Arcade Archaeology: A Playable Museum with a Century of Machines
Strolling through Aviation Mall in November, I stumbled across a relatively new playable museum, Arcade Archaeology, that imbued a wonderful sense of nostalgia for arcade games, filled with more than fifty pinball machines. Opening last summer in June, Lonnie Linen, founder of Arcade Archaeology, has been interested in preserving arcade games for the past decade.
The journey began when he acquired and fixed a pinball machine created in 1972 by D. Gottlieb & Co. called “Drop-A-Card”. His mechanical aptitude led him to discover the long history of pinball games since 1931, eventually creating a pinball showcase at the Wilton Mall called “Saratoga Silverball” in 2021 that has drawn thousands of players across the region. Tanner Stowell, a local collector of Japanese rhythm games and associate director, helps bring arcade games from overseas to the museum.
Gathering and preserving the history of pinball machines can be an expensive endeavor, but Lonnie’s connection with Howard Levine of the nonprofit, Project Pinball, helped orchestrate their mission. Lonnie explained, “despite playing a small, humble part, I cannot overstate how the museum’s creation came about thanks to Howard,” as I learned more about Project Pinball. From their website, “Project Pinball began with the discovery of a broken pinball machine at Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida. The pinball community and many local benefactors raised funds and donated time to restore the machine to perfect condition.” The organization eventually became a nationwide organization that supports the placement of pinball machines in Children’s Hospitals, Ronald McDonald Houses, and Assisted Living Facilities. The Saratoga Silverball has been a key benefactor for the project.
Lonnie and Tanner have cultivated a breath of knowledge in arcade history. From describing the unique, internal designs in a machine to the different technological developments throughout the decades, every visit elicits a learning and playing experience. The intricate machines are a marvel of engineering, mixing movable hardware and computer technologies, to whisk a player into another world while being grounded in reality. The expansive space has some classic pinball games, like William Electronic Game’s Indiana Jones Pinball Adventure from 1993 and Sorcerer from 1985, along with D. Gottlieb and Company’s Buccaneer from 1972, among many others. During the cold, winter months, head inside the Aviation Mall to check out the Arcade Archaeology Museum to learn and play history.
They are open on Friday through Sunday, though they are planning on creating a pinball league that meets on Thursday evenings. At the moment, entry into the museum is $20 for a day pass, with a half-hour pass available, but they are in the process of acquiring custom tokens for an additional way to experience the museum.