An application for a U.S. patent was filed 
 in December 1927 by James M. Prentice 
 of Holyoke, Massachusetts.  Prentice 
 was 17 years old. 
       The patent, for "Electric Baseball," 
 was granted less than a year later, and 
 Jim Prentice Electric Baseball, under 
 a variety of titles and in a variety of forms, 
 would go on to a production run of more 
 than thirty years. 


 Despite the enduring popularity of the 
 fondly-remembered Prentice games, their 
 more than two dozen variations and their 
 chronology are poorly documented, and 
 Prentice himself (1910-2005) seems a 
 mysterious figure to most, little known 
 beyond his name.  We're attempting to 
 correct just a little of that in this photo-
 essay, sorting through the variations 
 of the games with the corroborating 
 evidence of period advertisements, with 
 our own guesswork based on similarities 
 in box and gameboard graphics, and on 
 newspaper articles, the search for which 
 had us pestering librarians from Buffalo 
 to Boston.  Additional information and 
 corrections are welcomed.  

 Prentice initially sold, or at least licensed, the rights 
 to his invention to Parker Brothers, the game-publishing 
 giant of nearby Salem -- probably to help fund his 
 college tuition at the University of New Hampshire, 
 whence he graduated with a degree in mathematics. 
       Parkers produced Electric Base Ball Game (above), 
 arguably the first electrical boardgame ever, in the 
 very early 1930s.  

  Some collectors or vendors assume "Jim Prentice Electric Baseball" 
  is a "player-endorsed" game, that Prentice was a pro ballplayer.  
  Far from it.  In a March 2000 article about Prentice in the Springfield 
  Union-News, Prentice's lifelong friend Harry Craven recalled their 
  boyhood.  "When I was playing baseball, Jimmy was working on his 
  games."  
        Prentice returned to Holyoke after college, but his education 
  got him only a 14-dollar-a-week job as an office boy.  But with the 
  enormous aid of his uncle Arthur Dougherty -- $3,000. in start-up 
  money, in the depths of the Great Depression -- the ever-enterprising 
  young Prentice regained control of his patent by the mid-1930s and 
  set himself up in business as The Electric Game Company.  
        Prentice is seen at right in a photo from around 1995. 

  One of the first products of The Electric 
  Game Company -- perhaps the very first, 
  and among the simplest of all Prentice 
  baseball games -- was Electric Base Ball 
  "version D02" (above), featuring the 
  "Electric Bat."  Prentice evidently got 
  rights to Parker Brothers' graphics 
  as well.  He told the Union-News that in 
  his first year of production, he sold about 
  a hundred games at five dollars each. 

 Very similar to both the D02 and the Parker 
 Brothers game, another of the earliest varieties 
 of Electric Base Ball was "version DD24" (above), 
 also featuring the "Electric Bat."  The "D" and "DD" 
 clearly denoted editions using a single D battery 
 and two D batteries -- perhaps the last obvious 
 indicia in a long list of cryptic Prentice codes.  
       The games were personally assembled by 
 Prentice and a few assistants.  "They all got 35 
 cents an hour," said Prentice, "including me." 

  Prentice saved a little money by providing box lids but 
  no box bottoms for his games, leaving many vendors of 
  second-hand games today thinking one part's missing.  
        Adding to some latter-day confusion, Electric Game Co.    
  box lids and gameboards do not always match up.  Prentice 
  was not one to waste a nickel, so it's very likely that 
  old inventory was used until it was exhausted, and only at 
  that point would new and redesigned box lids be printed.  
        The lid most often associated with the earliest 1930s 
  versions of Electric Base Ball is at left.  Two words on 
  the gameboard, "Baseball" is one word here on the box. 
  The source of the illustration remains unknown. 

  Slightly later editions of the lid added the phrase 
  "Big League" above "Electric Baseball," and are 
  in fact usually seen covering Big League Electric 
  Baseball Model B-4 (right), which was produced 
  from about 1938 through 1941.  Prentice's 
  All-American Electric Football and Collegiate 
  Electric Basketball also debuted by 1938. 

    Like the earliest versions, the B-4 measures 
    about 16x14" -- the standard dimensions of all 
    Prentice Electric Baseball games until the 
    Super De Luxe editions of the early 1950s. 

  A third edition of the red box replaces "Big League" 
  with "Jim Prentice."  Likewise the gameboard at right, 
  a subtle and very scarce variation of the previous 
  game.  Jim Prentice Electric Baseball, probably from 
  about 1940, sports a version of the cover illustration 
  on the gameboard itself. 

 The illo occupies space previously used for metal score/count 
 indicators, suggesting that this might be a wartime edition 
 when metal was more urgently needed for the Allied effort.  

    The legend added to this fourth red box variation reads 
    "This Game Operates Electrically Or Mechanically."  In 
    fact, Jim Prentice Electric Baseball Dual Control Model 
    (right) is a little lighter on the bulbs and wiring and 
    the need for batteries, suggesting this too is perhaps 
    not just post-1940 but a wartime product. 

  Jim Prentice Electric Baseball Dual Control 
  Model, "three knob" version with batter illo 

  Above, a slightly simpler version of 
  Jim Prentice Electric Baseball 
  Dual Control Model (two knobs, no illo).  

  Prentice, apparently, later licensed 
  his patent to a company called 
  Mastercraft, which produced it 
  as Prolectric Baseball in 1951. 

  Here, two more 1940s variations of Jim Prentice 
  Electric Baseball -- both the example at right, and 
  Model E120 above, dating to 1947, as substantiated 
  by period advertising.  Prentice had begun running 
  advertisements in comic books, and it was during this 
  immediate post-War era that the games attained their 
  greatest popularity.  "The comics really pulled well," 
  Prentice noted in that Union-News article.  

 As his company prospered, Prentice expanded 
 his manufacturing staff and added what would 
 become a nationwide team of sales reps, while 
 Prentice himself became something of a mover 
 and shaker on the Holyoke business and social 
 scene.  

  Above, the famous "alligator-finish" white box, the somewhat antique 
  look of which leads many to assume that the associated games are 
  early 1930s vintage.  The cartoon of the swinging batter is in fact based 
  on an early-'30s painting by noted illustrator J. F. Kernan -- the image 
  used in this website's logo -- but this box lid is almost always seen with 
  Models E120, 68-B, 48-B, and 63-B, all verifiably from the late 1940s.  

 
   Jim Prentice Electric Baseball Model 68-B  
  -- a subtle variation on the hugely popular 
  48-B.  Both were a departure from previous 
  Prentice designs, not only in their livelier, 
  more colorful graphics, but in that both 
  were more "action games" than the earlier 
  electrical battles of wits.  

  Instantly recognizable to game collectors is Jim Prentice 
  Electric Baseball Model 48-B -- easily the most popular 
  and successful number in the Electric Game Company 
  line, if its availability today on the second-hand market 
  is any indication.  Time the steel ball running down the 
  channel -- hit a home run!  If the "48" designation signifies 
  1948 -- and this is a late '40s model -- it's probably 
  the only model number linked to a year of production. 

  Advertisements can pin down some models to a specific 
  year, but putting a date to many others is a matter of 
  guesswork based on typography, graphics, and the 
  associated box lids.  Model 63-B (above) seems to be 
  a transitional effort between the 48-B and 68-B of the 
  late '40s and the 42-B and 73-B of the early '50s.  
  It also sports an early version, seen at lower right, 
  of the logo that would reappear from about 1949 on. 

  The curiosity at left, sporting both 1947 and 1949 
  copyrights, is Electro-Vision Baseball, made by 
  Tracies, Inc.  Tracies, Inc., of Holyoke.  Holyoke, 
  home of Prentice and The Electric Game Company.  
  The modest electrical element involved in its gameplay 
  is quite different and much simpler than that of any 
  Prentice game, but it does use the exact same cover 
  image of the swinging batter as that on the Electric 
  Game Company white-box editions of those same 
  years.  Just what the arrangement was with Prentice, 
  we can only guess, but this was not a one-off -- 
  Tracies also produced Electro-Vision Football 
  and several other games.  

  With the Electric Game Company at its peak, 
  Prentice introduced a more upscale series of 
  games -- larger, more elaborate, more expensive.  
  The 1949 advert (above) describes two editions 
  of Super De Luxe Electric Baseball.  Although 
  the illo seems photographic, it may be more 
  of an "artist's conception," as we've never seen 
  an example of this precise model.  

  Presumably also from about 1949, though, 
  is the version of Super De Luxe Electric 
  Baseball shown above -- Model 102, 
  22.25x14.25", and nearly 4" deep.  It says 
  "Super De Luxe," but maybe this is just 
  the "Varsity Model" mentioned at left, 
  and what's pictured there is actually the 
  Super De Luxe "De Luxe."  Lotsa luxe! 

 Jim Prentice Electric Baseball - advert, 1952 

 
  The 1952 advertisement at left throws 
  something of a monkey wrench into our 
  attempt at a chronology.  The image again 
  looks photographic, but again we've never 
  seen an example of the exact model 
  depicted -- the graphics and typography 
  of which strongly resemble those of the 
  circa 1940-47 models, which Prentice 
  seems to have moved beyond by the early 
  '50s.  Perhaps he kept several varieties of 
  Electric Baseball in production, or at 
  least in stock, longer than we thought.  
  Or perhaps the illustration is again an 
  artist's concept, or an old-stock bit of 
  artwork.  Or maybe we really just don't 
  know what we're talking about.  
        We do know, however, that by the 
  early 1950s The Electric Game Company 
  was turning out not just baseball, football, 
  and basketball games, but also Electric 
  Hockey, Electric Bowling, Electric TV 
  Quiz, Electric Put-N-Take, Electric 
  Fire Fighters, Electric Bunny Run, 
  and more -- all Prentice designs. 

    The box lid for Jim Prentice Electric Baseball 
    Senior Model 66-B has a particularly antique feel -- 
    and its graphics a decidedly amateurish look, which 
    very much appears to be the work of the same hand 
    that produced the cover art for The Electric Game 
    Company's 1945 non-electric Whiz Baseball. 

  The gameboard of Senior Model 66-B, 
  however, looks much more in the style 
  of later, 1950s, Prentice games, so 
  we'd put this as circa 1950. 

  The graphics of the box lid for Jim Prentice Electric Baseball 
  Model 42-B mix the jaunty font seen on Model 63-B with the 
  blocky font from the box for Senior Model 66-B, so this is 
  probably circa 1950 as well.  The pitcher will reappear on 
  the boxes for the "Motor Action" models later in the '50s. 

 The 42-B is an unusual "low-tech" 
 version, featuring a cardboard 
 gameboard rather than the usual 
 masonite type of material, not 
 to mention a box bottom, too.  

  The same artist responsible for the 42-B box 
  seems to show their hand on this redesign, 
  used for the 73-B models (right and below).  
  Prentice redesigned the game yet again, too, 
  of course, introducing a series of slightly larger 
  (18.5x14"), horizontally-oriented gameboards.  

  Above, Jim Prentice Electric Baseball Model 73-B, one of four similar 
  editions produced in and around 1953.  This example provides 
  no "storage" holes for the baserunner pegs. 

      Jim Prentice Electric Baseball Model 73-B - variation with peg storage 

                        Jim Prentice Electric Baseball Model 73BN 

  Although -- apologies -- the evidence is not much better than 
  that of a blurry photo of a passing UFO, this variation of 
  Model 73BN appears to use only an electrical cord rather 
  than batteries.  The accompanying shipping box labels it 
  "No. 70 Deluxe." 

 Jim Prentice Electric Baseball 5 Star ***** Model 509 -- clearly related to the 
 73-B and 73BN models, but with even more bells and whistles and blinkenlights, 
 and using a 500-series code associated with the later "Motor Action" games. 

    This heavier corrugated white box, probably more often used for shipping 
    mail-order games, is associated with models 73-B, 73BN, and 509 (above).  

 Another sturdy corrugated box contained the scarce 
 Jim Prentice Electric Baseball Model 79B.  The box 
 is at least a trifle wider than the previous example, 
 but whether it's indeed yellow, or actually white but 
 merely lit here to appear yellow, we don't know. 

 Although a more recent number, Jim Prentice 
 Electric Baseball Model 79B is a tough find today. 

 
  The corrugated white box is stretched even wider 
  to accommodate the scarce version of Jim Prentice 
  Electric Baseball shown at right.  We haven't been 
  hands-on with this variation, so we're uncertain of the 
  model number, three characters beginning with "10." 

  The pitcher from Model 42-B makes a comeback on 
  the corrugated shipping box for Electric Motor 
  Baseball Model M-100, probably mid-to-late 1950s.  

         Electric Motor Baseball Model M-100 

    The 42-B pitcher kicks for one last delivery, 
    here on the store-model box for Jim Prentice 
    Electric Motor Action Baseball Model 514, 
    probably late 1950s, possibly circa 1960.  The 
    box aprons also call this "Dual Control Model." 

  Jim Prentice Electric Motor Action 
  Baseball Model 514 

  The 17x12" gameboard of Jim Prentice Electric 
  Baseball Model 504 is very similar to that of 
  models 514 and 505 and the earlier M-100, but 
  the box graphics have a new look with more of 
  an early '60s feel.  There's a resemblance 
  to the artwork in Ed-U-Cards' 1957 Baseball 
  Card Game, but the identity of the artist 
  or artists is unknown.  

  Jim Prentice Electric Baseball 
  Model 504 - circa 1960 

 
  The more modern graphics of the store box for 
  Model 504 are seen again (above) on the corrugated 
  shipping box for Model 505 (right), very likely 
  also a late-'50s, early '60s item.  It's almost 
  certainly this 500 series that, unfortunately, 
  marked the final innings for Electric Baseball. 

 Jim Prentice Electric Baseball Model 505 

 Some newspaper accounts tell that Prentice had sold 
 the company and retired from the game and toy business 
 before 1960, but there's clear evidence that Prentice, 
 the Electric Game Company, and its nationwide sales 
 force were all going strong at the 1961 New York Toy Fair, 
 even introducing their new Electric Speedway auto-race 
 game while still hawking the rest of their line of games.  
 Prentice did sell the business at some point in the 1960s 
 -- but it's uncertain whether Jim's LectraMatic Baseball 
 by "Jim's LectraMatic Games," roughly similar to the late 
 1940s' "Super De Luxe" models, and sporting typical 
 Prentice pennant motifs as well as carrying some Jim's 
 name, was the product of an entirely different outfit or a 
 final swing by Prentice with his own company renamed.  

  Jim's LectraMatic Baseball 
  Model 2000 -- 
  Jim's LectraMatic Games, 1960s 

  Jim Prentice Electric Baseball 
  Model BB-150 

 
 
  But wait!  There are still a couple 
  more items of interest for Electric 
  Game Company completists. 

  Prentice's electrical baseball games 
  were not limited to the boardgame 
  format.  At left is Model BB-150, 
  a baseball-themed pinball game 
  measuring about 25x15x11", and 
  above, the backglass with an 
  alternate yellow frame.  The only 
  clue we have as to its date of 
  production is the presence of 
  the Electric Game Company logo 
  that first appeared around 1949 
  and remained through the 1950s. 

  And there was also this non-electric entry, from 1945 -- 
  Whiz Baseball.  The artwork and yellow box are rather 
  reminiscent of that for Senior Model 66-B.  We await the 
  umpire's signal, but we suspect that awkward-looking 
  delivery may constitute a balk.  
        The red bits seen on the gameboard at right are 
  not lightbulbs, but wooden pegs.  A small top placed on 
  the inclined lower sixth of the board was spun with the 
  fingers, and the pegs it knocked over and the holes in 
  which it landed determined the result of each play -- 
  similar to Milton Bradley's much smaller 1957 version 
  of Swat Baseball. 

 Whiz Baseball Model W200, 1945 
 -- approximately 19.5x11.5" 

  Many years of research -- well, okay, a few minutes of research here and there 
  over the course of many years -- have not solved many a mystery surrounding 
  Jim Prentice and Electric Baseball.  Our chronology of the games is still only 
  a working theory.  And our list of Electric Baseball models is still probably 
  incomplete -- we have a report of a Model 88-B, a game for which we have yet 
  to see any other evidence, and illustrated advertisements hint at the existence 
  of other uncatalogued models.  We can state that no matter how radical the 
  redesign, the same original 1928 patent number, 1694721, is the only one ever 
  used on any model of Electric Baseball, including the 1951 MasterCraft game, 
  and that game parts and adverts show at least ten different Holyoke addresses   
  for the Electric Game Company -- eight different just from 1947 to 1953. 

  And what of the man himself?  It's tough to suss Prentice when so little has actually 
  been written about him, leaving us to scour for factoids and to read between the lines, 
  a risky prospect when all the available articles were written very late in Prentice's 
  long life, several of those pieces read like amateur items in your local Pennysaver, 
  and most of them clearly struggle badly to find a happy spin to put on Prentice's life 
  and career.  We'd like to picture Prentice as the stereotype of the kindly inventor -- 
  modest, cerebral, quietly good-humored.  A bit of that comes through in one solid 
  1996 profile by Bill Stephens of the Union-News -- "I was born an inventor," Prentice 
  told him, "but that doesn't mean you're real good, you know."  
        On the other hand, Prentice admits to being a harsh boss, claiming to have fired 
  14 of every 15 employees he hired.  And he sounds petty in his snide ridicule of the 
  much more successful Tudor Tru-Action Electric Football.  Then again, while almost 
  every one of the articles notes how sharp Prentice is at his age, he forgets that he 
  produced about half a dozen electric football games of his own, and when confronted 
  with an edition of Electric Baseball, Prentice says "To be honest, I can't even tell you 
  exactly how this works now." 
        He may have had an excuse for forgetfulness, but if indeed Prentice was bitter, 
  there seems little reason for it.  His 1940 marriage lasted 55 years and produced 
  some number of daughters.  An active Rotarian, he also served as president of the 
  Holyoke Boys' Club.  He served as president of the Toy Manufacturers Association.  
  He appears to have engaged in a long-running scientific correspondence with the 
  engineering department at UC Berkeley.  In 1993, in recognition of his lifelong 
  contributions to gaming, he was presented with the Abbot Award by the American 
  Game Collectors Association, now the AGPC.   
        One personal disappointment for Prentice may have been that his creation of 
  the "Batting Worth Average," a clutch-hitter rating that long prefigured the works of 
  Bill James, did not grab the interest of fans or MLB.  He did remain active almost 
  to the end, however.  He started the Durmatic Company -- renamed PrenCo in 1980 
  -- successfully manufacturing disposable bibs for use with toddlers and geriatric 
  patients, and ran that into the late 1990s.  As the 20th century neared its close, 
  he ventured into successful production of a redesigned golf tee and toyed with 
  other inventions like an electrical flyswatter.  Alas, for Prentice, the batteries 
  finally ran out, so to speak, in January 2005. 

 
 Prentice is seen above 
 in a photo from around 
 1995. 
       Once again, we 
 welcome any additions 
 and corrections to 
 the material in this 
 photo-essay.  If you 
 have solid information 
 regarding Electric 
 Baseball or Prentice, 
 please help bring us 
 up to speed at the 
 Baseball Games 
 Forum!