1950 · Williams
Nifty
Bright cyan sky with scattered white clouds, snow-covered mountain slope and pine forest, frozen lake or skating rink in the foreground and brown timber ski lodge with glowing yellow windows.
- Year
- 1950
- Maker
- Williams
- Type
- Electro-mechanical
- Display
- Backglass lights
- Players
- 1
Made by
- Design
- Harry Williams
- Design
- Gordon Horlick
- Art
- George Molentin
Vision analysis
On the backglass
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Backglass
- cyan
- orange-red
- yellow
- white
Fingerprint: NIFTY in slanted magenta block capitals dotted with white stars on cyan sky, five female figure skaters in vivid 1970s knitwear gliding on snowy ice, brown timber lodge with lit yellow windows behind, ten numbered pennant flags on angled poles, three curved scoring bands
The most memorable element is the oversized 'NIFTY' title, whose star-dusted magenta block letters sprawl diagonally across a cyan sky. Second, the scoring layout is unusual: the numbers 1 to 9 are read as MILLION, with 'MILLION' spelled in white at the far right of the orange band. Ten brightly coloured numbered pennant flags (1 to 10) on crooked poles form a double arc that frames a group of five female skaters. A brown lodge with lit yellow windows sits dead centre behind them on a white snowfield.
Setting
- Bright cyan sky with scattered white clouds
- Snow-covered mountain slope and pine forest
- Frozen lake or skating rink in the foreground
- Brown timber ski lodge with glowing yellow windows
Symbols
- Ten numbered pennant flags on poles
- White star motifs inside the title letters
- Three small circles under each score number
- Coniferous pine trees
- Snow-laden lodge
Lettering
- Slanted italic block capitals, magenta with white star speckle, white keyline and dark drop shadow; company name in red cursive script; 'million' in plain white sans-serif capitals; score numerals in rounded white and yellow block digits.
Themes
- Skiing
- Figure skating
- Winter sports
- Alpine resort
- Christmas
- Score values as millions
Title on it
- Nifty
Text on it
- Williams
- NIFTY
- MILLION
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 100
- 200
- 300
- 400
- 500
- 600
- 700
- 800
- 900
- 10
- 20
- 30
- 40
- 50
- 60
- 70
- 80
- 90
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Woman | Largest figure, centre foreground: blonde hair swept back in a 1970s feathered style, magenta long-sleeved top, bright green short flared skirt, white tights and white skates, arms flung wide and back, head turned to the right, skating left to right. |
| Woman | Right side: blonde bobbed hair, red-orange sweater, white and pink short skirt, white skates, arms out horizontally, leaning into a turn. |
| Woman | Mid-left, third figure: blonde hair, green sweater, dark red plaid skirt, white skates, arms extended, facing right. |
| Woman | Mid-left, second figure: blonde hair, red top with green skirt, white skates, arms out, side-on. |
| Woman | Far left, smallest skater: magenta top and dark skirt, white skates, arms raised, partly overlapped by a flagpole. |
A painted ski-resort backglass. The upper third is a bright cyan-blue sky with white clouds, overlaid by three wide scoring bands that curve gently across the panel. The top band is orange-red carrying a huge 'NIFTY' title in slanted block capitals filled with magenta and dotted with small white stars, each letter outlined white with a dark drop shadow, and a red cursive company name above it. The middle band is yellow, and the lowest band is blue. Between them run the score values: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 with 'MILLION' at the right, then a row of 100 through 900 each underlined by three small circles, then 10 through 90 on the yellow band, again circle-underlined. Below, a snowfield slopes down to a brown timber ski lodge with a steep snow-covered roof, glowing yellow windows and a central gable. Five female figure skaters in bright 1970s knitwear glide across the ice, and ten numbered pennant flags on angled poles arc across the scene. Colours: cyan blue, orange-red, yellow, white, with magenta and green accents.