1951 · Williams
Spark Plugs
Mottled orange-and-tan sky filling the upper half, pale blue racetrack grandstand packed with a crowd under a maroon roof, red, white and blue bunting strung along the track rail, green turf across the lower third and row of flat coloured discs and white stars along the top border.
- Year
- 1951
- Maker
- Williams
- Type
- Electro-mechanical
- Display
- Backglass lights
- Players
- 1
Made by
- Design
- Harry Williams
- Art
- George Molentin
Vision analysis
On the backglass
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Backglass
- orange
- yellow
- purple
- green
Fingerprint: spark plugs: oversized chrome-white spark plugs curved along both glass edges as brackets, purple swooping band reading "1 through 9 millions" with stars between numbers, full horse race with finish and start towers bunting four racing jockeys, bottom betting grid headed "selections" with win place show rows and horse names, colorful cartoon style
A pair of oversized chrome-and-white spark plugs curved along both edges of the glass like decorative brackets, each wrapped with big coloured score numbers. Directly beneath the title, a purple swooping band of numbers 1 through 9 with stars between them reading MILLIONS. A full painted horse race in the middle band, complete with FINISH and START towers, bunting and four racing jockeys. The bottom third is a racehorse betting grid headed SELECTIONS with WIN, PLACE and SHOW rows naming horses like STRING BEAN and CHERRY KID. A row of six coloured numbered panels over the strip HOSS'S ACROSS FINISH LINE.
Setting
- Mottled orange-and-tan sky filling the upper half
- Pale blue racetrack grandstand packed with a crowd under a maroon roof
- Red, white and blue bunting strung along the track rail
- Green turf across the lower third
- Row of flat coloured discs and white stars along the top border
Symbols
- Spark plugs
- White five-pointed stars
- Row of coloured discs
- Red-white-blue bunting swags
- Red shield and orange lightning-bolt shapes in the turf
- Yellow disc with a red spark plug in each bottom corner
Lettering
- Title in huge yellow block capitals with red outline and dark shadow; gold cursive signature word at upper left; white spaced capitals on the purple arc and on the black hoss's across finish line strip; selections in white capitals between stars; bold white-on-colour payout numerals in the grid
Themes
- Horse racing
- Automotive ignition parts
- Arcade gambling
- Flags and bunting
- Star and disc border
Title on it
- Spark plugs
Text on it
- Williams
- SPARK PLUGS
- 80
- 90
- 70
- 60
- 50
- 40
- 30
- 10
- 20
- MILLIONS
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- HOSS'S ACROSS FINISH LINE
- FINISH
- START
- SELECTIONS
- WIN
- PLACE
- SHOW
- STRING BEAN
- LEMON DROP
- CHERRY KID
- BLUE HORSE
- PINK LADY
- PALE FACE
- 1st
- 2nd
- 3rd
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Animal | Four racehorses galloping to the right along the tan track, painted in chestnut, bay and dark brown, each with a jockey crouched low in brightly coloured silks (red, yellow and white patterns) and small helmets |
| Other | A dense dark crowd of hundreds of tiny stylised spectators seated in long tiered rows of the grandstand, drawn as repeating blue and white dots and dashes |
| Other | White wooden judging or finish tower at the far left with a red diagonal brace and a finish sign on its face |
| Other | Red start post with a small flag at the right-hand side of the track |
A wide painted backglass in a cartoon/comic style, dominated by a warm mottled orange-and-tan sky. Across the very top runs a border of large flat coloured discs (yellow, green, red, blue, pale blue) with small white five-pointed stars in the gaps between them. Below that, a gold cursive word sits at upper left and the title SPARK PLUGS spans the width in huge yellow block capitals with a red outline and dark drop shadow. Big white-and-chrome spark plugs curve up the left and right sides like brackets, their insulators carrying score numbers (80, 90, 70, 60 on the left; 50, 40, 30, 10, 20 on the right). A broad purple arc across the middle carries the numbers 1 to 9 separated by white stars and the word MILLIONS. Beneath it a row of six coloured square panels numbered 1 to 6 (green, orange, orange, blue, pink, white) sits above a black strip reading HOSS'S ACROSS FINISH LINE. The middle band is a horse race: a pale blue grandstand packed with a dark crowd under a maroon roof, red-white-blue bunting along the rail, a white FINISH tower at far left, a red START post at right, and four galloping horses with colourfully silked jockeys crossing to the right. The lower third is green turf carrying a SELECTIONS star banner and a three-row WIN / PLACE / SHOW payout grid listing STRING BEAN, LEMON DROP, CHERRY KID, BLUE HORSE, PINK LADY and PALE FACE, plus 1st, 2nd, 3rd tiles. A large spark plug with a yellow insulator and red-and-white threaded base stands in each bottom corner.