mayor because the previous mayor took a position in the
Nixon administration.
So the interim mayor was a city councilman who wanted to clean house
and they gave limited power to three assistant police chiefs to clean up the department.
And on September 24th, 1969, when chief Ramon was on vacation,
I can't believe it's 69 and we're still like, let's figure out pinball.
It's been going on for 30 years. Summer of love has passed. Woodstock has happened.
And we're still like, all right, pinball's still a huge epidemic.
So Chief Ramon is on vacation.
So they raid the Lifeline Club, bingo, without telling him.
And they cite 80 gamblers but confiscate evidence which included
payoffs to politicians. So the chief then declared there would be no he comes
back and he's like no more rates we're not doing that anymore. So now it's the
police chief against the three assistant chiefs and it's like a standoff and the
three assistant chiefs demand the chief
step down and reporters for KOMO revealed the chief had cut vice funding
after the raid and released the gun of a Lifeline owner from evidence as a favor
and that the gun had once belonged to a deputy sheriff whose wife now worked at
the club. It's not great. But it's also so, it's just, this is what it is.
It's constantly people like, that was illegal, and I'm like,
fire him, get him out of here.
They changed the laws.
I don't want to get in trouble.
So now Bingo is seen as a criminal enterprise.
For fuck, Dave, I don't, I just, I'm not, I don't know. I don't know.
I can't shift gears into bingo right now.
I'm still pinball reeling and now bingo.
It's a criminal enterprise.
So Chief Ramon retires.
It's a crazy time.
There's anti-war protest, there's rioting, there's a lot of bombings.
From February 1969 to July 1970,
there are 90 bombs set off in Seattle.
That's kind of cool.
I'm kind of into that.
Ninety bombs.
Yeah.
Seattle was third in bombings behind New York and Chicago.
Also, but first per capita.
There's a bombing every like three and a half days.
Yes.
Now cops are being called pigs so often.
It's all it's all we have.
That they adopted the term and chose pig as a mascot and used the motto, pride, integrity, and guts.
Well, here's what's great.
Completely didn't work.
Like that day, it's still Pig.
Like, don't call me that.
A new mayor began bringing in interim police chiefs from California.
There were six Seattle police chiefs from 1969 to 1970.
I like that you have to go to another state to get cops to stop it.
When it's that fucked up, you do.
Yeah.
Well, now we can't go anywhere.
Yeah.
Because they're all great.
Yeah.
Because they're all pride, integrity, guts.
That's the best way to cover it. What's up, pig? Excuse me? Pride, integrity, guts.
I respect you. Yeah. In 1970, ex-King County Sheriff, Terry, Terry, sorry, Terry McCullough, was indicted for taking bribes from Frank Caluccio
and Ben Kitchey. Now, Carroll ran for reelection as King County prosecutor and he spent the campaign
refusing to talk about his relationship with Kitchey and lost the election. The new prosecutor
immediately started investigating corruption and indicted Carol and 18 others,
a former Seattle city council president and an ex Seattle police chief. All the charges were
about gambling, bribery, and bribery and prostitution. We didn't even have time to talk about the prostitution.
It's just exhausting.
Testimony showed a massive cop racket where cops were the bag men.
A bar owner, quote, the beat cops were bag men, and I mean that literally.
Every week I put a paper bag on the bar and the beat guy comes in, sits down, has coffee, picks up the bag
with $100 of cash in it and says,
"'Goodbye, in return, I don't get busted
"'for code or liquor violations.'"
It was a simple time.
The cops would take half the money
and bring the rest to their sergeant
and then the sergeant would take it up the line.
Some cops were making $1,000 a month, which is $9,000 today.
City Councilman Charles M. Carroll,
who was different from the first carer,
this guy's known as Streetcar Charlie,
because he liked street.
I love how you're like, there's no time.
Streetcar Charlie, keep going.
He liked streetcars.
He liked streetcars?
He was really into streetcars
All right, keep going. Obviously, okay. Obviously he was not effective. I like when they ding he would
Down in the back sir down in the back
Sir down in the back
Two miles an hour
Hold on Sir, down in the back. Sir, we're going like two miles an hour. Sir, sir, sir, hold on. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, stop.
Ah, there's a bell.
Hey, sir, we stopped.
We've got a lot of people on here today, so please,
keep it together.
We have a bunch of stops to make, OK?
Are you going to be able to hold it together?
What's your name?
Streetcar Charlie.
Well, that's not great.
All right, here we go.
Sir, sir, sir, sir.
Glad we gave him a little moment.
Streetcar Charlie was getting $3,000 a month from the cops.
He oversaw the committee licensing pinball machines. 100 cops, many retired, were implicated in crimes
going back 35 years.
Oh my God, imagine being retired.
Hello, I was just gonna go play some bingo.
I bet you were.
For what?
Who's at the door, Alan?
Drop those bingo cards, you son of a bitch.
What took you so long?
Every day I play bingo and I fucking shake.
The prosecutor said Prosecutor Carroll was a political boss and had dirt on everyone,
which he used to get what he wanted.
But the cases fell apart over time.
Street cart, Charlie's case was dismissed,
and by 1973, there were only 10 cases remaining.
So from 100 to 10.
Ex-chief,
Ex-chief Ramon had been given immunity accidentally.
They were like.
That's just unfucking real.
Yeah.
Cause he did the thing you see in movies where they're like,
I will give you money on this.
And then he went and just laid it all out
and they're like, fuck.
So you were doing everything.
Yep.
Anyway, have a good life.
Shit.
A judge dismissed most of the rest, Carroll's, because the only witness against him was an
admitted perjurer.
Only one cop pleaded guilty for taking bribes.
I bet his lawyer was like, we fucked up. Yeah, we were so...
Turns out nobody else went down for this.
Bad news.
I plead guilty.
I did it all.
Bingo.
Bingo.
Guilty.
Guilty.
Bingo.
Guilty.
Guilty. Guilty.
Beakle!
He got two months in jail.
Two months?
This is pathetic.
This is like crazy.
Charles Carroll died in 2003.
And the city...
He was 180.
And the city prosecutor at the time said, quote,
he was really a giant of his era,
both in sports and legal arenas.
He was a grand old man and I miss him.
I really do.
What you didn't mention is that the pallbearers were a bunch of people from another family.
They carried them to the grave.
Think about it.
Thought they'd go better, obviously.
For years, the cop bag man who took money from what became Pike Place Market Grill
would sit on a stool, mooching drinks.
Never indicted, he got full retirement.
The owner quote, I wanted to ask him for my money back.
So he went to the place he used to take money from and just got drinks
for the rest of his life. Yeah. Because why wouldn't he? Why wouldn't he? Yeah. I almost,
I almost like it to be quite honest with you. I almost respect him. Just sitting there like,
have a vodka soda. Okay. I don't know. According to pinballmap.com, which is a thing.
By the way, a great website.
If you guys.
Yeah, I've spent a lot of time.
Yeah, why don't you give everyone your login?
I think it should work.
Seattle has 484 pinball machines out for public play
with a pinball to person ratio of one to 1,835 people.
Seattle is the number two pinball city in the country.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Portland is in first.
Oh.
Oh.
Oh.
Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Portland is in first. You guys should like each other, you're basically the same!
Why would you do that?
Because I'm me.
You know what?
You do get that from your dad.
You both are addicted to hear me.
I'm not sure if you're gonna be able to hear me.
I'm not sure if you're gonna be able to hear me.
I'm not sure if you're gonna be able to hear me.
I'm not sure if you're gonna be able to hear me.
I'm not sure if you're gonna be able to hear me.
I'm not sure if you're gonna be able to hear me.
I'm not sure if you're gonna be able to hear me. I'm not sure if you're gonna be able to hear me. Thank you, Josh, or maybe Dave.
I got from the Seattle Star, I got from Seattle Times, I got from HistoryLink.org, and Christopher
Klein wrote the time that America outlawed pinball on History.com.
David Wilma wrote a bunch of stuff on pinball. The main source for this
was Brian Holden's vice files. He also reprinted it at historylink.org. And at the end he said,
by the way, please anybody who wants to rewrite and use this as a source,
because history should be spread around as opposed to copyrighted. I don't agree, but uh...
I miss Jones.
That is crazy.
I really don't even know what is the moral to something like this.
I'm completely lost as far as what we would say is the needle to thread.
No one is persecuted for their crimes.
Yeah.
Everything as currently constructed continues
to be completely ineffective and against societal benefits.
Our society, because it's capitalist,
allows them to buy all justice
and then they get to do what they want.
Always money.
Yes.
Always money, always greed.
It never will work as long as we have it.
And we live in a system currently constructed where it will never go, ever.
That's right.
I mean, the battle to overthrow capitalism, some people thought it would be fast, other
people thought it would take hundreds of years.
It's going to take a long time.
It's a failed system already.
So like it is what it is.
But this is like, but these examples have been going on for ever.
Continued microcosms over and over again.
It's a failed system.
It's a failed system.
It doesn't work.
Yeah.
You preach everything until you get to the top and then you're like, actually money is awesome.
Yeah, I mean, you know, whatever. It's all good. How many times can I say that it fucking sucks?
Like it sucks. It's not working.
I love you still. All right, well, fuck it. Thank you everybody for coming out, appreciate it.
Thank you. Appreciate it.
Hey, Dollop fans. I know you love the Dollop. You love listening to the Dollop.
Do you want to watch the Dollop? You're like, Gareth, what are you talking about?
By the way, it's not Gary, it's Gareth.
Well, we have partnered with Lakeside Animation and we are starting to animate some of our
episodes.
So if you want to go watch a five-part animation, which is actually like a 22-minute episode
or 30-minute episode, I can't remember, of the Rube, you can go to Lakeside Animation
on YouTube and watch a really awesome animation of the Rube. It really genuinely kicks ass and we're very proud of it.
And the more you share it, the more you give it to people,
the more you follow Lakeside, all that stuff,
the better chance we have of making a lot more of them.
We're already making a second one, so go there and watch the Rube.