It all started in the not-yet-United States when French soldiers fighting on the colonists’ side during the Revolution brought over a game called “Bagatelle.” Named for its possible invention in the mid-1700s at the Chateau Bagatelle, the billiards-derived game continued to evolve, through the 1880s, when it was still Bagatelle and played with a marble, right on up until 1947, when the first machine with flippers was created. “Humpty-Dumpty,” said Pacific Pinball Museum executive director Evan Phillippe, was the first modern pinball gaming system, and the museum has a playable one, among the 103 playable pinball machines on display at its Alameda site. But the museum also has 1,300 more games stored in a warehouse, also in Alameda, so that even though it rotates machines in and out, there is no way currently to make ue of most of the collection. Therefore, the nonprofit, whose motto is “Play and Learn,” is in the second year of what is expected to be a three-to-five-year fundraising campaign, with the goal of purchasing a building large enough to both feature many more machines, and also offer many more opportunities for STEM-based learning, Phillippe said. “We host lots of school groups,” he said. But fans don’t need to panic—the plan includes keeping the museum’s current location open as well. The exception to this is if the new building turns out to be in Alameda, in which case the entities would be combined. The campaign so far has raised $70,000, but that is a long way from what even an industrial site will cost. Phillippe explained that there’s a “four-pronged plan,” including a “nest egg” of previously designated funds, donations, a possible bank loan and, fingers crossed, an “angel donor” looking for a tax write-off to a nonprofit. The site search is not limited to the East Bay, he said. Locations as far afield as Pacific Grove have been scouted. But the PPM’s board is also looking at the Alameda Point Naval Air Station, and within Berkeley and Oakland. The last two, he said, are appealing particularly because of the large student populations. And, as the motto implies, a lot of learning is possible with pinball. Phillippe, a self-described Gen Xer, said he grew up playing video games in arcades that may have had a few pinball machines, but they were mostly regulated to dark corners. However, he loves museums, such as San Francisco’s California Academy of Sciences and the Exploratorium, and discovered PPA when he began living a couple of blocks away. “Pinball is not a sport or a video game, but a hybrid of both,” he said. He’s intrigued with pinball’s evolution through the years, which included the amusement being used for gambling, acquiring a seedy reputation. One of the website’s “Fun Facts” states: “New York Mayor Fiorella La Guardia’s anti-pinball campaign is captured in the poster of him pushing over a 1936 Bally ‘Bumper.’” “During the ’40s and ’50s, the games definitely reflected a white male gaze,” he said. Modern pinball games are often based on movies. Another Fun Fact: “The 1992 Bally ‘Addams Family’ was the highest selling ‘flipper’ pinball game of all time. Also, the upper-left flipper on this game employed artificial intelligence to learn to accurately shoot the ball during special game play.” The collection includes pinball machines that double as art pieces. The Visible Pinball Machines “are one-of-a-kind, handmade art pieces by Michael Schiess, built by Wade Krause, Christian Schiess, and Michael Schiess,” according to PPM materials. Schiess actually founded the PPA in 2002. “These are really, really special games,” Phillippe said. “Pinball machines were ‘dissected,’ and acrylic panels installed, so people can see all the science and technology that goes into those machines. It’s a tour-de-force.” Phillppe enjoys the multigenerational visitor groups. Each age group tends to start playing on machines that reflect when they were developed. But as free play is offered, “people drift,” he said. “You’ll see the grandparents playing the newer games and the grandkids playing older ones.” A favorite visitor story involves a Spanish pinball machine called “Dragon.” Built in the 1970s, it is now very rare, Phillippe said. “One day, visitors from Spain came in. The man had played the game with his dad in a bar in the 1980s,” he said. “He was visibly moved by the memories it brought back.” Pacific Pinball Museum, 1510 Webster St., Alameda. 510.769.1349. For more information about how to donate or otherwise support the fundraising campaign, visit pacificpinball.org.