c.1925 Brinkman, No. 750 Whirlpool in Original Box
Outstanding and virtually unused “Whirl-Pool†metal ball shooting game manufactured by The Brinkman Engineering Co., Dayton, OH. It comes complete with its original box plus an unusual envelope which held the balls. The steel balls are replacements. In business for approximately 15 years Brinkman produced a variety of table top scoring games in different configurations. Baseball, bowling, and Target games were some of the other categories that incorporated their basic shooting mechanism. “Whirlpool†however, was one their first toys . It was so successful that least two other variations were made. But again, this one was the first. The toy is heavy pressed steel, both painted and lithographed. It has its original metal rod support in the back which pulls out lifting it to a slight angle so the balls will roll down. Similar to Skee-Ball, a steel marble is shot from the spring loaded arm on the left and travels through 6 concentric circles. Each circle has a die cut hole at the bottom. Depending on the spring shooting pressure, the ball drops through one of the circles, rolls down through slots in the rear of the game and reappear on the scoring lanes at the base. It’s also interesting to point out that the concentric circles are made from a single piece of thick gauge, 5/8†wide ribbon of copper plated steel! It’s not painted. That’s something you’d rarely see in a post-Depression era toy. Because of the weight of the toy the original box was made with fold-locking endflaps. In other words the box had to be torn open to remove the toy. It’s printed in red text with a small drawn illustration of the toy and a left hand about to shoot. The name and catalog number were also printed on the endflaps. This is the first time I’ve seen the earliest version of the game. It’s also the first original box I’ve seen (most were hurriedly torn to pieces to remove the toy). Size: 14†x 10†x 1½â€. Weight: 1¾ lbs.
Price Sold: $ 75
