And The Balls Roll On… | A Documentary About The Forgotten History of Skee-Ball

April 3, 2025April 18, 2025 / thaddeuscooper / Leave a comment

How did a game, invented in Vineland, New Jersey in 1908, survive two world wars, recessions and depressions, industrial transformations, and technology revolutions to become the most beloved game in arcade history? The answer to that question can be found in the new historical documentary And the Balls Roll On…: The Real Story of the Beautiful Game of Skee-Ball. This unique film features long lost photographs of early and prototype Skee-Ball alleys, photos of its inventor, Joseph Fourestier Simpson, and never-before-seen film clips from World War 1, featuring the Skee-Ball popularizer and combat pilot J.D. Este. More evidence alludes to a possible mob murder of the attorney who owned the game rights in the 1930s.

Kevin B Kreitman and Thaddeus Cooper, co-directors of the film, And The Balls Roll On..: The Real Story of the Beautiful Game of Skee-Ball.

This brainchild of Thaddeus Cooper and Kevin Kreitman, who wrote and produced the film, started as a joke in 2011: “Let’s make a ten minute YouTube video about the history of Skee-Ball. There has to be a book about Skee-Ball history. How hard could this be?” That turned into a thirteen and a half year journey of serious research and amazing discoveries to unravel the history of the game.

As Cooper searched article after article, he found a few claiming that Skee-Ball had been invented in Vineland, New Jersey by Joseph Fourestier Simpson, a little known inventor. Simpson’s papers had been donated after his death to the Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society. When Cooper arrived there, he found two beer boxes full of those papers under a table in the workroom.

The scanning setup during one of Thaddeus Cooper’s trips to The Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society.

Cooper eventually scanned the entire collection, and spent years transcribing handwritten letters, time-lining the saga, filling in with patent records, business filings, advertisements and more. The story of Simpson and his heart-rending struggles to bring the game to market in the new amusement park industry were compelling. So was the subsequent history, as a colorful array of characters bought the rights to Skee-Ball and propelled it through opportunities and obstacles to survive to the present day. A second archive of material filled in the story after 1928: the first National Skee-Ball Tournament in 1932 in Atlantic City, the Wurlitzer period that brought the art deco version of the game to bars and taverns, and the post war years that brought the game to restaurants, arcades and family entertainment centers.

It took five and a half years to draw the fascinating story out of that mass of historical records. Cooper and Kreitman’s first book Seeking Redemption served as the basis for Kreitman’s screenplay And the Balls Roll On. COVID-19 shut down plans for filming for almost three years. And then it was a matter of bringing everything up to date with interviews and live footage of current tournament players, and rollers of all ages at the Jersey Shore.

When asked, Cooper and Kreitman said that the most fascinating aspect of the project were the people they interviewed. The enthusiastic historians who told colorful and sometimes scandalous stories about the saga of the game and the history around it. The arcade game collector who owns a 60-plus year old Skee-Ball alley that’s still being played daily at the Jersey Shore. The Wildwood arcade owner who bought his first Skee-Ball alleys in 1976, and still runs the most exciting Skee-Ball tournament of the summer.

The film was co-produced and co-directed by Thaddeus Cooper and Kevin Kreitman, narrated by Adrienne Grechman, voiced by Connor Hudak, Keith Norton and Harrison Wilkes. The music was co-composed and orchestrated by Brian Satterwhite. The film has garnered film festival awards including the jury award for Best Documentary Film at the Golden Gate International Film Festival and Best Feature Film at the Chicago Feedback Film Festival. It was released in January of 2025 and is now available at selected theaters at the Jersey Shore, and streaming on Apple TV, Google Play, and Amazon Prime Video.

And the balls roll on….

Thaddeus Cooper is the co-director of the documentary And The Balls Roll On…: The Real Story of the Beautiful Game of Skee-Ball, co-author of Seeking Redemption: The Real Story of the Beautiful Game of Skee-Ball, a deep dive into the history of the game and And The Balls Roll On…: The Short History of the Beautiful Game of Skee-Ball. You can find more information about Thaddeus, and his co-author Kevin Kreitman, and their books, at their website NoMoreBoxes.com. When he’s not writing about Skee-Ball, Thaddeus writes about his kitchen escapades, documentary filmmaking (which has to do with Skee-Ball, don’t ya know?), technology, and other topics of general interest to him-and hopefully you.

And The Balls Roll On… Wins GGIFF Jury Award For Best Documentary 2024

November 5, 2024November 5, 2024 / thaddeuscooper / Leave a comment

And The Balls Roll On…: The Real Story of the Beautiful Game of Skee-Ball won the GOLDEN GATE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL JURY AWARD for BEST DOCUMENTARY 2024 at the awards ceremony November 3, 2024!

Kevin and I want to thank everyone who worked on this project to make it a reality, including Cathie Berrey, Mike Williams, J. Winfield Heckert, who shot the interviews, the Ocean Beach III footage and all of the New Jersey shore footage. Our subject matter experts, John Hepp, Thomas H. Keels, and Patricia A. Martinelli for bringing their expertise about Philadelphia and the Centennial Exposition, Chestnut Hill and Henry B. Auchy, and Vineland, New Jersey History to the film.

Our rollers and interviewees, Gerry Christensen, Elan Footerman, Rafi Footerman, Ed Pohlman, Aaron Re, Tyler Weiss, and Joey Wolf.

A big shout out to the Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society and Tom Rebbie at Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters Inc. for graciously giving us access to their respective archives.

We’d also like to thank Rikk Degres of Pinehurst Pictures and Sound for taking the film and making it look and sound great!

And finally, we’d like to thank our narrator Adrienne Grechman, and our voice actors Connor Hudak, Keith Norton, and Harrison Wilkes who brought the people back to life in the film and made it really special!

Thaddeus Cooper is the co-author of Seeking Redemption: The Real Story of the Beautiful Game of Skee-Ball, a deep dive into the history of the game. You can find more information about Thaddeus, and his co-author, and their book, at their website NoMoreBoxes.com. When he’s not writing about Skee-Ball, he writes about his kitchen escapades, documentary filmmaking (which has to do with Skee-Ball, don’t ya know?), current technology trends, and other topics of general interest to him–and hopefully you.

Thaddeus Cooper | Blog — Changes Are Afoot

April 17, 2023April 17, 2023 / thaddeuscooper / Leave a comment

For most of you who have been following me, this blog has largely been about Skee-Ball and Skee-Ball related topics. I’ve decided that instead of trying to write across multiple blogs, I’ll be folding all of the other blogs into this umbrella blog, Thaddeus Cooper. I’ll still be writing about Skee-Ball, never fear, but I’m also going to be writing about my adventures in the kitchen, documentary filmmaking, current technology trends (you know who you are), and possibly amateur radio. So that everyone can enjoy some of the other content I’ve been writing, some of it will get reposted here in the coming days, and weeks. So come along for the journey and enjoy the expanded writings.

About The Author

SB History | April 17, 1909

April 17, 2021April 16, 2021 / thaddeuscooper / Leave a comment

There are three significant dates in Skee-Ball history: October 31, 1852; December 8, 1908; and April 17, 1909.

On April 17, 1909, a small advertisement appeared for the very first time in the Billboard for the brand new game which would revolutionize arcade games forever. Its inventor was Joseph Fourestier Simpson.

Joseph Fourestier Simpson was born on October 31, 1852 to Henry and Josephine Simpson in Philadelphia, PA. When he was about seventeen his father died unexpectedly and Simpson had to find work. He became a railway clerk at the Pennsylvania Railroad, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for a time, then with the help of his Aunt, Sophia Brognard, started a planing mill which went bankrupt a few years later.

He persevered and invented an over center trunk latch that was patented in 1875 and subsequently exhibited at the 1876 International Exposition in Philadelphia in the Shoe and Leather Building.

He and his cousin invented a new type of ratchet wrench and received a patent for it in 1883.

In 1890, his mother moved the family from Philadelphia to Atlantic City, NJ then to Vineland, NJ. Simpson tried his hand at a number of jobs including becoming an attorney. He had never given up on inventing and continued to try and find better ways of doing things.

With the newly popular sport of Ski Jumping in the United States, Simpson glued together multiple ideas for a new game that rolled up bowling, ski jumping, and target shooting. It also incorporated a coin box to take the players’ money, automatically release the balls for play, and had a scoring device to display the cumulative score. Additionally it had an automatic ball return to recapture the balls. This system was unique for the time and made sure that there was nothing to get in the player’s way of dropping their nickel and playing the game. It also meant that no attendant was required–which was a feature operators were sure to love. He applied for the patent in 1907 and after a lengthy battle with the US Patent Office, he was finally granted a patent on December 8, 1908.

Simpson had taken on two business partners, William Nice Jr., the deep pocket investor and John W. Harper, the man who would build and market the alleys. After the patent was granted in December, Simpson, Harper and Nice rolled into action to get ready to sell the game, creating their first advertisement that appeared in the Billboard on April 17, 1909 on page 2, alongside other advertisements for moving picture machines, post card supplies, and an ad that promised to teach you how to be an actor.

The advertisement proclaimed, New and the most popular game ever invented. even though they had yet to sell an alley.

Soon, the alleys began to sell. James T. Noell in Roanoke, VA became their first customer and their first repeat customer. Alleys soon sold into New York, California, Utah, and Illinois. Simpson and Harper ran an alley at Wildwood Crest Pier in New Jersey. The operators were thrilled with the game, calling it a, “Quick money getter.” And the players were fascinated by it.

So there you have it, the first advertisement for a novel game and the fledgling company that was selling it. The world would grow up on Skee-Ball and it would not occur to most that there was a time before the game was in the arcade on the boardwalk.

And the balls roll on…

About the author:

Thaddeus Cooper is the co-author of Seeking Redemption: The Real Story of the Beautiful Game of Skee-Ball, a deep dive into the history of the game. You can find more information about Thaddeus, and his co-author, and their book, at their website NoMoreBoxes.com.

Skee-Ball History Project • 10 Year Anniversary

February 15, 2021February 15, 2021 / thaddeuscooper / Leave a comment

Today marks the tenth anniversary of my research into the game of Skee-Ball. It is hard to imagine that ten years have passed already. What I have learned about the game and it’s history is even more amazing. When I started the research, it was a commonly held belief that the game was an offshoot of box ball—it wasn’t. It was also a commonly held belief that Jonathan Dickinson Este was the inventor of the game—he wasn’t. There was even a report that Este had a son for whom he invented Skee-Ball—he didn’t.

What was not common knowledge at the time was that the game was invented by Joseph Fourestier Simpson, who was born in Philadelphia, and moved to Vineland, New Jersey in 1890. Or that Simpson received US Patent 905941 on December 8, 1908 for the game. There were, in fact, only three people who had discovered the Simpson connection before I started my research: Del Brandt, the former Cumberland County Historian, and writers Vince Farinaccio, and Michelle Moon.

At the time I started the research, only a few people knew that Simpson and his sister had donated his papers to the Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society in New Jersey. I was quite fortunate to be able to get access to those papers, as they held personal correspondence, including that between Simpson and his early Skee-Ball partner John W. Harper. Those papers revealed an intimate history of Simpson’s professional and personal life. They also revealed his and Harper’s turmoil as they struggled to market the game.

Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society

There was also something else that I would learn as I continued on my journey—there was a second archive of material that directly related to Skee-Ball in its middle years. One of my subject matter experts made the introduction to this private archive in Pennsylvania and I was invited there. Again, like the Simpson archive, I was given full unfettered access. This treasure trove of documents and photographs revealed decades of Skee-Ball’s fascinating history that had never seen the light of day.

When Simpson was marketing the game in the early 1900s, he was not taken seriously by business people. I had a similar problem when I started contacting historical societies looking for information about the game. I wrote hundreds of letters asking for information. The letters went something like this:

Dear Archivist—

I am doing research about the early history of the arcade game Skee-Ball. Based on my research…

I can tell that this is about as far as most people at the various historical societies got in reading the letter. Looking back, I can almost certainly hear the reactions, including hysterical laughter—is this person kidding? Some probably thought I was a child—not even close. Some probably thought I was pulling their leg—again no. I was persistent. If you didn’t respond I would send another letter thirty to sixty days later. I kept file folders of letters. One was for open correspondence, another was for followup correspondence. For several years the open correspondence folder was the thickest—over two inches. Over time, we either got responses or gave up. When we did get a response, the material was always amazing, and often, the archivists who sent it had no idea that the photograph or other ephemera was even in their collection. One letter went to a historical society in New York that maintains the archive for the Wurlitzer Corporation. The keepers of the archive were completely unaware that Skee-Ball was owned by Wurlitzer for a number of years, or that Wurlitzer produced the classic, art deco alleys before World War II. They were thrilled to find out this bit of their history. Another letter went to an archive in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. There they found a photograph of three men and a boy standing in front of some original thirty-two foot long Skee-Ball alleys—they had no idea they had the photograph. To this day it’s one of my favorite photos.

The research uncovered more fascinating details—how the pioneering features that Simpson included in his original Skee-Ball designs created the standard for all subsequent arcade alley and pinball games. How innovative the “skee-jump” or “ball hop” was, and how widely it would be copied. And how the story of Skee-Ball, invented in 1908, would wend through the major historical events of its day. Occasionally, one of the champions of Skee-Ball could be found making history themselves, including Jonathan Dickinson Este, the man who successfully took Skee-Ball to the masses. Este was a WWI pilot, earning the Distinguished Service Cross for his success dogfighting the enemy in the skies over France in the earliest aerial combat missions. And Skee-Ball was prominently featured at the West Coast Panama Expositions in 1915, and at the World’s Fair in New York 1932.

There were some detours in the research including a visit to Harper and Simpson’s graves to pay my respects. Finding Harper’s grave was difficult but I was able to find it in Philadelphia. Simpson’s grave became a whole adventure that required three trips to Philadelphia before I was able to locate it. That adventure led to a series of articles.

Another detour was to Lincoln, California to see the storefront where some of the very first alleys were installed in 1909. And discovering how J. D. Este made $40,000 in his first year of manufacturing Skee-Ball. There were so many many other detours that made the hours and days speed by so quickly.

Storefront where early Skee-Ball alleys were run in Lincoln, CA

Over the years, I have also been privileged to meet the people at the other end of the letter and email chains: Patt Martinelli from VHAS, author Vince Farinaccio, historians Tom Keels and John Hepp, Tom Rebbie, President and CEO of Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters Inc., and others. All of them have followed our research progress, and have continued to graciously help it along. In 2016, we published our first book, “Seeking Redemption: The Real Story of the Beautiful Game of Skee-Ball” which is a deep dive into the history of the game. Since then, I continue to write articles, and correspond with people who own vintage Skee-Ball Alleys, some more than 70 years old, as well as many clones of the game. I’ve gotten to go to the factory in Wisconsin and see the new alleys up close and personal, and meet the people who make it happen including Holly Hampton and owner Larry Treankler of Bay Tek Entertainment. I’ve been privileged to be a guest at recent Skee-Ball tournaments and meet the rollers who play the game at the highest professional level. I’ve also gotten to see some of the clones that people have restored up close and personal.

Skee-Ball alley on the manufacturing line at Bay Tek Entertainment

The pandemic has not slowed anything down here, and we continue to unearth new stories. I continue the research and have a backlog of articles that I’ve been working on. I hope everyone has enjoyed the book and the articles! It has been an amazing ten years and I am grateful to have met all of you—either virtually or in person. Here’s to the next ten years!

And the balls roll on…

About the author:

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 22, 2017November 22, 2017 / thaddeuscooper / Leave a comment

MudgeThanksgiving

Once a year in the United States families all over the country sit down at the dinner table to enjoy a repast with family and friends and celebrate Thanksgiving. During that meal almost every household will also go around the table and ask everyone what they are thankful for. This year Kevin and I would like to take just a moment to say that we are so thankful for all of the friends that the book has created for us. We’ve met wonderful people that started as colleagues and casual acquaintances and have become friends that we look forward to seeing whenever we can. Those friends come from Vineland, Philadelphia, Austin, San Francisco, New Orleans and may other places. To all of our friends and their families we’d just like to say, Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours! Enjoy the day.

SR Profile | Thaddeus Cooper In Austin

October 22, 2017April 14, 2019 / thaddeuscooper / Leave a comment

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Seeking Redemption recently got a chance to sit down with Thaddeus Cooper, co-author of “Seeking Redemption: The Real Story of the Beautiful Game of Skee-Ball” to chat with him about his upcoming trip to Austin, Texas this October between the 25th and 30th.

Seeking Redemption: Thanks for taking some time to sit down and talk to us.

Thaddeus Cooper: My pleasure.

SR: So, you’re bound for Austin TX at the end of the month. Why are you going? (And what does it have to do with Seeking Redemption: The Real Story of the Beautiful Game of Skee-Ball?)

TC: Well, I’m going to Austin to be at The BEEB, the Brewskee-Ball National Championship for 2017. [The] Brewskee-Ball National Championship is the biggest Skee-Ball event of the year. We’ve made friends with a lot of folks when we were working on the book— Eric Pavony, and a bunch of cool people including champions Brewbacca and Skeevi Strauss. I’ll be selling both the hardback and softcover books and I’ll be giving away books as prizes for the winners at the events. These events are amazing. The rollers take Skee-Ball to a whole new level of play.

SR: Who’s involved? Who will you be seeing?

TC: Eric Pavony is the mover and shaker behind the league. He also co-owns the Full Circle Bar in Austin, where the BEEB is happening.

We’re also hoping to see a bunch of the prior years champions— Joey Mucha (Joey the Cat) who’s won three times, Roy Hinojosa (Brewbacca) who won last year, Tracy Townsend, who goes by Trace-Face, and in 2015 was the first woman ever to win a National championship in Skee-Ball.

There are also a bunch of great rollers from Austin that I met on my first trip and I’m looking forward to seeing again. I understand some of San Francisco contingent is coming, don’t know who yet.

And we’ll see Holly Hampton, from Bay Tek Games (manufacturer of Skee-Ball alleys) and some folks she’s bringing with her. It’s going to be a great chance to see old friends and meet more folks who are very enthusiastic about our book and the documentary project.

SR: What are you going to do in Austin while you’re there?

TC: The actual BEEB event is Friday, Saturday and Sunday. On Thursday evening, I’m hosting a FaceBook live event with at least one special guest, and we’ll be talking about Austin, and the BEEB—that will be around 7-8pm Central Standard Time. Immediately following that, I’ll be heading to the rooftop bar of the downtown Westin (weather permitting) for an Author Meet-and-Greet from 8pm on. In case of rain, we’ll be down in the first floor bar there at the Westin. We’ll also be lifting a glass to Joseph Fourestier Simpson, the original inventor of Skee-Ball, who was born Oct 31,1852. Friday through Sunday, we’ll be at the event, selling books with special event pricing discounts, And we’re looking forward to being on hand for the presentation of books to five of the winners as part of the event. So we’re really excited, and it will be really cool to meet everybody who has expressed interest in the book and see everybody over the course of those few days.

SR: Where will you be in Austin? When will things be happening?

TC: The event will be held at the Full Circle Bar 1810 E. 12th Street, Friday thru Sunday October 27, 28, 29.. We’ll have our Thursday events on October 26 at the Westin Austin, Downtown 310 East 5th Street starting at 7pm, and meeting in Azul, the rooftop bar, weather permitting, from 8-10pm.

You can find the full schedule for all of The BEEB related events here.

About the author:

Authors Give Talk About Skee-Ball History at California Extreme

August 16, 2017April 14, 2019 / thaddeuscooper / Leave a comment

Thaddeus Cooper and Kevin Kreitman recently gave a talk at California Extreme in Santa Clara, California about the history of Skee-Ball. California Extreme is the “Classic Arcade Games Show.” It’s a huge annual celebration of coin operated pinball machines, video games and other novelties you once found in game arcades. Here are some highlights from Thaddeus and Kevin’s talk.

Kevin talks about Box Ball Skee-Ball’s nearest competitor at the time.

Kevin talks about Skee-Ball’s move to Coney Island.

“These alleys are going to make money someday for somebody” just not them and not then.

Kevin tells about Harper’s and Simpson’s struggles with Skee-Ball.

Thaddeus answers question about how many tickets someone needs to get the documentary.

Kevin explains a turning point in Skee-Balls history.

Thaddeus answers a question about why Wurlitzer had so much trouble selling Skee-Ball alleys.

Thaddeus talks about playing Skee-Ball in Point Pleasant, NJ.

Thaddeus talks about how the project got started.

“That’s a great question!”

Thaddeus says, “Thank You!” to everyone who made the talk possible!

About the author:

Author Presents Awards to VHAS

August 9, 2017April 14, 2019 / thaddeuscooper / Leave a comment

Thaddeus Cooper presented two awards this past week for outstanding contributions to Skee-Ball history” and “outstanding contributions to Skee-Ball research.”

We could not be happier to present these awards to Bill and Patt. Without them and their archives the real story of the history of Skee-Ball would never have come to light.

Thaddeus Cooper presented two awards on behalf of himself and his co-author, Kevin B Kreitman, at the Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society in Vineland, New Jersey, this past week. The first award for “outstanding contributions to Skee-Ball history” was presented to the Society and accepted by William E. Hughes, President of the Board of Trustees of the Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society.

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The second award for “outstanding contributions to Skee-Ball research” was presented to Patricia A. Martinelli, curator of the Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society.

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Cooper said, “We could not be happier to present these awards to Bill and Patt. Without them and their archives the real story of the history of Skee-Ball would never have come to light.”

About the author:

Author Visits Skee-Ball’s Home in Pulaski

June 22, 2017April 14, 2019 / thaddeuscooper / Leave a comment

Kevin Kreitman, co-author of “Seeking Redemption: The Real Story of the Beautiful Game of Skee-Ball,” went to Pulaski, Wisconsin this past week and got a rare behind-the-scenes tour of Bay Tek Games who manufacture Skee-Ball. Here are a few photos from her trip.