1964 · Gottlieb
Bonanza
Pale blue sky with white clouds, distant blue-grey mountain range, brown desert trail ground, white split-rail and ranch fences and cream-painted wooden frame with red and blue painted diamond accents.
- Year
- 1964
- Maker
- Gottlieb
- Type
- Electro-mechanical
- Display
- Score reels
- Players
- 2
Made by
- Design
- Ed Krynski
- Art
- Roy Parker
Vision analysis
On the playfield
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Playfield
- pink
- cream
- gold
- yellow
- blue
Fingerprint: Bonanza, rainbow-gradient fan of colored bands at top framing three yellow lamps and numbered red teardrop bumpers, bearded cowboy head in blue lozenge medallion center, cream and yellow scoring panels over herd of painted horses below, heavy black capitals across apron
The most identifying feature is the painted top arch: a rainbow-gradient fan of red, orange and gold bands framing three round yellow lamps and two red teardrop bumpers numbered 1 to 4, captioned 8 POINTS / 50 WHEN LIT. Second, the mid-field blue lozenge medallion with a bearded cowboy head and 10 WHEN LIT sits dead centre between two glossy green 10 pop-bumper caps. Third, the lower playfield area is packed with cream and yellow scoring panels (5 POINTS WHEN LIT, 10 POINTS WHEN LIT, 3 POINTS WHEN LIT) over a herd of cream and tan galloping horses. Fourth, BONANZA is printed in heavy black capitals across the bottom cream apron between a coin-receiver slot and a flipper-instruction card. Fifth, the whole assembly is an electro-mechanical style printed display behind glass in a bolted steel frame.
Setting
- A painted rainbow-gradient arch of concentric red, orange, gold and pale blue bands across the top third
- A flat salmon-pink field filling the mid and upper background
- A pale sky-blue triangular wedge rising behind the top arch
- An open cream and tan desert-plain horizon across the lower third
- A dark teal-green band running horizontally through mid-field behind the central medallion
Symbols
- Six-pointed star / sheriff-badge motif above the central scoring panels
- Horseshoe shapes flanking the lower scoring area
- Bull's-eye round target discs behind the two green pop bumpers
- Stacked gold coin or bar shapes on the cream lower panels
- Banner ribbon carrying the bonanza word
- Oval card holders holding printed rule cards in the upper corners
Notable shapes
- Concentric rainbow arch bands spanning the top third
- A blue diamond/lozenge medallion in mid-field
- Four upright pear-shaped red bumper caps
- A hexagonal cream card frame around the lower instruction panels
- A black elongated coin slot cut into the lower-left apron
- A chrome oval coin-door escutcheon at the lower right
- An irregular scattered herd of horse legs across the lower band
Art motifs
- Painted rainbow sunburst arch
- Radiating concentric colour bands
- Airbrushed lamp glow on the three yellow bumpers
- Cream-on-salmon silhouetted crowd of horses
- Black keylined cartoon figures with white highlight strokes
- Drop-shadow scoring panels
- Western serif and script lettering
Themes
- Western
- Cowboys
- Horses
- Gold rush
- Poker-crowd scoring
- Electro-mechanical
- Airbrushed 1950s-1970s american game art
Title on it
- Bonanza
Text on it
- 8 POINTS
- 50 WHEN LIT
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 10
- 10 WHEN LIT
- 5 POINTS WHEN LIT
- 10 POINTS WHEN LIT
- 3 POINTS WHEN LIT
- ONE PLAYER
- 100
- TWO PLAYERS
- BONANZA
- ONE OR TWO PLAYERS
- FLIPPER
- CABINET
- 5 BALLS PER GAME
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Other | Left of centre, a rider in a pale yellow hat and dark shirt on a rearing cream-coloured horse, legs tucked, facing right |
| Other | Centre, a rider in a wide-brimmed light hat on a white-grey horse galloping right, the horse's mane and tail drawn in loose cream strokes |
| Other | Right of centre, a rider in a red shirt and light hat on a tan horse, galloping left, partly overlapped by the red scoring panel |
| Other | At least two further cream and tan horses galloping behind the riders across the lower band, legs extended in full stride |
| Other | A bearded man's head in a wide-brimmed hat, cream face with black line shading, printed in the centre of the blue lozenge medallion in mid-field |
| Other | A small full-length figure in a red shirt and dark hat printed on the lower-left cream panel beside the one player 100 panel |
A tall rectangular backglass in a riveted metal frame with chrome side trim, filled with a Western-themed printed display. The dominant ground colour is a warm salmon-pink, overlaid with cream, gold, blue and red. At the top a painted arch frames three yellow-glowing round bumpers and two flanking red teardrop bumpers numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4, with white caption text above reading 8 POINTS / 50 WHEN LIT. Two glossy green pop-bumper caps, each printed 10, sit below and to either side of a central pink-red bumper. A blue lozenge medallion in mid-field carries a bearded cowboy head and the caption 10 WHEN LIT. The lower half is crowded with cream, yellow, tan and red scoring panels and printed horses and mounted riders. Along the bottom apron, BONANZA is printed in large black capitals on a cream field, flanked by instruction cards. Condition is fair to good: the glass has surface scuffing, a few chips and light scratching, but the printed art is largely complete.
On the backglass
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Backglass
- blue
- cream
- red
- yellow
Fingerprint: Slanted cream BONANZA title on red arrow banner, rearing white horse beside blonde woman in red chaps, grinning red-haired cowboy with raised revolver, western gunfight with piebald horse and thrown rider, two roundel cowboy heads with red hats flanking red numerals 1 and 2, pale blue sky with mountains
Huge slanted cream BONANZA logo set on a red arrow banner, with a rearing white horse beside a blond woman in red chaps at its flank. A grinning cowboy seen from behind in a blue shirt with bright red hair, revolver raised, anchors the lower centre. A western gunfight tableau with a piebald horse, a feathered-headdress Indian brave and a rider being thrown from a bucking horse at the right fence. Two top scoring banners each crowned by a chuckling cowboy head in a red hat, flanking a big red 1 and a big red 2.
Setting
- Pale blue sky with white clouds
- Distant blue-grey mountain range
- Brown desert trail ground
- White split-rail and ranch fences
- Cream-painted wooden frame with red and blue painted diamond accents
Symbols
- Red arrows on the yellow player banners
- Red arrow banner behind the title
- White score windows with black numerals and a red comma
- Red numerals 1 and 2 in blue roundels
- Small red-and-white striped marker plate top centre
- White ranch fences dividing the scene
Lettering
- Title in very large italic slanted slab-serif capitals, cream with a red drop shadow; player labels in black block capitals on yellow banners with red arrow icons; 'it's more fun to compete!' in slanted red italics; instruction lines in mixed-case black block lettering
Themes
- Old west
- Cowboys
- Gunfight
- Horses
- Indian territory
- Two player competition
- Western film tie-in
Title on it
- Bonanza
Text on it
- BONANZA
- 1ST PLAYER
- 2nd PLAYER
- PLAYER
- 1st or 2 PLAYERS
- CAN PLAY AT THE SAME TIME
- BALL IN PLAY
- IT'S MORE FUN TO COMPETE!
- A GAME OF SKILL
- GAME OVER
- 1
- 2
- ,073
- ,000
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Man | Grinning cowboy head in a red cowboy hat, white shirt and red neckerchief, inside a blue circle top left above a big red numeral 1 |
| Man | Grinning cowboy head in a red cowboy hat and red neckerchief, inside a blue circle top right above a big red numeral 2 |
| Woman | Cowgirl in a red hat, blue shirt and dark trousers riding a black-and-white piebald horse at the left, one arm raised |
| Man | Native american brave with a full white feathered war bonnet, yellow shirt and blue trousers, riding a brown horse |
| Man | Grinning cowboy in a white hat, yellow shirt and blue jeans at lower left, holding a revolver out to the side |
| Woman | Blond woman in a white hat, red blouse and red chaps with yellow trim, standing centre beside the white horse, one arm outstretched |
| Animal | White horse rearing up on its hind legs in the centre of the panel |
| Man | Red-haired cowboy in a blue shirt seen from behind at lower centre-right, grey hat band, revolver raised in his right hand |
| Man | Cowboy in a red shirt falling or being thrown from a bucking horse at the right fence line |
| Animal | Brown horse with the falling cowboy at the right |
| Animal | Piebald black-and-white horse ridden by the cowgirl at the left |
| Animal | Brown horse ridden by the headdressed brave |
A landscape-format backglass in a cream-painted wooden frame, showing a flat, brightly coloured cartoon of an Old West gunfight on horseback against a pale blue sky with white clouds and distant blue-grey mountains. Two separate scoring sections sit across the top: each has a roundel portrait of a grinning cowboy in a red hat above a large red numeral 1 or 2 on a white band, with a four-window mechanical score reel below showing blank windows and the digits ,073 and ,000, and a yellow banner beneath reading 1ST PLAYER or 2nd PLAYER. Small black maker's text sits top centre. The main centre panel is a busy western gunfight: at left a cowgirl in a red hat and blue shirt on a piebald horse, a Native American brave in a feathered headdress riding a brown horse, and a grinning cowboy in a white hat and yellow shirt holding a revolver. Centre-right a blond woman in a white hat, red blouse and yellow-trimmed red chaps stands beside a rearing white horse, while a red-haired cowboy in a blue shirt is seen from behind at lower right holding a revolver, with a rider being thrown from a horse near the right fence. BONANZA appears in huge slanted cream letters with red shadow on a red arrow banner at mid-right, under a line of blue script and the word PLAYER. Cream instruction panels with red borders sit in the bottom corners.