Exhibit Supply Company

Exhibit Supply Company (often called ESCO) was founded in Chicago in 1901 by J. Frank Meyer and became a leading maker of penny arcade and coin-operated amusements—specializing in heavy-stock collector cards, card vending machines, novelty arcade devices and later electro-mechanical pinball machines—helping establish Chicago as a hub for the amusement-machine industry with a reputation for durable card venders, claw/digger merchandisers and novelty games that operators relied on for steady revenue and collectible content. In the 1930s ESCO expanded into pinball, producing innovative electro-mechanical titles and features—examples include Play Ball, which introduced animated base-running lighting, Trapper with early mechanical drop targets, experimental magnetic play in Lightning, and the animated backglass of Contact—showing the company’s technical creativity in early pin design. While Exhibit Supply maintained a broad lineup of arcade novelties and printed millions of its trademark exhibit cards, World War II production shifts and postwar competition from Gottlieb, Williams and Bally, plus leadership losses after 1948, led ESCO to wind down amusement manufacture by 1957 and concentrate on its profitable electrical components and switch business before the company was sold in 1979 and ultimately dissolved in the 1980s, leaving a lasting legacy in early pinball development and collectible vending cards. Historic ESCO game and machine titles associated with the brand include Electric Hockey, Playland!, Be-Bop, Oasis, Banjo, Judy, Trigger, Jeanie, Samba, Playtime, Chico, Morocco, Circus, Magic, Build Up, Tumbleweed, Gondola, Swanee, Shantytown and Jamboree, all reflecting ESCO’s range across novelty arcade, skill games and early pinball innovation.