1948 · Gottlieb
Barnacle Bill
Bright blue open sea with fishing trawlers and a paddle steamer, rocky island with a red-and-white striped lighthouse casting two yellow light beams, black night clouds with a yellow searchlight beam, grey stone wall of a lighthouse keeper's lodging and wooden deck with ship's wheel, table, sewing machine and mugs.
- Year
- 1948
- Maker
- Gottlieb
- Type
- Electro-mechanical
- Display
- Backglass lights
- Players
- 1
Made by
- Design
- Harry Mabs
- Art
- Roy Parker
Vision analysis
On the backglass
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Backglass
- red
- blue
- yellow
- white
Fingerprint: BARNACLE BILL in cream block capitals on red horizontal band, barefoot bearded sailor in red-and-white striped shirt hooking pewter mug onto brass handle on large yellow door center, two hotel-keepers peering from windows above, two-row ribbon of colored score panels across top with values from 1 Million to 100,000, seascape with lighthouse on left
The most memorable element is the huge yellow door in the centre with a barefoot, bearded sailor in a red-striped shirt hooking a pewter mug onto its brass handle, while two hotel-keepers peer out of windows above him. Second is the two-row ribbon of coloured score panels across the top, each a different background colour (red, white, white, green, yellow, yellow, white, white, white, navy) carrying 1 Million down to 100,000. Third is the left-hand seascape: a red-and-white striped lighthouse on a rock throwing two solid yellow light beams through black clouds over a bright blue sea full of fishing boats. Fourth, the comic detail of a rooster standing on a table beside a sewing machine and a lighthouse keeper at the ship's wheel. Fifth, a cluster of playing-card characters (a woman labelled BEAUTY and a figure labelled HATTIE) stuck to the stone wall on the right.
Setting
- Bright blue open sea with fishing trawlers and a paddle steamer
- Rocky island with a red-and-white striped lighthouse casting two yellow light beams
- Black night clouds with a yellow searchlight beam
- Grey stone wall of a lighthouse keeper's lodging
- Wooden deck with ship's wheel, table, sewing machine and mugs
Symbols
- Striped lighthouse with light beams
- Yellow door with brass handle
- Two hanging wall signs naming characters
- Playing cards
- Ship's wheel
- Sewing machine
- Pewter mugs
- Alarm clock
- Paper wall notice
- Yellow arrow pointing left
- Collared row of numbered circles in yellow, green, red, blue and cream
Lettering
- Hand-lettered cartoon capitals; main title in large cream slab-serif capitals with dark outline and drop shadow on a red band; score values in mixed red, blue, white and green sans-serif digits on coloured ribbon panels; small sign text in red and blue mixed-case
Themes
- Lighthouse keeper
- Seaside
- Comedy
- Characters-in-a-window
- Scoring-values-banner
Title on it
- Barnacle bill
Text on it
- 1 Million
- 900,000
- 800,000
- 700,000
- 600,000
- 500,000
- 400,000
- 300,000
- 200,000
- 100,000
- ROOMS
- FOR
- LIGHT HOUSE
- KEEPERS
- BARNACLE BILL
- SEE THE SEA AT SIGHT
- BEAUTY
- HATTIE
- 10,000
- 20,000
- 30,000
- 40,000
- 50,000
- 60,000
- 70,000
- 80,000
- 90,000
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Man | Central barefoot sailor, stocky, brown beard, red-and-white horizontally striped shirt, dark blue trousers, red-and-white striped flat cap, hooking a pewter mug onto a brass handle on a big yellow door, facing right |
| Woman | Upper right window, blonde hair in an updo, blue wrap/top, arms raised holding the shutters open, mouth open in a shout |
| Man | Upper right window, red hair, striped nightshirt, holding a pink alarm clock aloft, mouth open, angry expression |
| Man | Lower right, dark hair, yellow-and-black striped short-sleeve shirt, bright blue trousers, black shoes, seated and laughing with one arm raised |
| Woman | Lower right, blonde, tight red dress, seated beside him, laughing, arm around his shoulder |
| Man | Lower left at the ship's wheel, white sailor cap, white top, steering, seen in profile |
| Woman | Playing-card figure on the right wall, dark hair, red bodice, labelled beauty |
| Woman | Playing-card figure at far right, blonde with a yellow hat, labelled hattie, partly cropped |
| Creature | Red and yellow rooster with a green tail standing on the wooden table |
| Creature | Small green frog or lizard on the table near the rooster |
| Creature | Black cat with white paws peeking out beside a black pot on the deck |
| Vehicle | Several grey fishing trawlers, a white motor launch, a green-and-white paddle steamer and a small rowing boat on the sea |
A hand-painted, brightly coloured cartoon backglass. Across the top two rows of coloured ribbon-shaped panels carry score values: a red panel reading '1 Million', then 900,000 (red on white), 800,000 (outline on white), 700,000 (white on green), 600,000 (blue on yellow) in the top row, and beneath them 500,000 (green on yellow), 400,000, 300,000 (blue on white), 200,000 (red on white) and 100,000 (white on navy). Below, a wide red horizontal band across the middle-right carries the main title in large cream block capitals with dark shadow, BARNACLE BILL. Left half shows a blue daytime sea with a lighthouse on a rock sending two yellow beams across black clouds, and several grey and white boats, trawlers and a paddle steamer. Centre foreground a barefoot stocky sailor in a red-and-white striped shirt, dark blue trousers and a red-and-white striped cap hooks a mug onto a brass handle on a large yellow door. Two window scenes at upper right show a blonde woman in a blue wrap and a red-haired man in striped nightshirt holding a pink alarm clock, beside a wall notice reading ROOMS FOR LIGHT HOUSE KEEPERS. Bottom right a man in a yellow-striped shirt and a blonde woman in a red dress sit laughing beside playing cards. A row of coloured numbered circles runs along the base.