Pinball Artwork: Capturing Pop Culture
March 31, 2008
You can study history and cultural anthropology in any number of different ways. One incredible area of historical documentation: pinball machines! From movies and tv shows to music to popular games of each era like bingo, pinoccle or space invaders, pinball themes capture it all.
We ran into this little artistic gem over the weekend and had to have it. It will be displayed prominently in a large kitchen window!
If you want a little slice of history in the form of some pretty extreme artwork (and usually not too expensive), check out some pinball machine back glass of the era. You can find a lot of options at any given time on eBay. And here’s a coupla other sites to peruse:
The Pinball Gallery
Internet Pinball Database
Captain Fantastic - look at those shoes! Apparently, the first run of this artwork had a few of the big-breasted women in the crowd actually unclad. Bally didn’t recognize that until some machines were already in use, and had to go back to the smirking artist for a correction.
The Game Show, Bally
Baywatch, Sega
Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Gottlieb
Stumble it!
Tags: , Art, art series, graphic design, pinball, pop culture
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March 31st, 2008 at 11:54 pm
Yeah Cpt. Fantastic is looking a little more like Mr. Faaaabulous!
April 11th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Hey this is really great. Do you know if anyone has written a book on the history of pinball art? It really is an interesting way to look at the evolution of pop culture over the last few decades!!