1961 · Gottlieb
Flying Circus
Flat deep purple night sky, red-orange circus ring floor, yellow and red triangular bunting, trapeze and rigging ropes and row of oversized round coloured light bulbs along the top.
- Year
- 1961
- Maker
- Gottlieb
- Type
- Electro-mechanical
- Display
- Score reels
- Players
- 2
Made by
- Design
- Wayne Neyens
- Art
- Roy Parker
Vision analysis
On the backglass
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Backglass
- purple
- red
- cream
- green
Fingerprint: Smiling blonde aerialist in red brassiere frilly white bloomers dominates centre gripping trapeze bar legs crossed, FLYING on left CIRCUS on right in huge arched serif lettering split by her body, small cursive word above FLYING, two clowns in matching green-white costume symmetrically in bottom corners holding oversized white placards, giant coloured light bulbs row top edge above cream score-reel windows showing 6 2 4 and 1 5 0
A smiling blonde aerialist in a red brassiere and frilly white bloomers dominates the centre, one arm raised gripping a trapeze bar, legs crossed. Huge arched serif lettering reading FLYING on the left and CIRCUS on the right is split by her body, with a small cursive word tucked above the FLYING. Two clowns in matching green-and-white costume stand symmetrically in the bottom corners, each holding an oversized white placard — the left one tilted reading IT'S MORE FUN TO COMPETE and A GAME OF SKILL, the right one reading 1 or 2 CAN PLAY AT THE SAME TIME. A row of giant coloured light bulbs runs along the very top above two cream score-reel windows showing 6 2 4 and 1 5 0.
Setting
- Flat deep purple night sky
- Red-orange circus ring floor
- Yellow and red triangular bunting
- Trapeze and rigging ropes
- Row of oversized round coloured light bulbs along the top
Symbols
- Row of round coloured light bulbs
- Score reel number windows
- Numbered red discs 1 and 2
- Triangular bunting flags
- Trapeze bars and rigging ropes
- White circus horse
- Ball-in-play indicator
Lettering
- Large arched slab-serif capitals in cream with red outline and yellow drop shadow for the main title, small white cursive script above it, block red sans-serif capitals on the white placards, and cream and red banner lettering for the player labels
Themes
- Circus
- Aerialist
- Trapeze
- Clowns
- Big top
- Two player versus play
- Skill game
Title on it
- Flying circus
Text on it
- FLYING
- CIRCUS
- 1st PLAYER
- 2nd PLAYER
- TWO PLAYER
- FOUR PLAYERS
- Gottlieb's
- IT'S MORE FUN TO COMPETE
- A GAME OF SKILL
- 1 or 2 CAN PLAY
- AT THE SAME TIME
- BALL IN PLAY
- 3
- FLYER
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Woman | Central smiling blonde aerialist, red brassiere, white ruffled bloomers, pink high-heeled shoes, one arm raised gripping a trapeze bar, one leg crossed in front of the other, rosy cheeks, head tilted back laughing |
| Other | Clown at lower left, white face paint, red nose, green ruffled costume with white collar and green trousers, holding a tilted white placard |
| Other | Clown at lower right, white face paint, red nose and red cap, green and white ruffled costume, holding a large white placard |
| Animal | Small white circus horse mid-ring, rearing on its hind legs |
| Other | Several tiny background performers: one hanging from a rope, one standing on a pedestal-like stand, one tumbling in white, plus a horse and rider figure at the far upper left and a rider on a white horse at the upper right |
A full rectangular painted backglass set in a cream wooden outer frame. The background is a flat deep purple night sky above a red-orange circus ring floor, strung with a row of large round coloured light bulbs (green, red, yellow, cream) along the top edge. Two cream-framed mechanical score reels sit at the top: the left window shows 6 2 4 and the right shows 1 5 0, each window headed by a red disc carrying a white numeral 1 and 2 respectively. Dominating the centre is a smiling blonde aerialist in a red brassiere and white ruffled bloomers, one arm raised to a trapeze bar, legs crossed in a dance pose, pink high-heeled shoes. Across the middle, arched serif lettering in cream, red and yellow reads FLYING on the left and CIRCUS on the right, with a small cursive word above the FLYING, and TWO PLAYER and FOUR PLAYERS arched beneath. Yellow-and-red triangular bunting runs behind the figures. Two clowns in green and white stand at the lower left and lower right corners holding oversized white placards. Tiny acrobats, a white horse and a pedestal performer fill the ring. BALL IN PLAY appears at the bottom centre.