1953 · Gottlieb
Guys Dolls
A small-town american main street at night across the top third: deep blue sky, dark silhouetted trees and rooftops, brick and stone buildings with lit windows, a street lamp, a traffic signal, and a yellow arrow-shaped road sign reading million row mounted on a pole. the lower two thirds shift to an abstract outdoor parade ground: a pale cream-to-white sky over a flat bright green lawn dotted with plain coloured circles and scattered black music notes..
- Year
- 1953
- Maker
- Gottlieb
- Type
- Electro-mechanical
- Display
- Backglass lights
- Players
- 1
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
- dark blue
- bright green
- red
- gold
- white
Fingerprint: Huge left-edge score ladder of nine tall red and dark-blue panels marching 900000 down to 100000 in white numerals, top-hatted men in plum tailcoats carrying yellow placards spelling GUYS, gingham-bonneted girls in swimsuits holding red discs spelling DOLLS, brunette woman in strapless yellow gown at right edge holding white baton aloft
The most striking feature is the huge left-edge score ladder, nine tall red and dark-blue panels marching from 900000 down to 100000 in white block numerals, occupying a full quarter of the glass height. Second is the word-play pair: top-hatted men in plum tailcoats carrying yellow placards that spell GUYS, mirrored by gingham-bonneted girls in swimsuits holding red discs that spell DOLLS. Third, the artwork is split into two clashing halves: a realistically painted night street scene of brick buildings and a MILLION ROW sign at the top, versus a flat, poster-like green field of coloured dots and music notes at the bottom right. Fourth, a brunette woman in a strapless yellow gown stands at the right edge holding a white baton aloft, mouth open as if calling time. Fifth, the whole scene is framed by a wide honey-gold moulding with a dark inner bevel.
Setting
- A small-town american main street at night across the top third: deep blue sky, dark silhouetted trees and rooftops, brick and stone buildings with lit windows, a street lamp, a traffic signal, and a yellow arrow-shaped road sign reading million row mounted on a pole. the lower two thirds shift to an abstract outdoor parade ground: a pale cream-to-white sky over a flat bright green lawn dotted with plain coloured circles and scattered black music notes.
Symbols
- Nine stacked rectangular score-ladder panels edged in dark blue, alternating red and navy, each with a white underline stroke beneath the trailing zeros. five red circular discs with white ring borders carrying single white block letters. flat plain coloured circles scattered on the green field (yellow, red, orange, magenta) resembling target or jackpot spots. small solid black musical note symbols sprinkled over the green. a yellow arrow-shaped road sign. street lamp and traffic signal silhouettes.
Lettering
- Bold hand-painted sans-serif block capitals with heavy black outlines. road sign letters are thin condensed dark capitals on a yellow field. the guys letters are large red capitals on yellow placards. the dolls letters are white with black outlines centred in red discs. score numerals are large white block digits with a slight inline highlight, each aligned left in its panel. points appears in white capitals with a black outline, arcing across the green field.
Themes
- Marching band
- Parade
- Band members
- Drum majorette
- Cheerleaders
- Small town street
- Night scene
- Score ladder
- Musical notes
- Dance line
- Top hats and tails
Text on it
- MILLION ROW
- GUYS
- DOLLS
- POINTS
- 900000
- 800000
- 700000
- 600000
- 500000
- 400000
- 300000
- 200000
- 100000
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Other | Counted individually. top row: four marching men visible in profile striding left to right, each in a plum/maroon tailcoat with tails, white shirt front, dark trousers and a tall white top hat, each carrying a yellow rectangular placard on a pole; the placards bear the red letters g, u, y and s. middle row: five girls in a kicking high-step line, each with a blue-and-white gingham sun bonnet, matching gingham swim-suit, bare legs raised behind, white shoes, and a red disc with a white block letter bearing d, o, l, l and s in order. bottom right: one brunette woman with a gold headband in a strapless bright yellow dress, arm raised holding a white baton. lower left edge: a partially cropped band member in dark blue holding a brass instrument. figures total at least eleven, several cropped by the frame. |
Illuminated backglass with a wooden/gold frame showing a marching band parade. A vertical score ladder of nine alternating red and dark-blue panels runs down the left edge, each panel printed with white numerals descending 900000, 800000, 700000, 600000, 500000, 400000, 300000, 200000 to 100000, each with a white underline beneath the last three zeroes. The upper background is a night street scene of dark blue sky, silhouetted trees, brick and stone buildings with lit windows, a street lamp, and a yellow arrow sign reading MILLION ROW. Across the middle a row of men in plum/maroon tailcoats, white shirts and tall white top hats stride left to right carrying yellow placards with red letters spelling GUYS. Below them five cheerleader girls in blue-and-white gingham bonnets and swimsuits with white shoes kick high, each holding a red disc with a white block letter, spelling DOLLS. The lower right is a bright green field scattered with flat coloured circles (yellow, red, orange, magenta) and small black musical notes, beside a dark-haired woman in a strapless yellow dress raising a white baton.