# Episode 359 - 1956 Gottlieb Derby Day

**Source:** For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2016-03-04  
**Duration:** 8m 37s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://foramusementonly.libsyn.com/episode-359-1956-gottlieb-derby-day

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## Analysis

Nick Baldridge provides a detailed analysis of the 1956 Gottlieb Derby Day, a wood-rail electromechanical pinball game featuring horse racing mechanics and four movable horses that advance around a circular track. The game introduced several firsts for Gottlieb, including metal apron and shooter covers with screened artwork, and offers multiple win conditions through horse placement, special collection, or high score. The discussion covers playfield layout, artwork by Roy Parker, gameplay mechanics, and scoring structure.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Gottlieb had previously made a game called Derby Day in the 1930s — _Nick Baldridge opening statement about game history_
- [HIGH] Derby Day was the first game Gottlieb produced with metal apron cover and shooter cover — _Nick Baldridge, discussing apron history and innovation_
- [HIGH] Before metal covers, Gottlieb aprons were wood with decals applied — _Nick Baldridge, comparing manufacturing approaches_
- [HIGH] The game features a visible ball trough on the apron showing number of balls already played — _Nick Baldridge describing right-hand apron feature_
- [HIGH] Artwork is by Roy Parker — _Nick Baldridge discussing game's art package_
- [HIGH] Derby Day uses lighted scoring and predates score reels — _Nick Baldridge in closing technical discussion_
- [HIGH] The game includes the Gottlieb phrase 'Amusement pinballs as American as baseball and hot dogs' — _Nick Baldridge, quoting back glass text_
- [HIGH] A local friend of Nick's has picked up a Derby Day and intends to get it fixed up — _Opening statement about obtaining the game_

### Notable Quotes

> "I have not played a Derby Day, but a friend of mine here locally has picked one up and intends to get it fixed up, and hopefully I'll have some impressions after I give it a shot."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, ~0:30
> _Establishes the source of information and sets up future potential impressions from hands-on play_

> "This is the first game Godly produced with a metal apron cover and shooter cover. Before that, the aprons were wood and essentially had a decal applied."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, ~4:00
> _Documents a significant manufacturing innovation introduced with this game_

> "This game is a fantastic Roy Parker art package"
> — **Nick Baldridge**, ~7:30
> _Attributes artwork and expresses strong approval of the visual design_

> "Any game where you can win in multiple ways is great in my book because you have multiple goals, multiple ways to set that knocker off, to hear that sound that we all strive for so very much."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, ~5:45
> _Explains the appeal of multi-path win conditions and reveals player values around replayability_

> "Can you hear it now? The call to post."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, ~9:00
> _References back glass imagery, building thematic immersion_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Nick Baldridge | person | Host of 'For Amusement Only' EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast, content creator and pinball enthusiast |
| Derby Day | game | 1956 Gottlieb pinball game with horse racing theme, subject of this episode |
| Gottlieb | company | Historic pinball manufacturer that produced Derby Day |
| Roy Parker | person | Pinball artist responsible for artwork on Derby Day |
| For Amusement Only | organization | EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast hosted by Nick Baldridge |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Electromechanical (EM) pinball game design and mechanics, Historical pinball: 1956 Gottlieb innovations and manufacturing, Horse racing themed pinball games
- **Secondary:** Pinball artwork and cabinet aesthetics, Replay and win conditions in vintage pinball, Metal vs. wood apron construction in pinball

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.85) — Nick Baldridge expresses consistent enthusiasm and appreciation for Derby Day's design, artwork, and mechanics throughout the episode. Descriptors like 'phenomenal,' 'fantastic,' and 'very nice' indicate strong approval. No criticisms or negative sentiments are expressed.

### Signals

- **[historical_signal]** Derby Day marked the first use of metal apron and shooter covers by Gottlieb, with screened artwork instead of decals (confidence: high) — Nick Baldridge: 'This is the first game Godly produced with a metal apron cover and shooter cover. Before that, the aprons were wood and essentially had a decal applied.'
- **[design_philosophy]** Derby Day implements multiple win paths (horse placement, special collection, high score), reflecting a design philosophy valuing player agency and replayability (confidence: high) — Nick Baldridge: 'Any game where you can win in multiple ways is great in my book because you have multiple goals, multiple ways to set that knocker off'
- **[gameplay_signal]** The game features four movable horses that advance around concentric circular tracks based on target hits, with winners determined by placement in show/place/win zones (confidence: high) — Detailed playfield mechanics describing horse movement system and three-tier placement scoring
- **[design_innovation]** Derby Day features a visible ball trough on the right side of the apron that displays the number of balls already played (confidence: high) — Nick Baldridge: 'on the right hand side you have a visible ball trough which will show you the number of balls that you've already played pretty clever and very nice actually'
- **[historical_signal]** Derby Day uses lighted scoring and predates the adoption of score reels, representing an earlier stage of pinball scoring technology (confidence: high) — Nick Baldridge: 'The game uses lighted scoring. This is before score reels.'
- **[restoration_signal]** A local collector has acquired a Derby Day with plans to restore it, with Nick Baldridge expecting to play and review it (confidence: high) — Nick Baldridge: 'a friend of mine here locally has picked one up and intends to get it fixed up, and hopefully I'll have some impressions after I give it a shot'

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## Transcript

 What's that sound? It's 4 Amusement Only, the EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast. Welcome back to 4 Amusement Only, this is Nicholas Baldridge. Tonight I wanted to talk about 1956's Gottlieb Derby Day. Gottlieb had actually previously made a game called Derby Day in the 1930s. But this classic wood rail from 1956 looks like a phenomenal game. Now, I have not played a Derby Day, but a friend of mine here locally has picked one up and intends to get it fixed up, and hopefully I'll have some impressions after I give it a shot. The play field for Derby Day is interesting. It's unusual. My best friend the gobble hole comes back and in this case there's only one gobble hole but it's up near the top and so if you have an unlucky plunge then you'll land in the gobble hole and if you are not careful with your flipper aiming then you'll land in the gobble hole as well but otherwise it's a relatively harmless one and being tucked away up near the top near the ball arch you're unlikely to hit it, you know, just from random knocking around. Now this game can be divided into three sections. You've got your ball arch area, which includes four passive bumpers, each one of which corresponds with a horse. There are four horses in total, and each one will move around a track. This track is shown in the center of the playfield, the middle third, and in this middle area you have two bumpers, one on the left and right and various other targets which will advance the horses for certain numbers This is also the area with slingshots and flippers down in the bottom third you have a pop bumper which can pop the ball back up to the flippers then you have four rollovers each of which will advance one of the horses and then some triangular rubber areas which will bounce the ball up into the pop. Now, once the game gets to the out-hole, things get interesting. This is the first game Godly produced with a metal apron cover and shooter cover. Before that, the aprons were wood and essentially had a decal applied. these metal apron covers have the artwork screened directly onto them with the scorned instruction card holder on the left hand side on the right hand side you have a visible ball trough which will show you the number of balls that you've already played pretty clever and very nice actually now let's talk about the gameplay your goal in this game is to advance as many horses as possible up into the win area similar to one ball horse race games you've got three different winning sections, you've got show, place and win the idea is you get as many horses as possible into win, workplace or show, and then light special and collect in the gobble hole. The way you do this is that you line up the horses, all four of them, in a row in any position, and there are multiple positions before you get to show place or win When you do it light special But special is lit right in the center of that middle third of the playfield and it just a rollover button and you can hit it as many times as you want until you move one of the horses and then special will no longer be lit. Now special is also lit at the gobble hole and if you shoot into the gobble hole before any of the horses are in the show section, then you won't win any replays from that. For each horse that you have in the show section, you'll win one replay. Each horse in place earns two replays, and each horse in win scores three replays. Now, they can be in a mixture of these places, so you can have one in win, two in place, and one in show, for example, and you'll win 8 replays total, 3 for the win, 2 times 2 for the place, and then 1 for the show. In this game, you can also win on score, which is fantastic. I mean, any game where you can win in multiple ways is great in my book because you have multiple goals, multiple ways to set that knocker off, to hear that sound that we all strive for so very much. So, let's talk about artwork This game is a fantastic Roy Parker art package You've got the typical geometric shapes on the cabinet For this period of Godly games You've got diamonds and long, thin rectangles On the sides of the cabinet On the playfield, though, things are very interesting. You've got a green area up near the ball arch, kind of resembles grass, and then a gate that the ball can travel through, reminiscent of a derby And then you got the track itself which is comprised of four different concentric circles purple white red and cream Each one of those circles represents one of the horses and there are multiple inserts around the circle. You have three different green highlighted areas, one for show, one for place, and one for win, and then your special rollover button in the center. The lower playfield has a pop bumper right in the center, and it's all red with the word pop on top. Very cool. I always like those early pop bumpers. And then you've got an image of a winking horse drawn in the Roy Parker style down near the outhole. On the back glass, you have a very busy derby. Can you hear it now? The call to post. You've got six horses on the back glass, and then you've got a whole crowd of people watching, some of which are wearing derby hats. The game uses lighted scoring. This is before score reels. And it includes the famous Gottlieb phrase, Amusement pinballs as American as baseball and hot dogs. Good night. Thank you very much for joining me. My name again is Nick Baldrige. You can reach me at 4amusementonlypodcast at gmail.com or you can call me on the bingos line. That's 724-BINGOS-1. 724-246-4671. You can listen to us on iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, via RSS, on Facebook, on Twitter, at Bingo Podcast. You can follow me on Instagram, also at Bingo Podcast. Or you can listen to us on our website, which is foramusementonly.libsyn.com. Thank you very much for listening, and I'll talk to you next time.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 133557ec-61f7-4d60-9bba-be74dbb09184*