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Pinball art is an interesting part of the American heritage. Despite the fact that there have been several foreign manufacturers over the years, the fact remains that the original designs for almost every innovation in pinball has come from this country.

The back box and its art work was intended to serve as a direct advertisement for the game, an invitation to pit your skill against the machine. Later as automatic scoring was added the backglasses got larger and more intricate.

Eventually the backglass was to stand out as impressive art on its own, and backglasses are now collected much as any other type of pop art. They afford a tantalizing glimpse into history. These are all games I have worked on at one time or another.


WORLD'S FAIR JIG SAW - Rock-Ola - 1933

One of the more complicated games of the early period, this game had no lamps or solenoids. All scoring was accomplished through springs and weights. Balls fell through holes in playfield, tripping releases which would allow selected pieces of the central jigsaw puzzle to flip, displaying part of picture (1933 Chicago World's Fair), and score for that piece. After shooting all the balls, player had to add up the values of the revealed pieces to determine final score. Originally 17 balls for a penny, the game sold new for $38. I have a customer with one of these in mint condition. (He doesn't want to sell it.)


HI-DIVER - Gottlieb - 1959

Featured an animated backglass with divers rotating on a disk behind the glass. Gottlieb was well known for their many backglass animation units.


DARTS - Williams - 1960

First Williams pingame to use metal cabinet trim, it had splayed, tapered, tubular legs similar to "modern" furniture of the period, a cigarette and drink shelf, and dual sloping "fins". This cabinet design was not well received and Williams returned to a more traditionally designed cabinet within the year. I once saw 3 of these lined up side by side in a dealer's showroom in the late 80's, and he wanted a pretty penny for them, too.


FIREBALL - Bally - 1972

A fine game, said by some to be the finest ever made, certainly years ahead of its time. Game features include: four player, elevated area at top arch, multiple ball play, messenger ball, three thumper bumpers, zipper flippers, whirlwind spinner. I have worked on four of these. Very well made, complexity of game play rivals many modern games.


TRAVEL TIME - Williams - 1973

This one-player game works on a time basis. Multiple stand-up targets light "Travel" or "Time" specials to award 25 extra seconds when ball lands in kick-out between flippers. When both specials are lit kick-out awards 50 seconds extra. Also has eject hole and 3 jet bumpers. I once painted a backglass (on plexiglass) for one of these, the original was broken by a pool ball (a major cause of broken backglasses).


AIR ACES - Bally - 1975

I have two customers with this one. A colorful and attractive game. Features include: four player, two eject holes and two thumper bumpers in top arch area, row of 9 drop targets in center playfield, two pair of flippers.


SOCCER - Gottlieb - 1975

Two player game has "soccer" ball animation unit behind backglass to count and score bonus. Other features: 3 pop bumpers, 2 eject holes, 2 spinners. I have worked on this particular game 3 times, each time 7 years apart.


STAMPEDE - Stern - 1977

Two player game, western motif. One of Stern's last electro-mechanical games. Notice the "chesty" cowgirl. At the first arcade I worked at, one of my helpers thought that a flashing bulb behind a "prominent" spot on the cowgirl would be interesting. Unfortunately, management was not amused.


TWO BOOKS that I find very interesting and useful.

(L) PINBALL PORTFOLIO - by Harry McKeown, Chartwell books, 1976. Lots of large photos, most in color, good sections on history, how to play.
(R) PINBALL - by Gary Flower and Bill Kurtz, Chartwell books, 1988. Lots of photos, most in color, good history section, different coverage than the other book, plus has many newer games. Has section listing all pin games made between 1939 and 1988, by manufacturer, year, and number of players.




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Last update May 5, 2001

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