1930s Wood Bagatelle Restoration - Why Did People Stop Playing These?
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- Опубліковано 5 лис 2024
- In this video, I restored and improved a wooden bagatelle game in this video, likely crafted in the 1930s.
This challenging yet fulfilling project deepened my appreciation for these classic wooden tabletop games. Motivated by the chance to revive this piece, I invested three weeks into reviving its charm and playability, dealing with rust, fixing cracks, and replacing numerous broken parts. I even custom-made new components, opting for elegant billiard fabric and cast brass details that perfectly complement the original design.
About this Wooden Bagatelle Game:
The wood bagatelle game, a precursor to modern pinball, is a classic tabletop game that originated in France in the 18th century. Played on a wooden board featuring a series of pins and pockets, players launch small balls, aiming to score points by landing them in cups and holes. This game combines skill and chance, offering a timeless appeal and providing a delightful challenge that has entertained generations. Its simple yet engaging mechanics make it a beloved relic in the world of traditional games.
This model dates back to the 1930s, as evidenced by the style of screws and the typical design for those times. During disassembly, I found many parts broken and screws stuck, and a few just snapped because of that, but this means that they must be replaced with new fresh wood. This led me to enhance its design and make it stronger and more durable. The newly added billiard fabric and brass elements have restored its functionality and elevated its aesthetic appeal.
To cap it off, I performed a test play at the end of the video to show you how the game is meant to be played-and you're part of the action! If you're fascinated by this stunning antique pinball game and want to see its transformation, watch the full video.
If you have any questions or want to share your thoughts, comment below. I'm excited to hear from you!
Cheers, Johnny.
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Hello everyone! I stumbled upon this charming wooden game right next to a trash bin almost a year ago and had a blast bringing it back to life. I hope you enjoy watching the transformation as much as I enjoyed working on it! If you like what you see, don't forget to hit that like button and leave a comment-your support means the world to me! Thanks for being such an amazing community. Cheers! 😍 - Johnny
People stopped playing them because more complex, electrified, pinball games came out, which are more exciting.
When I was a kid, we'd visit relatives who ran a pub. I spent hours playing on a similar board to this. Lovely to see it again and live how you've brought it back to life
I'm glad you enjoyed this video too and that I could bring back those beautiful memories to you. Have a great day! Johnny
love the wooden pegs instead of nails! warms my heart :P but you did an amazing job! this..........restoration? remodel?....CREATION! was superb!
I'm glad you enjoyed the video and yes, the pegs are way better 😀
Wow, this video is incredible! The amount of skill and patience it must take to restore something like this is beyond impressive. Every detail is so carefully crafted - you can really see the passion and precision in every step. Amazing work, truly inspiring to watch!
Thank you so much for your kind words. I'm glad you enjoyed the whole process.
Wow, too many memories when i see this game... my father made one of this for us, me and my brother... 40 years ago. RIP MOM AND DAD !!! RIP MY BROTHER, I REALLY MISS YOU ALL !!!😪💔🙏🕯
Condolences 🙏
With the condition of the wood and rust, I was a bit worried this would be more of a rebuild than a restoration. But you restored it so beautifully, especially with the brass touches!
Nice job. Glad you repaired this old gem 💎
I'm glad you enjoyed the video and the result. Cheers
I was also lucky enough to have my farther make me one of these when I was a child. Great restoration video. Just one thing, this is the predecessor of pinball called a “Bagatelle”. It was patented by Montague Redgrave in 1871, patent #115357. It is now in the Smithsonian.
Cool, thanks for sharing with us! 😃
Japan still plays a variant of these old Pinball tables. They call them "Pachinko" over there.
Oh, I never heard. Thanks for sharing!
Oh yes, I remember those! I had one as a child. We bought it at Kmart. It was authentic and had been restored, as it had previously been used in a Japanese pachinko palace. I must have sprung that lever hundreds of thousands of times before I broke the machine. Fond memories.
Have you always been this talented? What were you like as a kid? Did you always take things apart and put them back together again? Just Amazing and I knew you would add some red bling to it. Well done! Thanks for saving our childhood history.
I was taking apart everything as a child.😅 My father had to disassemble all the complex toys for me to show me what's inside and how they work to save them from little hands 🫣 I never considered myself talented, I just love doing it and I guess this is visible.
Another amazing job. It looked like a pretty brutal strip down but I realise it was absolutely needed.
Everything was cracked and broken easily, so when I found myself needing to rebuild it, I went all in, determined to make it even stronger and better than it was before.
This version flows smoothly while emphasizing your commitment to improvement. Let me know if you’d like any further adjustments!
Nice choice with the billiard fabric!!!
Awesome job!!! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻❤️❤️❤️
Thank you 🤗
😁😁😁 What a fab little game! Still has all the charm and enjoyment it was made with, and now absolutely looks the part as well 👏👏👏. Nice one Rusty 👍👍👍. 😎
Glad you enjoyed it! I had a really good time working on it.
Very nice work !! It looks amazing....you don't see many of these old game boards around anymore. But this one lives again and is ready for lots more use !! 👍👍👍👍
Glad you enjoyed it!
Wonderful restoration 👍👍
Thank you! ✌️
Hello mister beautiful restoration beautifully restored good job well done
Thank you so much! Happy to see you here since the beginning! 🙂
The end result is magnificent! Congratulations, you're a wonderful artist! I wonder what the authors of the game would think; it's definitely more beautiful than the original. (It could easily sell, you know!)
Thank you very much! Yes, but I guess they wanted to be efficient and build it fast to sell more and cheaply. 😀
Cool game, I would spend some time playing it. And you made it even better than new!
Thank you. We also spent some time playing it and we had a lot of fun 😁
Very nice restoration....But with that much modification is that still considered an antique.
I tried to keep the antique vibe and I inspired myself by seeing many other pinball games from the past. Everything was cracked, rotten and easily broken, so I decided to make it better and more durable. 🙂
@@rustyshadesrestoration No doubt you did a great job.....I was just wondering.
I would like to say that I personally would've checked for lead before deconstructing because there's a chance paint could've scratched off during that but overall great restoration 👍
Thank you so much. I did it, but I guess you skipped that part. 🫣
From trash to absolute tresure!! Next restoration that pen lol
Thanks! 😅
Now that was fun 🤩 love it. ❤🇨🇦
That's a nice piece of oak, still in great shape because it's a hardwood. The new piece is only white pine.
Gut gemacht 🙌
As if the win was in anyway shape or form NOT oursssssssss my preciou,,, um ok Ya very nice work.
Best of the best! Cool job 💯
Thank you! I'm happy to know that you enjoyed the video.
Yay! I won!!!!
Nice restoration Rusty 😊
Glad you like it. Thanks ✊️
Great work 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 TY for the upload 😊
Glad you enjoyed it
Delightful!
Glad you like it! 🙂
Excellent work! Please use protection, safety first
Thank you! 🙂
It's scary how close your fingers come to the saw blade.😮
Would love plans to make this
Nice!
Thanks!
ترميم مذهل تحياتي لك
شكراً لك! أنا سعيد لأنك استمتعت بالفيديو.
Nice repair video. We call this type of game as Fortuna in Finland.
Interesting! It is still popular there?
I don't know how popular it is nowadays, but it's still on sale in some toy stores. Older generation has obviously saved it for their grandchildren.
Great little video,nice old piece to restore,I’m surprised that you didn’t run the main backboard through a planer after having glued the cracks up in the wood,would have made a nice flatter finish.just saying.just keep on doing what you do best and carry on.be safe 😎😎😎👍👍👍
Thank you, Tom! It was quite flat and even, so I decided to leave it like it was especially since I covered the whole surface with the fabric. Best, Johnny
First restoration seen on youtube without WD 40 😂
Hahahha 😅 Can be!
Now I understand why it's called pinball
Fantastic! I wonder how score was kept?
Thank you! This is what i found.
In antique wooden pinball games, scoring was often tracked manually since these early machines didn’t have the electronic or mechanical counters that later pinball machines introduced. Here are some common methods people used:
1. Score Cards and Markers: Players would use paper score cards and write down their points after each round or when the game ended. A pencil or small chalk might be kept nearby for this purpose.
2. Manual Score Dials or Wheels: Some antique machines had simple dials, wheels, or flip counters attached, which players or an observer would manually adjust to reflect the score after each play.
3. Beads or Counters: In some games, players would use small beads or counters placed in a row or on a pegboard to keep track of points.
4. Verbal Tracking: For very casual games, players would simply keep a mental tally or announce their score as they played, with someone acting as a referee to ensure fair play.
These methods required players to actively participate in scorekeeping, which added a social aspect to the game and often encouraged fair play and honesty.
3:08
that was a well timed cut
made me laugh my ass off
😂🥰
very nice!
Thanks!
Все раздолбал, оставил доску в виде арки. Так можно было бы просто новую сделать)) Это реставрация доски получается?)
Игра принадлежит мне, поэтому я решил сделать ее лучше и долговечнее. Это скорее смесь реставрации и сохранения некоторых деталей, замены того, что нужно было заменить, и некоторых улучшений для эстетики.
Only just got to the paint scraping but I just want to warn everyone thinking of doing restoration themselves, be very very wary of any green paint/fabric/wallpaper etc as a common ingredient to get that colour was arsenic and it can still reactivate years later
Feel like this was just a template for you to rebuild from scratch
Everything was cracked and broke easily, so when I had the chance to rebuild it, I went all in, determined to make it stronger and better than before.
@ loved the build. I might try making it from scratch
If you need anything, just let me know and I will help you!
@ can you give me the dimensions of the playing board
If I see that old green paint, I'd be more worried about arsenic than lead.
Both are highly toxic, but using a paint stripper gel is always a good idea. And of course protection gear.
Kompliment 👍👍👍
Thank you!
People stopped playing them because more complex, electrified, pinball games came out.
Fantastic. I cringed every time your hands came so close to the bandsaw blades. My brothers who were also carpenters had a few of their fingers chopped off. 😮
Uff, I'm sorry for them. I'm working rarely with it and when I do I'm hyper-focusing
Hey this is old video i wached this before.
You are mixing them. There is one more, but made by a colleague and is very different. 🙂
Adding the felt was a big mistake. The plungers will clog with felt threads, and the rough surface interferes with gameplay.
I don't agree with that, but you are free to make your own choices 😀 This kind of felt has been used for such a games since the beginning, like for billiard or snooker too. It will not last forever, but what is so resistant anyway? Painting such games was due to the desire to sell cheap and more, not because the game experience was better.
And that's called pin - ball
The correct term is "pinball" in one word.
💯👍😎💯
😂ホイッ､できあがりました｡🎉‼️
They're big in Japan
I didn't know that. The electronic version?
I wanna play 😁
Because skyrim came out, bro
😅
That wasn't a restoration, that was pretty much a destruction.
Watch till the end Mr. Destruction then go back to the beginning of the video and think once again about your comment. This is how you call an object that has a new life, destroyed? While working with such rotten and cracked old wood, things can snap, but that isn't a problem, it means they must be replaced. Not everything can be saved, but can be replaced and improved. I will just pay thousands to see you doing it, cause I think I'll have a good laugh knowing how you see things like this...
@@rustyshadesrestoration I did. At the end, there was _SOMETHING_ that outwardly resembled the original, but contained hardly any bits of the original. That's not restoration, that's replacement.
@feynthefallen From destruction to replacement it is like from sky to earth.
But good that you realize that.
Let me teach you something more:
Actually, it is still considered a restoration, even if some parts are replaced. Restoration often involves making the item functional. When materials like wood are too deteriorated to repair, replacing them is a common and acceptable practice, especially if the replacement materials match the original in appearance and quality. Many restorers strive to keep as much of the original material as possible, but they may replace parts to ensure the object can be used or displayed as intended.
PS: I also wanted to make it much stronger than before and more durable, that's why I chose to make brass elements and billiard fabric. Yes, you can say it is partially restored and partially improved, but the piece has its original form and it is not destroyed as you mentioned above 😉 I hope it is much more clear for you now. Have a good one!
@@rustyshadesrestoration Well, the original piece, its provenance, it's construction methods, its history, all that IS destroyed. It is not the same piece any more. It may have more entertainment value than it had before, but it lost all its historical value. If you "restore" something and its looks, its construction and most of its materials are different, that's just not restoration. You destroyed the old piece and built something new from the parts. That's just how it is.
That wasn't repurposed, like making a lamp from an old speaker. The game is the same, same shape, and the same look with many original parts, some replaced because was needed and some improved for better aesthetics and playing experience. I don't see any crime in this. Coming back from where this discussion started, I don't think I destroyed anything like you said, just gave a new life and improved it.
One more important fact, this game is for myself. When you pay a restorer, you can ask how you wish to have it. Till then, learn to ask why instead of writing silly comments that make you look like a hater aka a jealous person. And also, make your videos and show us how things should be done if you are so stubborn. Take care!
Lach, da kannste auch gleich ein neues bauen...
Сукно под поршнем плохая идея. Раньше дерево по дереву скользило 😏
Я тоже об этом думал, но просто забыл сделать вырез. Это также одна из причин, по которой я выбрал твердую древесину с очень гладкой поверхностью. Новые пружины тоже пригодятся. Пока все работает хорошо, но, возможно, когда-нибудь мне придется сделать прорези, когда материал износится.
With as many things that you changed, broke, and redid this was a remodel not a restoration.
Yes, waas a remodel, but I enjoyed it. Also my wife and I got in an argument because of it. I said this was what the original pinball games were, and she said she didn't care, this was not what she thought of pinball. I can't win that battle without losing the war.
@@urieaaron No need for a battle. You were both right. This one was 95 years old, and she's familiar with later ones.
Some parts weren't worth saving.
Used centred chuck to drill, hand threads piece to ensure quality and excellence of work. 🤦
You need a centre for drilling a hole, but you don't need more precision than to fit the tap into the hole, so you can do it by hand as well, especially at such a small scale 😉 If you aren't able to be precise it doesn't mean that others are the same.
Go try and you will see that works perfectly if you don't have Parkinson or smtg.
@@rustyshadesrestorationno just seems silly to use the tail chuck to hold the drill but not the tap spinning the work piece so your piece is accurate.
By hand, you can have better control on such a tiny tap and feel the pressure so you won't break it.
Ya, the restored one is nicest.
Glad you like it
Nice restoration. I would have used nicer pins and numbering myself. The outer band I would have replaced with a new chrome one. Not paint it red. But still very nice work.
Thank you! The chrome could work well too.
Жоска