1964 · Bally
Bus Stop
Known for Red mushroom bumpers, Yellow mushroom bumpers, White mushroom bumpers and Upper saucers. City bus interior with rows of passenger seats and a rear window, teal-blue square-tiled panel forming the top header band, flat bubblegum pink ground behind the passengers, pale grey-blue vending machine on the right wall, red stamped parcel on the floor in the aisle and green and yellow ball-play panel with coloured rectangular windows.
- Year
- 1964
- Maker
- Bally
- Type
- Electro-mechanical
- Display
- Score reels
- Players
- 2
Known for
- Bumper
Red mushroom bumpers
- Bumper
Yellow mushroom bumpers
- Bumper
White mushroom bumpers
- saucers
Upper saucers
- Goal
Red bonus
- Goal
Yellow bonus
On the playfield
- red
- pink
- blue
- yellow
- cream
- 2 flippers
- 3 pop bumpers
- 2 slingshots
Hole 1
- Upper saucers saucers
Bumpers 3
- Red mushroom bumpers
- Yellow mushroom bumpers
- White mushroom bumpers
Lane 1
- Out lanes
On the backglass
Who and what
- man Young dark-haired man at far left in a white long-sleeved shirt with a black bow tie, seated, smiling, holding a large navy blue holdall bag on his lap
- woman Grey-haired older woman in a royal blue cardigan over a red top and blue skirt, green shoes, seated and holding a baby on her lap
- child Baby in a yellow outfit with a yellow cap, sitting on the older woman's lap, being fed or holding a bottle
- woman Standing red-haired woman in a knee-length green dress with a white collar, holding a large yellow bundle or hat at waist height
- man Fair-haired man in a white shirt and bright red tie standing at the bus counter, holding a small object, smiling
- man Bus driver in a mustard-yellow uniform jacket and peaked cap, hands on the steering wheel, seen in profile
Setting
- City bus interior with rows of passenger seats and a rear window
- Teal-blue square-tiled panel forming the top header band
- Flat bubblegum pink ground behind the passengers
- Pale grey-blue vending machine on the right wall
- Red stamped parcel on the floor in the aisle
- Green and yellow ball-play panel with coloured rectangular windows
Text on it
- Bally
- 2 PLAYER
- BUS STOP
- 1
- 2
- 1st PLAYER
- 2nd PLAYER
- 0
- 1 OR 2 CAN PLAY
- IT'S MORE FUN TO COMPETE
- BALL-PLAY
- City
- JUST MARRIED
How it plays
-
Goals 2
- Red bonus
- Yellow bonus
Made by
- Design
- Ted Zale
- Art
- Art Stenholm
Reference
Playfield vision analysis
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Playfield
- red
- pink
- blue
- yellow
- cream
Fingerprint: Chicago trolleybus mounted centrally with destination blind, two large profile portrait plastics flanking it like television screens, ten when lit blue discs scattered mid-playfield, yellow star special panels, heavily text-laden instruction card still mounted, pink and scarlet blocks with black outlines, off-white lower deck with curling streamer swirls
The dominant centrepiece is a red double-decker-style trolleybus or tram with a CHICAGO blind, flanked by two large profile portrait plastics of a man in a cap and a woman with orange hair, which read like old cinema or television screens. The playfield artwork uses heavy flat blocks of pink, scarlet, cobalt blue and mustard yellow with hand-drawn black outlines rather than airbrushed realism. Score-value roundels and 10 WHEN LIT blue discs are scattered around the mid-playfield among yellow star-shaped SPECIAL WHEN LIT panels. The lower deck is unusually plain, a scuffed off-white sheet with red, orange and blue curling streamer swirls and small blue star outlines. The instruction card, the TILT ENDS GAME plate and the 5 BALLS PER PLAYER plate are all still fitted, and the aluminium cabinet front is left unpainted with exposed coin slots stamped 5 and 25.
Setting
- A stylised urban american city scene: the red trolleybus is shown in the middle of a broad red-and-pink roadway, with yellow building facades and blue sky suggested in the painted areas around the edges
Symbols
- Yellow five-pointed stars, blue roundels, small blue outlined stars scattered on the lower deck, red, orange and blue curling streamer swirls, and printed burst or arrow shapes framing the lettering
Notable shapes
- The central trolleybus is a tall rounded-rectangle bus body with a curved roof and a stepped front; flanking it are two tall thin red-and-white striped rails running vertically near the left and right playfield edges
Art motifs
- Radiating sunburst rays around the upper mid-playfield, comic-style speech-banner lettering on the red arrow, a row of arching red and blue colour blocks behind the score roundels, and repeated circular value discs
Themes
- Transport
- Trolleybus
- Urban city
- Caricature portraits
- Cinema or television screen motif
- American 1950s popular culture
Text on it
- Bally
- CHICAGO
- U.S.A.
- FLIPPER
- SPECIAL
- WHEN LIT
- 10
- TILT
- ENDS GAME
- FLIPPER BUTTONS ON SIDES OF CABINET
- 5 BALLS PER PLAYER
- 1 PLAY 10c
- DEPOSIT 2 NICKELS
- ONE OR TWO CAN PLAY
- BOLLOVERS
- SCORE
- 1
- REPLAY
- REPLAY FOR EACH SCORE OF 300 POINTS
- REPLAY FOR EACH SCORE OF 600 POINTS
- REPLAY FOR EACH SCORE OF 900 POINTS
- REPLAY FOR EACH SCORE OF 1000 POINTS
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Other | Two large painted profile portraits on flat plastics: a man in a peaked cap facing right on the left side, and a woman with swept-back orange-red hair facing left on the right side. additional small figures are painted as seated passengers inside the front of the red trolleybus, plus small cartoon faces painted on the mid-playfield plastics flanking the pop bumpers |
An electro-mechanical pinball playfield with a pale cream and white lower deck and a bold red, pink, blue and yellow mid-playfield. The central lower sculpture is a red trolleybus or tram, front-on, with a CHICAGO destination board above its windscreen, twin round headlamps, a U.S.A. number plate, and seated passengers visible through the front glass. Flanking it are two large flat painted plastics: on the left a man's head in a peaked cap in profile facing right, on the right a woman with orange-red swept-back hair in profile facing left, each set into a blue rectangular field like a television screen or vehicle window. Yellow five-pointed star panels carry SPECIAL WHEN LIT, and blue roundels beside them read 10 WHEN LIT. White flipper bats labelled FLIPPER sit either side of a plain wooden-toned lower apron wedge. Below, a cream instruction card headed ONE OR TWO CAN PLAY lists replay scores, a red arrow reads FLIPPER BUTTONS ON SIDES OF CABINET, a plate reads TILT ENDS GAME, and another reads 5 BALLS PER PLAYER 1 PLAY 10c DEPOSIT 2 NICKELS. The cabinet front is bare aluminium with 5 and 25 coin slots.
Backglass vision analysis
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Backglass
- pink
- red
- teal blue
- yellow
Fingerprint: bus stop, crowded bus interior packed comic-book passengers smiling shoulder-to-shoulder, huge red two-line BUS STOP title, blonde woman foreground center applying lipstick compact, man red-white cap beside her, fat woman white dress red spots bright blue hair right, black score reels, red parcel stamps floor
The dominant image is a crowded bus interior packed with comic-book passengers of every age, jammed shoulder to shoulder and smiling, beneath an enormous red two-line 'BUS STOP' title. The most striking figures are a blonde woman in the foreground centre applying lipstick from a compact while a man in a flat red-and-white cap leans in beside her, and a fat woman in a white dress with red spots and bright blue hair at the right. A whole row of four-digit black score reels showing 0 0 0 0 repeats twice, once inside each yellow player panel, framed by red circles with a yellow 1 and 2. A small red parcel covered in stamps sits on the floor in the middle of the aisle, and a stocky man in a green jacket, red hat and spectacles waves a 'JUST MARRIED' card at the lower right.
Setting
- City bus interior with rows of passenger seats and a rear window
- Teal-blue square-tiled panel forming the top header band
- Flat bubblegum pink ground behind the passengers
- Pale grey-blue vending machine on the right wall
- Red stamped parcel on the floor in the aisle
- Green and yellow ball-play panel with coloured rectangular windows
Symbols
- Four-digit roll-over score reels
- Numbered player medallions
- Red postage stamps on a parcel
- Compact mirror and lipstick
- Holdall bag
- Baby bottle
- Steering wheel
- Vending machine
- Square tile grid
Lettering
- Main title in very large red block slab-serif capitals with white and black drop shadows, two stacked lines; red cursive script company name above; yellow condensed sans-serif capitals on red and yellow rounded panels
Themes
- Bus
- Public transport
- Commuters
- City
- Everyday people
- Two player
- Score reels
Title on it
- Bus stop
Text on it
- Bally
- 2 PLAYER
- BUS STOP
- 1
- 2
- 1st PLAYER
- 2nd PLAYER
- 0
- 1 OR 2 CAN PLAY
- IT'S MORE FUN TO COMPETE
- BALL-PLAY
- City
- JUST MARRIED
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Man | Young dark-haired man at far left in a white long-sleeved shirt with a black bow tie, seated, smiling, holding a large navy blue holdall bag on his lap |
| Woman | Grey-haired older woman in a royal blue cardigan over a red top and blue skirt, green shoes, seated and holding a baby on her lap |
| Child | Baby in a yellow outfit with a yellow cap, sitting on the older woman's lap, being fed or holding a bottle |
| Woman | Standing red-haired woman in a knee-length green dress with a white collar, holding a large yellow bundle or hat at waist height |
| Man | Fair-haired man in a white shirt and bright red tie standing at the bus counter, holding a small object, smiling |
| Man | Bus driver in a mustard-yellow uniform jacket and peaked cap, hands on the steering wheel, seen in profile |
| Woman | Elderly woman in a blue skirt suit with a grey bun and white collar, carrying a small white dog or handbag, standing near the right |
| Woman | Heavyset woman in a white dress with red spotted pattern and bright blue curly hair, standing at the right |
| Man | Stocky man in a dark green jacket, red hat and round spectacles at the lower right, holding up a white card |
| Woman | Blonde woman in a magenta-pink top in the foreground, holding an open compact and applying lipstick, looking in a small round mirror |
| Man | Man in a pale striped shirt and red-and-white flat cap seated in the foreground beside the blonde woman, seen from behind |
| Other | Several small background passengers seated in the bus behind the counter and window, drawn in miniature |
Wide backglass split into a teal-blue tiled header and a large pink interior scene. The header carries a red cursive company script with '2 PLAYER' beside it, and the main title 'BUS STOP' in huge red slab-serif block capitals with white and black drop shadows, stacked on two lines. Flanking the title are two yellow rounded score panels: each with a red circle at the top holding a yellow numeral (1 and 2), the words 'PLAYER' with an ordinal suffix, and a row of four black roll-over digits showing 0 0 0 0. Below each panel sits a red rounded box with yellow lettering. The main illustration shows a city bus interior filled with cartoon passengers, drawn in flat comic-book colour with heavy black outlines. At left a dark-haired young man in a white shirt and black bow tie sits with a large navy holdall between his knees. Beside him a grey-haired woman in a blue cardigan and red top cradles a baby in a yellow outfit. A red-haired woman in a green dress stands holding a yellow bundle. At the bus counter a fair-haired man in a white shirt and red tie stands next to a driver in a yellow uniform and cap. Through the window and behind the counter more seated passengers are visible. On the right an elderly woman in a blue skirt suit with a grey bun, a heavy woman in a white dress with red spots and blue hair, and a man in a green jacket with glasses and a red hat complete the group. In the foreground a blonde woman in a pink top applies lipstick while a man in a white shirt and red-and-white cap sits beside her. Background is flat bubblegum pink with a red parcel, a green and yellow BALL-PLAY panel, and a pale vending machine.