This week Norman Sas passed away at age 87. Sas was not a household name by any stretch, but his improvement on a simple tabletop game changed American households for years to come. Sas was the inventor of electric football.
According to a New York Times obituary, the invention grew out of a technology developed a decade earlier. In the 1930s, an employee at a New York metal products company run by Elmer Sas (Norman’s father) created a device that propelled figures across a metal surface using vibrations created by a small motor. Sas’ company, Tudor Metal Products, first used the technology for car and horse racing games. After World War II, Norman Sas along with a partner, purchased the company from the elder Sas. The younger Sas applied the technology to football, which had become increasingly popular due in part to nascent television broadcasts of the game. According to the Miggle Company website (the successor to Tudor), “Electric Football was an immediate hit, captivating boys’ imaginations like few toys ever had. Tudor did so well with the game that by the mid-50’s another company, Gotham Pressed Steel, sauntered up to the scrimmage line. Over the coming years, some of Electric Football’s greatest innovations would come out of the competition between the two companies. Tudor produced the first all-plastic 3-D men in 1958, including a running back that carried the ball in his arm. In the early 60’s, Gotham became an NFL licensee and produced the first NFL endorsed Electric Football game.”
Long before the most primitive video games were developed, the game’s unmistakable buzz resonated from dens and living rooms across the country. For those unfortunate enough to have never witnessed the game in person, the clatter was not unlike the movie sound effect of a person being electrocuted. Imagine putting a pair of running electric hair clippers down on a sheet of tin.
Then there was the game play itself. There were rows of brightly painted figures, often representing teams from real life. Before each play, they would be carefully aligned along the line of scrimmage. One of the players held the ball —- usually made of foam or felt. Then a switch was flipped and the play began. Over the next few seconds a mixture of excited chaos unfolded. Doing what little weighted figures vibrating on a metal sheet invariably do, they careened erratically across the field. The resultant action didn’t so much resemble football as drug-fueled ice skating. The role of imagination was clearly central to the enterprise.
Of course, with boys being boys, such iconic pastimes don’t die easily. Yes, the current incarnation of Madden NFL may look pretty real, but electric football had a visceral quality unassailable by mere pixels and controllers. Proof of that contention is found in the existence of the Miniature Football Coaches Association (www.miniaturefootball.org ). The organizational mission statement reads, “Assisting the miniature football hobbyist by promoting miniature football, educating the public and providing an association which recognizes and supports the diverse coaches and leagues.” With tips on painting and customization of players, field construction and performance strategies, it’s as thoroughly studied an undertaking as any other hobby. The website boasts photos of highly customized players, striking dynamic action poses, expertly painted with little smudges of mud on their uniforms.
Before you ask, yes, there’s a convention. Of course there’s a convention. This year it’s being held in Cleveland. Perhaps more importantly, there’s a tournament and a championship ring. Again, how could there not be?
While the bone-rattling buzz of electric football may now be largely a relegate of a bygone era, it’s good to know a few of those big kids just can’t get the hum out of their heads. Fourth down and inches…