What will strike you most when approaching Marty’s Playland are the old familiar sounds from back in the day—the rumble-rumble-ka-thunk of skee-ball, the thwick-ding-ding of classic pinball, the spooky monotone of The Fortune Teller, and the pop-clack-THWACK-clack of an air hockey game.
We are talking here about a veritable symphony of old-school childhood fun.
There are quite a few fun arcades in Ocean City, but Marty’s takes pride in being the most nostalgic of the bunch. In fact, the arcade geeks at Topless Robot recently ranked Marty’s #4 on a list of the top ten vintage arcades in the whole country.
Step inside and it’s easy to see why. The Crane Digger machines here date to the 1940s. Those well-worn skee-ball ramps are vintage 1970s (and the photo here shows me, preparing to defeat my wife in a grudge match). On top of the classic old pinball machines, you’ll find Love Testers, Pokereno, and, of course, Pac-Man. (Not to worry, 21st century arcade fans, there are more modern machines as well.)
Marty’s got its start somewhere around 1940. Founders Marty and Anna Mitnick passed it on to a son-in-law, Sam Gaffin. Today it’s owned by Trimper Rides of Ocean City. a company that dates its history to the 1890s.
You’ll find Marty’s on the boardwalk at Worcester Street. Here is the arcade’s website.
–Written by Jim Duffy
NOTE: The photo here of me getting ready to slaughter my wife in a game of skee-ball was taken by Jill Jasuta Photography.
I know that it may not be much and I know that this article is old but can you please update who owns Marty’s Playland as Trimper Amusements and Trimper Rides of Ocean City are two very different companies. Trimper Rides of Ocean City is and has been the owner of Playland since 1990.
Thank you so much for this correction, Isadora Richardson! I just updated the post, thanks to you.