Elvis Once Owned This Pinball Machine - Now You Can Too!

Pinball

Words by

Colin Alsheimer

Photos by

Graphics by

Published on

July 31, 2023

Updated on

July 31, 2023

Read time:

minutes

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This comes to us from a hot tip by reader Mitch Curtis of Pinball Over Boston. And we'll get this out of the way now - buyer beware! We cannot verify the legitimacy of this listing, but the story certainly sounds interesting. Also there's a handwritten letter explaining all of it (which could never be faked ever). If you could verify the authenticity it'd be a heck of a collectors item.

Just two days ago an old pinball machine was quietly listed on Facebook Marketplace in scenic Brockton, Massachusetts. The game is a bit of a rarity on its own, a 1948 copy of Banjo by pinball manufacturer Exhibit Supply Co., a pinball manufacturer that didn't even make it out of the 1950s. Which could be cool enough by itself, but supposedly this particular game was once owned by The King himself, Elvis Presley, in the 1950s.

The game found its way to Massachusetts through the ownership of one Tempest Storm, the so-called "Queen of Exotic Dancers".

The game, as you'll see in the photos below, needs a lot of love! As the story goes, Tempest owned the game but rarely maintained it (or played it) which means that it's very likely the last person to nudge on this table was the Pelvis of Elvis.

The Seller's Story

This pinball machine was owned and used by Elvis Presley in his personal CA home up until the late 1950's. This comes directly from the estate of Tempest Storm, the nation's Queen Of Burlesque! She tells the story of how Elvis gave her this pinball machine in her book, "The Lady Is A Vamp".

Feel free to research their relationship yourself. She dated Elvis, and they were quite smitten with each other, but Elvis' manager (the colonel) forced them to break up as, in his words, "it's not good business to be seen dating a stripper".

This machine is completely original, but is also very worn, and would require a full restoration. Includes the original legs, they're just not pictured here. Additionally I am told by a pinball expert that this Banjo Machine is extremely rare and exists in addition to the only other 2 that are known to exist.Tempest kept it in her own collection but rarely used it, and therefore, didn't maintain it. The only person to ever use this was Elvis himself. Tempest passed away 2 years ago, but if interested I will send you provenance proving authenticity, including a handwritten and signed letter from her covering the above (which she wrote prior to her passing)

Additionally, etched into the side of the machine are three names, which are neither from Tempest nor us. These names must belong to Elvis and his posse, as Tempest states that Elvis and three of his buddies hand delivered this to her at her home in Southern California. See last photo for Elvis and Tempest together during their relationship.