1964 · Bally
Big Day
Known for Mushroom bumpers and Bottom Gate. Abstract decorative interior — a flat pale blue-grey field sprinkled with confetti dots, streamers, stars and squiggles, with two dark purple eye-mask shapes floating at the top corners; no horizon or landscape..
- Year
- 1964
- Maker
- Bally
- Type
- Electro-mechanical
- Display
- Score reels
- Players
- 4
Known for
- Bumper
Mushroom bumpers
- gate
Bottom Gate
On the playfield
Bumper 1
- Mushroom bumpers
Lanes 5
- Upper right top lanes
- Upper left top lanes
- Middle left side lane
- Left out lane
- Right out lane
Post or gate 1
- Bottom Gate gate
Control 1
- Rollover buttons buttons
On the backglass
Who and what
- other Nine masked carnival revelers in a bottom frieze, left to right: (1) woman in a white-and-blue harlequin mask with a purple plumed hat and blue bodice, hand raised; (2) figure behind her in a green coat, red cap and striped red-and-white mask, hands together; (3) man in a wide purple hat, white ruff and red mask in a red coat, black accordion strapped across his chest, one arm flung up; (4) central woman with blonde hair, gold jewelled headband, black lace eye mask, red lips, purple off-shoulder gown with yellow spotted bodice and a purple choker, one arm raised behind her head, the other holding a yellow fan; (5) jester with a white face, red cone hat tipped with a ball, and a yellow polka-dot ruff, hands lifted; (6) small partly-hidden figure behind him in white with a green-trimmed crown-like hat; (7) moustached man in a wide red hat, green jacket and pale blue shirt, leaning in; (8) small figure in a top hat with a green band and blue coat; (9) woman with long blonde hair, a wide olive-yellow hat, olive coat with red trim and yellow gloves. two white fluted columns with lit lanterns stand at the far left and right edges of the frieze.
Setting
- Abstract decorative interior — a flat pale blue-grey field sprinkled with confetti dots, streamers, stars and squiggles, with two dark purple eye-mask shapes floating at the top corners; no horizon or landscape.
Text on it
- Bally
- 4-SPIELER
- BIG DAY
- 1. SPIELER
- 2. SPIELER
- 3. SPIELER
- 4. SPIELER
- 1·2·3·4 KÖNNEN SPIELEN
- WETTBEWERB MACHT MEHR SPASS
- SPIELKUGEL
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 8
- 5
Made by
- Design
- Ted Zale
Reference
Backglass vision analysis
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Backglass
- cream yellow
- red
- deep purple
- pale blue grey
Fingerprint: Big Day title white-red serif letters, bold four-player game notation; cream-yellow rectangular player panels scalloped red-gold frames, digit windows and triangles above; bottom frieze nine masked carnival revelers: woman black lace mask, jester red cone hat polka-dot ruff, accordion player purple hat; confetti dots, pale blue-grey speckled ground
The most striking feature is the crowded bottom frieze of nine masked masquerade figures in gaudy carnival dress — a woman in a black lace mask and yellow spotted bodice with arms raised as if dancing, a jester with a red cone hat and yellow polka-dot ruff, and a man in a wide purple hat playing a black accordion. Four scalloped cream player panels in a two-by-two grid, each with four clear digit windows and a numeral triangle above, frame the centre. The large white-and-red serif title BIG DAY sits at top centre over the cursive maker script. Two white instruction boxes are stacked in the middle of the glass, the upper one carrying three lines of red German text. A strong glare bloom washes out part of the title's centre.
Setting
- Abstract decorative interior — a flat pale blue-grey field sprinkled with confetti dots, streamers, stars and squiggles, with two dark purple eye-mask shapes floating at the top corners; no horizon or landscape.
Symbols
- Four red-outlined cream spade shapes with ribbon flourishes acting as panel separators; two small red-and-yellow masquerade eye-mask emblems; four red-bordered triangles each carrying a numeral above its player panel; two purple eye-masks at the top corners; strings of confetti, streamers and starbursts across the background; two wall lanterns atop the columns.
Lettering
- Three distinct hands: a small cursive script maker mark; heavy condensed sans-serif capitals in solid red for the player headings and player count; and a very tall condensed serif display face in white with a red outline for the title. instruction text is plain red sans-serif capitals.
Themes
- Masquerade
- Carnival
- Big top
- Four-player
- Party
- Clowns and jesters
- Theatre
Title on it
- Big day
Text on it
- Bally
- 4-SPIELER
- BIG DAY
- 1. SPIELER
- 2. SPIELER
- 3. SPIELER
- 4. SPIELER
- 1·2·3·4 KÖNNEN SPIELEN
- WETTBEWERB MACHT MEHR SPASS
- SPIELKUGEL
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 8
- 5
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Other | Nine masked carnival revelers in a bottom frieze, left to right: (1) woman in a white-and-blue harlequin mask with a purple plumed hat and blue bodice, hand raised; (2) figure behind her in a green coat, red cap and striped red-and-white mask, hands together; (3) man in a wide purple hat, white ruff and red mask in a red coat, black accordion strapped across his chest, one arm flung up; (4) central woman with blonde hair, gold jewelled headband, black lace eye mask, red lips, purple off-shoulder gown with yellow spotted bodice and a purple choker, one arm raised behind her head, the other holding a yellow fan; (5) jester with a white face, red cone hat tipped with a ball, and a yellow polka-dot ruff, hands lifted; (6) small partly-hidden figure behind him in white with a green-trimmed crown-like hat; (7) moustached man in a wide red hat, green jacket and pale blue shirt, leaning in; (8) small figure in a top hat with a green band and blue coat; (9) woman with long blonde hair, a wide olive-yellow hat, olive coat with red trim and yellow gloves. two white fluted columns with lit lanterns stand at the far left and right edges of the frieze. |
A wide, landscape-format printed backglass with a pale blue-grey speckled ground scattered with confetti dots, squiggles and small stars. Four cream-yellow rectangular player panels with scalloped red-and-gold frames occupy the upper two thirds, each headed by a small triangle containing a red numeral, and each holding a row of four clear digit windows. Centred top is a cursive red 'Bally' mark, '4-SPIELER' in bold red block capitals, and the large title 'BIG DAY' in tall white-serif letters outlined red. Two white boxes sit in the middle: one with red three-line text, one reading SPIELKUGEL. Along the bottom runs a frieze of masked carnival revelers in red, purple, yellow and green, flanked by two white fluted columns with glowing lanterns. Palette is dominated by cream-yellow, scarlet red, deep purple and pale blue-grey.