1959 · Gottlieb
Hi-Diver
Known for Backglass diver animation, Diving points, Green saucers and Upper flippers. Outdoor hotel swimming pool, white multi-storey hotel building, palm tree and trimmed hedges, pale blue sky and turquoise pool water.
- Year
- 1959
- Maker
- Gottlieb
- Type
- Electro-mechanical
- Display
- Backglass lights
- Players
- 1
Known for
- Toy
Backglass diver animation
- Display
Diving points
- saucer
Green saucers
- extra flipper
Upper flippers
- Target
On Pop Bumpers target
On the playfield
Toy 1
- Backglass diver animation
Holes 2
- Green saucers saucer
- Red saucer saucer
Bumper 1
- Top passive bumpers
Targets 2
- On Pop Bumpers target
- Off Pop Bumpers target
Lane 1
- Upper out lanes
Flipper 1
- Upper flippers extra flipper
Controls 2
- Rollover buttons button
- Lower rollover button button
Lights 1
- Fair-Good-Excellent-Super-Genius lights
Display 1
- Diving points
On the backglass
Who and what
- man Man in red swim trunks standing on a yellow springboard at lower left
- man Man in white trunks and blue cap standing on a second diving board mid-left
- man Tanned man seen from behind in red-and-white trunks at bottom centre-left
- man Tanned man seen from behind with white towel over shoulder, bottom left
- woman Woman in dark blue one-piece swimsuit and swim cap, bottom centre
- woman Woman in yellow one-piece swimsuit and blue cap, bottom centre
Setting
- Outdoor hotel swimming pool
- White multi-storey hotel building
- Palm tree and trimmed hedges
- Pale blue sky
- Turquoise pool water
Text on it
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 100
- 200
- 300
- 400
- 500
- 600
- 700
- 800
- 900
- 00
- 10
- 20
- 30
- 40
- 50
- 60
- 70
- 80
- 90
- MILLION
- THOUSAND
- GENIUS
- SUPER
- EXCELLENT
- GOOD
- FAIR
- GATLER'S
- HI-DIVER
- Amusement Pinball
- D. Gottlieb & Co.
Made by
- Design
- Wayne Neyens
- Art
- Roy Parker
Reference
Backglass vision analysis
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Backglass
- turquoise
- blue
- white
- red
Fingerprint: HI-DIVER title in tall red block letters beside white hotel block marked GATLER'S, enormous smooth grey-green ball dominating center with red-yellow-black beach-ball emblem, printed score ladder across top with colored number boxes 1 to 7, vertical rating-word ladder down right (MILLION THOUSAND GENIUS SUPER EXCELLENT GOOD FAIR), sunny 1950s hotel pool
The most memorable element is the colossal smooth grey-green ball that fills the middle of the artwork, with a red, yellow and black beach-ball emblem printed on it, dwarfing the tiny swimmers around it. Second is the enormous HI-DIVER title in tall red block capitals with a white and blue drop shadow, set beside a white hotel block signed GATLER'S. Third, the top of the glass is a complete printed score ladder of coloured number boxes running 1 to 7 and 00 to 900, with a matching vertical ladder of rating words (MILLION, THOUSAND, GENIUS, SUPER, EXCELLENT, GOOD, FAIR) down the right edge. Finally, the whole scene is a sunny 1950s-style hotel swimming pool painted in flat cartoon colour, with a crowd of tiny figures in swimsuits.
Setting
- Outdoor hotel swimming pool
- White multi-storey hotel building
- Palm tree and trimmed hedges
- Pale blue sky
- Turquoise pool water
Symbols
- Giant grey-green ball
- Red-yellow-black beach ball emblem
- Diving boards
- Pool ladders
- Palm tree
- Sunbathers
- Yellow and red rubber ducks near bottom right
Lettering
- Tall condensed red sans-serif block capitals with white and blue drop shadow for the title; black hand-lettered script for the artwork credit; black script on a red-white-blue flag panel for the company signature; black block capitals inside coloured arrow tags for the rating ladder
Themes
- Swimming pool
- Diving
- Hotel holiday
- Huge ball
- Ball game
- Summer seaside resort
Title on it
- Hi-diver
Text on it
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 100
- 200
- 300
- 400
- 500
- 600
- 700
- 800
- 900
- 00
- 10
- 20
- 30
- 40
- 50
- 60
- 70
- 80
- 90
- MILLION
- THOUSAND
- GENIUS
- SUPER
- EXCELLENT
- GOOD
- FAIR
- GATLER'S
- HI-DIVER
- Amusement Pinball
- D. Gottlieb & Co.
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Man | Man in red swim trunks standing on a yellow springboard at lower left |
| Man | Man in white trunks and blue cap standing on a second diving board mid-left |
| Man | Tanned man seen from behind in red-and-white trunks at bottom centre-left |
| Man | Tanned man seen from behind with white towel over shoulder, bottom left |
| Woman | Woman in dark blue one-piece swimsuit and swim cap, bottom centre |
| Woman | Woman in yellow one-piece swimsuit and blue cap, bottom centre |
| Man | Man in orange swim trunks and cap beside the grey ball's lower right edge |
| Woman | Woman in a pale swimsuit standing on the diving platform at right |
| Other | Several small bathers and sunbathers scattered around the pool edges and in the water at the right |
A landscape-format backglass in a pale wooden outer frame, dominated by a bright outdoor swimming-pool scene. Across the top runs a dark blue score ladder: large block numerals 1 to 7 in alternating red, green and white, above two rows of boxed numbers (100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900, then 00 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90) each in a coloured lozenge. A vertical ladder of yellow, red, green and orange arrow-shaped tags runs down the right edge, reading MILLION, THOUSAND, THOUSAND, GENIUS, SUPER, EXCELLENT, GOOD and FAIR. Below the ladder, a white multi-storey hotel block with red trim carries the word GATLER'S, and beside it the huge title HI-DIVER in tall red block capitals with a white and blue drop shadow, the I's dotted with round dots. The centre of the glass is dominated by an enormous smooth grey-green ball, wider than a person is tall, marked with a red, yellow and black beach ball emblem. Turquoise water and pale blue sky surround it. Around the pool stand many small figures in swimsuits, plus diving boards, ladders, a palm tree, hedges and loungers. Bottom centre reads Amusement Pinball in black script, and the bottom right carries a red, white and blue D. Gottlieb & Co. signature panel.