Pinball machine collector David Silverman brought nine of his games to the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC on Halloween Day 2009 to promote his planned National Pinball Museum. Smithsonian visitors could play Silverman's games before and after his 90-minute lecture about pinball history and art.

Pinball Origins

Silverman began his lecture by tracing the origins of pinball from a the Château de Bagatelle in Paris, France to a drugstore in Youngstown, Ohio. These early games introduced the fundamental elements of pinball:

• Bagatelle: 1777, balls rolling down a gently sloped playfield, bouncing off pins into scoring pockets.
• Redgrave Parlor Bagatelle: 1871, spring powered ball shooter.
• Log Cabin: 1901, coin operation and glass top.
• Whiffle and Whoopee Game: 1931, ball recirculation and ball lifter.

In early 1931, Whiffle and Whoopee Game offered a glass topped wooden cabinet containing a gently sloped playfield studded with pins and scoring pockets, with a ball recirculation scheme. A player inserted a coin into slide to start a new game. The pinball industry was born.

Although these games displayed finely crafted woodwork, their playfields were devoid of any decoration save score values. Whiffle had a plain wooden playfield. The Whoopee Game playfield was painted a solid color.

According to Silverman, these early games lacked one characteristic common to all the pinball games that followed: art.

Art Comes To Pinball

For his Baffle Ball game in late 1931, David Gottlieb took the Whoopee Game design, scaled it down to countertop size, and added lots of color. The solid green playfield now featured a golden diamond-shaped outline that highlighted the diamond arrangement of the aluminum scoring pockets and vaguely suggested a baseball diamond. The scoring pockets were painted in different metallic colors to add visual and scoring interest—two balls in the same color pocket doubled their scores.

When Gottlieb could not keep up with demand, Baffle Ball salesman Ray Maloney began producing his own game, Ballyhoo, named for Ballyhoo magazine. A brightly colored harlequin pattern enhanced a simple Whiffle-like playfield of pins and holes. The Ballyhoo playfield color scheme came from the cover of Ballyhoo magazine's December 1931 edition.

Ballyhoo flyers asked, "What'll they do through '32?" and answered, "Play BALLYHOO." The flyer also emphasized the playfield artwork, "A dazzlingly attractive playing board done in a riot of beckoning colors." Maloney's Bally Manufacturing Company sold 75,000 units.

Silverman showed us more early examples of pinball art on playfields and backglasses. Then he introduced us to the pinball artists.

Silverman devoted most of his lecture to the two artists employed by Advertising Posters of Chicago, the leading producer of playfields and backglasses.

Roy Parker

Silverman's favorite artist, Roy Parker, created the art for Gottlieb games released from 1936 to 1966. Silverman presented photos and close up details from 20 Parker games while he explained many of Parker's techniques.

One common Parker trick was to vary the perspective in different areas of a backglass or playfield. He created different scenes within the larger composition, often with graphic elements leading the player's eye toward a central focal point. In his 1963 Square Head, for example, the E-Z Destruction Co. sign leads the eye toward a buxom blonde in the foreground.

By the end of World War II, Parker had developed a distinctive style combining pinup style women with comic details surrounding them. Some of his artwork displayed what I call fractal humor: three or more levels of amusing detail, each drawing potential players closer to the game.

Compare Parker's 1940 The Champ with his 1950 Knock Out. The backglasses of both boxing themed games depict a boxing ring with a referee lifting the victor's arm while the loser lays exhausted on the mat. In both backgrounds, masses of color silhouette the crowds with little detail—a common Parker technique. In the postwar Knock Out, Parker adds a second level of detail with his signature foreground elements: a pinup cigarette girl and a dozen comic vignettes of audience members fighting each other. The costumes and props of the battling mob provide a third level of detail.

George Molentin

George Molentin, Parker's boss at Advertising Posters, created the art for Williams games released from 1947 to 1967. Silverman illustrated Molentin's approach with photos and details from 10 Molentin games.

Silverman admired Molentin's rendering of the beautiful women that graced most of backglasses. Molentin created women wearing theme-related fashions, often long, flowing gowns. Molentin added makeup, coifed hair, and hats to complete their outfits in the style of a fashion illustration.

Molentin's beauties are the largest elements in the foreground. Molentin's 1948 Saratoga devotes the lower third of the backglass to three women dressed in c. 1915 finery. Saratoga Springs' enormous Grand Union Hotel establishes the scene in the distant background beyond a wide street and a large lawn.

Silverman showed us dozens of Molentin's costumed cuties. Cowgirls relax in their fringed buckskins and western wear in his 1954 Spitfire. Flight attendants wear skimpy spaceport uniforms in his 1954 Skyway. A voluptuous Alice reveals her petticoats as she lies near the rabbit hole in his 1955 Wonderland.

For Williams' 1953 Nine Sisters, Molentin illustrated only the heads and shoulders of nine women. Players could spot three blondes, three redheads, or three brunettes to light Special rollovers. This innovative game provided seven score reels (the rightmost four were dummies) and a spiral ramp.

New Generations of Artists

Silverman continued his lecture with a discussions of the new artists who replaced Parker and Molentin during a period of radical changes in popular art.

Jerry Kelly's 1966 A-Go-Go for Williams and Christian Marche's 1969 Op-Pop-Pop for Bally exemplified the angular art style on Williams and Bally games from the late 1960s. Semi-abstract figures were composed of overlapping triangles and other geometric shapes, which also formed parts of the backgrounds.

Gottlieb games continued with a more cartoony style, but Gordon Morison's artwork in the 1970s added psychedelic elements. Many of Morrison's backglasses featured repeated objects swirling off into the distance: cards, skydivers, swimmers, etc. Others, such as his 1975 El Dorado, featured strong circular composition around a central image.

Bally discovered Dave Christensen in its own technical documentation department. Christensen illustrated several of Bally's iconic games from the 1970s: 1972 Fireball, 1975 Wizard!, and 1976Capt. Fantastic. Christensen's art was known for bodacious babes, belt buckles, and some outrageous details that forced some backglasses to be revised.

Silverman also gave examples of the many talented artists from the solid state era of pinball machines.

Art Inspired by Pinball Machines

Silverman presented two examples of art inspired by pinball machines.

Artist Charles Bell painted photorealistic close-ups of pinballs zooming across playfields. Bell's work captures the light, shadows, and reflections seen in a pinball machine.

Artist William T. Wiley redesigned all the artistic elements of Gottlieb's 1964 North Star: backglass, playfield, and cabinet. Wiley's 2008 Punball: Only One Earth spoofs our failure to address global warming. (The original North Star featured polar bears and crooning Eskimos.) Wiley's pinball machine was on display upstairs in the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

National Pinball Museum

Silverman concluded his lecture with his vision for a National Pinball Museum. Silverman envisions a museum where visitors can see and play the more than 800 pinball machines he has collected. Silverman has space to setup only about 50 games in his backyard pinball storehouse.

The National Pinball Museum would feature a gift shop, pinball themed food service, and a lecture hall. Silverman wants to offer vocational training to interest young people in woodwork, electronics, and other pinball related trade skills.

Silverman is seeking a suitable site and is accepting contributions. See the National Pinball Museum web site for more information: http://nationalpinballmuseum.org/

Pinball at the Smithsonian American Art Museum

After the lecture, the crowd returned to play pinball in the atrium in the center of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Nine games from Silverman's collection were setup for free play. The lecture audience played with a new appreciation for the history of pinball and the artwork that adorned the games.

The photos below show most of the games.