1948 · Williams
El Paso
Left two-thirds a flat black ground filled with the score-value ovals and scattered five-pointed stars in yellow, green, pink and blue, a vertical green-and-gold ornamental filigree strip dividing the composition down the middle, right third a turquoise sky with soft white clouds, a small cream moon at top right and a distant pinkish mesa on the horizon, a blue two-storey arcade building with arched windows and white columns, a red block building with pale windows and green double doors and green trees and broad banana-like leaves.
- Year
- 1948
- Maker
- Williams
- Type
- Electro-mechanical
- Display
- Backglass lights
- Players
- 1
Made by
- Design
- Harry Williams
- Art
- George Molentin
Vision analysis
On the playfield
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Playfield
- wood-tan
- sky-blue
- red
- cream
Fingerprint: Bare unstained wood playfield with only printed text and plastic bumpers, sky-blue triangular fan with yellow arrow and three numbered drop-targets, enormous pink-red Bonus Score ribbon with cream script, two triangular wire-framed bumpers with numbered discs
The most striking feature is that the entire playfield is bare, unstained wood with only flat printed lettering and plastic bumpers on it, with no painted artwork, figures or scenery whatsoever. Second is the enormous pink-and-red Bonus Score ribbon carrying 1 Million in cream script and a SUPER SPECIAL WHEN LIT lozenge dead centre in the lower third. Third, the top-centre sky-blue triangular fan with a yellow arrow and three round numbered drop targets 1 2 3 sitting in its base. Fourth, the two unusual triangular wire-framed bumpers at mid-field carrying cream discs stamped 4, 5, 6 and 7.
Setting
- Bare unstained honey-coloured wood grain
- No painted scenery or characters
- Wooden cabinet rails at left and right with metal brackets and screws
- Glass cover reflecting overhead light
Symbols
- Red triangular value panels
- Yellow arrow banner
- Red flags reading advance bonus
- Cream circular when lit targets
- Blue triangles behind drop targets
- Row of numerals 1 to 7
- Starburst behind the super special lozenge
Notable shapes
- A large sky-blue triangular fan with a yellow arrow at top centre
- A cream-and-orange diamond filling the middle of the field
- A five-pointed starburst behind the central super special lozenge
- A big pink ribbon scroll across the lower third
- Triangular wire-framed bumpers with round cream discs on angled faces
- An arched ball guide lane at the top
Art motifs
- Symmetric diamond scoring layout
- Banner ribbons and scrolls
- Stack of red value triangles
- Arrow motif at top
- Ball-then-million bonus ladder
Themes
- Number-based bonus game
- Score-value ladders
- 50000 and 1 million scoring
- Advanced bonus lanes
- No character or narrative art
Title on it
- Bonus score
Text on it
- ADVANCE BONUS
- 50,000 WHEN LIT
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 100,000
- Bonus Score
- ALL OR NOTHING WHEN LIT
- SPECIAL
- 6
- 7
- 4
- 5
- ADVANCE BONUS 500,000 WHEN CENTER RAM IS LIT
- 5 TIMES 1 MILLION WHEN NUMBERS ARE MADE
- 400,000
- 500,000
- 600,000
- 700,000
- 800,000
- 900,000
- LITES WHEN NUMBERS ARE MADE
- 1 Million
- WHEN HOLE IS LIT
- LITES WHEN NUMBERS
- SUPER SPECIAL WHEN LIT
- 1 TO 7 ARE MADE
- FLIPPER
A full flat wooden playfield photographed through a glass cover in a wooden pinball cabinet, the bare pale honey-coloured grain of the wood showing around all four edges and forming the whole background. No painted scenery or characters at all, only game lettering printed directly on bare wood. The layout is a symmetric diamond of scoring labels: a large sky-blue triangular fan at the top centre with a yellow arrow rising through it, a single red pop bumper at the very top arch, then a row of three white round targets reading 1, 2 and 3 in red, flanked by two cream round targets reading ALL OR NOTHING WHEN LIT, and further out two more of the same cream targets under red ADVANCE BONUS flags. Below sit two teal-green pop bumpers shoulder to shoulder. The middle of the field is stacked with red triangular value panels from 100,000 to 700,000 over a big cream-and-orange diamond, with yellow 500,000 and 50,000 WHEN LIT banners, red SPECIAL tags at both sides, and two triangular wire-framed assemblies carrying cream discs numbered 4, 5, 6 and 7. The lower third is dominated by a huge pink-and-red Bonus Score scroll with 1 Million, WHEN HOLE IS LIT and a central cream lozenge reading SUPER SPECIAL WHEN LIT. Two white flipper bats in a V, a wooden ball trough holding four chrome balls, and a metal apron gate complete the field. The field is worn and dirty with white haze and grime near the aprons.
On the backglass
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Backglass
- black
- turquoise
- orange
- magenta
Fingerprint: EL PASO title slants steeply down right side fat orange-red serifs heavy black shadow under small red Williams script against bright turquoise sky cream moon, braided young woman magenta blouse pink-skirt bending ornate green wrought-iron balcony-rail holding red flowers, sombrero-wearing guitarist red shirt seated below, dark brown horse-head pushing up between two, left-half pure score-value ladder nine Million ovals nine different band colors stacked 1 Million to 9 Million plain black ground speckled stars
The 'El Paso' title slants steeply down the right side in fat orange-red serifs with heavy black shadow, sitting under a small red 'Williams' script and against a bright turquoise sky with a cream moon. Immediately below and left of it, a braided young woman in a magenta blouse and pink skirt bends over an ornate green wrought-iron balcony rail holding red flowers, while a sombrero-wearing guitarist in a red shirt sits below her and a dark brown horse's head pushes up between the two. The left half is an unusual pure score-value ladder — nine 'Million' ovals in nine different band colours stacked from '1 Million' to '9 Million', each matched to a smaller 100.-900. oval, on a plain black ground speckled with stars.
Setting
- Left two-thirds a flat black ground filled with the score-value ovals and scattered five-pointed stars in yellow, green, pink and blue
- A vertical green-and-gold ornamental filigree strip dividing the composition down the middle
- Right third a turquoise sky with soft white clouds, a small cream moon at top right and a distant pinkish mesa on the horizon
- A blue two-storey arcade building with arched windows and white columns
- A red block building with pale windows and green double doors
- Green trees and broad banana-like leaves
Symbols
- Stars scattered across the black field and along the bottom border
- Green wrought-iron balcony scrollwork
- Ornamental filigree divider strip
- Crescent-ish cream moon
- Scalloped cloud shapes
- Five-pointed stars along the bottom margin
Lettering
- Large heavy italic serif letters in orange-red with thick black outline and drop shadow, set on a steep diagonal; a smaller red cursive script company wordmark above it; score ovals in bold cursive/script numerals on coloured bands with white-and-black block numerals in the small ovals
Themes
- Mexico
- Border town
- Spanish colonial architecture
- Mariachi
- Courtship
- Western
Title on it
- El paso
Text on it
- Williams
- El Paso
- 1 Million
- 2 Million
- 3 Million
- 4 Million
- 5 Million
- 6 Million
- 7 Million
- 8 Million
- 9 Million
- 100.
- 200.
- 300.
- 400.
- 500.
- 600.
- 700.
- 800.
- 900.
- 10.
- 20.
- 30.
- 40.
- 50.
- 60.
- 70.
- 80.
- 90.
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Woman | Young woman, light skin, long dark brown braid over one shoulder, red flower in her hair, magenta short-sleeved blouse with a white tie at the neck, yellow sash and full pink skirt; head tilted down with eyes closed, leaning on an ornate green-and-gold wrought-iron balcony rail and holding a small bunch of red flowers |
| Man | Young man, light skin, red collared shirt with white bow tie, wide-brimmed white sombrero with red trim; seated, head tilted back looking upward, strumming a tan classical guitar held across his lap |
| Animal | A dark brown horse with a white blaze down its face and a pink muzzle, only head and ears visible as it rises between the two people at the bottom centre |
Painted backglass in a wood-framed cabinet, with the artwork split by a vertical green-and-gold filigree column. The left two-thirds is a black field carrying a tall ladder of rounded score-value ovals labelled '1 Million' up to '9 Million' in cream, purple, orange, blue, lime, yellow, pink, green and red bands, each paired with a smaller numbered oval (100. to 900. and 10. to 90.) with three dots beneath, plus scattered yellow, green, pink and blue stars. The right third shows a pale blue sky with white clouds, a small cream moon, and the word 'Williams' in red script above the huge diagonal title 'El Paso' in chunky orange-red letters outlined black. Below, a Spanish-colonial scene: a young woman with a long dark braid, red flower in her hair, magenta blouse and full pink skirt leans over an ornate green-and-gold iron balcony railing; below her a man in a red shirt and white wide-brimmed sombrero sits playing a classical guitar. A dark brown horse's head rises between them. Behind are blue arcades, a red block building with green doors, trees and a peach-coloured mesa.