# Episode 195 - 1948 Gottlieb Jack 'N Jill

**Source:** For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2015-09-22  
**Duration:** 16m 0s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://foramusementonly.libsyn.com/episode-195-1948-gottlieb-jack-n-jill

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## Analysis

Nick Baldridge discusses the 1948 Gottlieb Jack 'N Jill, a classic woodrail pinball machine from the Fairy Tale series. He highlights Roy Parker's exceptional artwork featuring suggestive imagery, innovative flipper design with reverse articulation, early use of flashers, and backglass animation. Baldridge praises the game's availability of reproduction parts and expresses enthusiasm about potentially seeing it at the upcoming York show.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Jack 'N Jill was fourth in the Gottlieb Fairy Tale series — _Nick Baldridge, podcast host, discussing game history_
- [HIGH] The flippers were arranged in two sets of three on either side in reverse articulated fashion, allowing players to bat the ball backwards and forwards — _Baldridge explaining mechanical innovation, comparing to Humpty Dumpty design_
- [MEDIUM] Jack's eyes flashing in time with playfield events represent the first use of flashers in pinball — _Baldridge's interpretation of the mechanic as 'essentially the first use of flashers in a pinball machine'_
- [HIGH] Roy Parker's artwork from this period characteristically depicted male characters as buffoonish while women were drawn as more put-together objects of desire — _Baldridge's art historical observation about Parker's style_
- [HIGH] The game uses a projection credit unit with a turning reel to display replay count through the backglass — _Baldridge describing typical Gottlieb backbox technology of the era_

### Notable Quotes

> "the artwork on this is Roy Parker uh... fairytale fantasy and it is spot on uh... there's all kinds of uh... innuendo and little jokes"
> — **Nick Baldridge**
> _Establishes the artistic appeal and suggestive nature of Parker's design work_

> "with them you can bat the ball backwards and forwards and basically adjust your descent as you go down the playfield... this is pretty big innovation"
> — **Nick Baldridge**
> _Explains the mechanical innovation of reverse articulated flippers in historical context_

> "By today standards of course this is not very exciting The flippers are not very powerful"
> — **Nick Baldridge**
> _Contextualizes gameplay within modern player expectations vs. historical standards_

> "diamond bumpers I i think there really cool uh... hands uh... are fairly unique to woodrails"
> — **Nick Baldridge**
> _Highlights distinctive woodrail mechanical feature_

> "his eyes will flash in time with certain events on the playfield. This makes him look like he is cartoonishly dizzy, but it's also a fairly nifty effect. Conclusion by flashing lamps you have what are essentially the first use of flashers in a pinball machine."
> — **Nick Baldridge**
> _Claims early innovator status for flasher technology in pinball_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Nick Baldridge | person | Host of For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast, woodrail game enthusiast and collector |
| Roy Parker | person | Artist who created backglass and playfield artwork for Jack 'N Jill and other Gottlieb games |
| Jack 'N Jill | game | 1948 Gottlieb pinball machine, fourth in the Fairy Tale series, classic woodrail title |
| Gottlieb | company | Pinball manufacturer, maker of Jack 'N Jill and other classic machines |
| Humpty Dumpty | game | Earlier Gottlieb Fairy Tale game with similar flipper arrangement that influenced Jack 'N Jill design |
| York show | event | Upcoming pinball collector/woodrail show that Nick Baldridge anticipates machines appearing at |
| Nightclub | game | Machine that Nick Baldridge is currently restoring and plans to bring to York show |
| For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast | organization | Podcast series hosted by Nick Baldridge focused on electromechanical and woodrail pinball |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Gottlieb Fairy Tale series history and design evolution, Woodrail flipper innovation and mechanical design, Roy Parker artwork and artistic trends in 1940s pinball, Early flasher technology and backglass animation
- **Secondary:** Game restoration and reproduction parts availability, Woodrail collector community and shows, Gottlieb cabinetry and mechanical systems (ball handling)
- **Mentioned:** Replay mechanisms and scoring design

### Sentiment

**Neutral** (0)

### Signals

- **[historical_signal]** Jack 'N Jill (1948) as fourth game in Gottlieb Fairy Tale series with incremental flipper and animation improvements over predecessors like Humpty Dumpty (confidence: high) — Baldridge's discussion of series progression and flipper arrangement lineage
- **[design_innovation]** Reverse articulated dual flipper sets enabling ball movement across playfield horizontally—described as significant innovation for 1948 gameplay (confidence: high) — Detailed explanation of flipper mechanics and their gameplay impact
- **[design_innovation]** Jack's eyes flashing in synchronization with playfield events interpreted as earliest use of flasher technology in pinball (confidence: medium) — Baldridge's claim: 'essentially the first use of flashers in a pinball machine'
- **[restoration_signal]** Availability of reproduction parts for Jack 'N Jill makes restoration viable; reproduction backglass noted as improving player experience (confidence: high) — Baldridge's emphasis on repro availability and his observation of new reproduction backglass enhancing gameplay
- **[community_signal]** Woodrail collector interest sustains York show attendance; Baldridge notes lack of direct contact with collectors restricts interview opportunities (confidence: high) — Comments about York show theme and difficulty reaching woodrail collectors
- **[historical_signal]** Roy Parker's 1940s art style analysis: male characters depicted as buffoonish, female characters more composed yet sexualized (confidence: high) — Detailed art historical observation about Parker's gender representation in Gottlieb artwork
- **[design_philosophy]** Jack 'N Jill implements four distinct replay win conditions: sequence completion, kick-out holes, score thresholds, and operator setup—complex for 1948 machine (confidence: high) — Baldridge's enumeration of replay paths and scoring mechanisms
- **[event_signal]** Nick Baldridge preparing Nightclub for York show with final assembly; using show as thematic podcast episode framework (confidence: high) — Opening remarks about parts installation and York show focus for episode series

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## Transcript

 Let nice, Nicholas Baldridge. An exciting day. I was able to get all the parts installed for Nightclub and this game is running perfectly. So I'm very excited and it will definitely make it to York. Side rails are getting installed on Saturday. But tonight I wanted to continue in my York show theme here bungee problem, điều국 fill redo отс Thiupsu Heckon,AUL Cour 굿 lunge,hackahinkoon fictionalin&hams Spiritualy tester Mitsuigence, pagoda mandjust Mushaelogh 5000,hippocampus. здоров Sommer2022211 and station아 생명,How's it going, Bunun,rule,イ rekordy 꽤 programmaburgICHPiccas downwardback,­502p accountant16107356,htic fpsulsujец nišیâso들ahay,hickas Morufutçuhumaancer,rakt Regznve 1960 king easily easy greasychusujk Management之 NVVRv faitBLO staylobe Você desperationcan ули Job mapor져 Yesterday'as Energie3 been vieräattore prophetictçõvari'Aţêţ'șksòŽź嘩€E,ţšọw7 floartschİRAVsã Come to the York show. Now of course there's no guarantee that any of these titles will be there this year. Unfortunately I'm not in touch with any of the collectors that bring the Woodrail games, otherwise I would attempt to do a little interview, but tonight I wanted to start with a particular favorite of mine from last year's show which was The 1948icipation Gottlieb Fairy tale classic Jack and Jill Now this game endeared itself to me through the artwork more than the gameplay although I did enjoy the gameplay quite a bit and I'll get into that momentarily the artwork on this is Roy Parker uh... fairytale fantasy and it is spot on uh... there's all kinds of uh... innuendo and little jokes and uh... i think it's pretty nifty artwork this game has back glass animation uh... jack and jill go up the hill of course to fetch a pail of water jack falls down, breaks his crown and jill comes tumbling after. Well that plays out in backlash animation uh... as you score Points points that is pretty nifty aside from that uh... this game had of course Gottlieb's famous flipper bumpers as the flyer says Jack and Jill was actually fourth in the fairy tale series and so by this time of course everybody expected the games to have flippers they were still arranged in the same way that they were for Humpty Dumpty meaning there were two sets of three flippers arranged on either side of the playfield in a reverse articulated fashion with them you can bat the ball backwards and forwards and basically adjust your descent as you go down the playfield if you think about it in context this is pretty big innovation so normally you're going to be on one side or the other and you've got a very skillfully nudge in order to get it over to the other side and vice versa but with this you can actually move the ball over to the other side and perhaps complete a portion of the sequence that you wouldn be able to otherwise Now By today standards of course this is not very exciting The flippers are not very powerful and you can't actually travel up the playfield or rather I guess you can but it's very very very difficult if you're able to. If you're able to consistently, I'd love to hear about it This game's playfield artwork is also fantastic and Mr. Parker has illustrated the scene of Jack and Jill cresting the hill at the top of the playfield. The wishingwell integrated around a bumper that's normally unlit but when lit scores 10,000 points. Now directly under the well is the hill you can see on either side and the sun beaming at Jill. And in the hill there is a rollover that either advances a bonus or Scores special when lit. And that actually lights by completing the Jack sequence, J-A-C-K. Now there's also a Jill sequence and Jack and Jill are both similarly completed. There are two rollovers which will light when you roll over them. for a and c and then j and k and jack are two passive bumpers at the top of the playfield down at the bottom of the playfield there are two kick out holes j and i and then two passive bumpers l and l right in the center of the playfield there's a diamond bumper that winlet scores fifty thousand points and im personally really like diamond pumpers I i think there really cool uh... hands uh... are fairly unique to what rails you know you don't see them very often beyond them and uh... this shape is very interesting in the way that the uh... all physics play into that this is pretty cool but on either side of the middle set of flippers You have two rollovers. One spots I and the other spots J. Now that actually lights J and I at the holes down at the bottom and the two kick out holes are make up part of Jack's bow tie and when you land in one of those little score uh... replay there's a middle kick out hole which is kind of the center of jack and when you land in that when you've completed the sequence jack and Jill It score anywhere from 1 to 10 replays There are also replays awarded at score thresholds based on the operator setup So there are no less than four different ways to win replays on this game So let get back to the artwork where we left off with that They were at the Wishing Well The sun is beaming at Jill and Jill is wearing a two-piece outfit. Towards the middle of the playfield near the middle set of flippers, Jack and Jill are taking their tumble and Jack is holding the pail of water and falling and pouring the water all over himself and Jill is rolling down the hill. and is sitting on her bottom. Jack is in the middle of the playfield. His eyes are rollover buttons and he's got a massive bump on the top of his head. And there's a lady off to his left, again wearing a two-piece outfit that is putting vinegar on a cloth and is about to rub it on Jack's head. Now obviously all this artwork is very suggestive and one of the interesting things about Roy Parker artwork of this period is that he tended to draw the male characters on his games, ForgottenLib, as buffoonish clowns. Meanwhile the women are much more put together, however obviously objects of desire. One of the really neat features of this game are Jack's eyes which will flash in time with certain events on the playfield. This makes him look like he is cartoonishly dizzy, but it's also a fairly nifty effect. Conclusion by flashing lamps you have what are essentially the first use of flashers in a pinball machine. Pretty cool and obviously something in heavy use today but pretty new and exciting stuff for 1948alous. Now you have the classic Gottlieb cabinetry, which is just very sturdy looking and very nice. The artwork on the cabinet is geometric shapes as per normal with a diamond pattern, predominantlyantly All right, where is my buddy on a roster? Fante. Fante! Oh, here we go. Let's get a Intro Booth. Let's do this. Let's get the intro so that we can get the intro started. Okay. especially a fresh new one that Steve Young makes, just beautiful pieces. But this game has the typical Gottlieb large apron area, and the game has no trough to speak of Instead it got a metal cover that the coin slide pushes as part of the baffle And when it pushed all the balls drop down into a subway system that you spoon up with the spoon switch Now Gottlieb actually used a second plunger. It wasn't exactly a spoon, but it functioned in the same way and so I'm just calling them spoons because that is easier to describe than second smaller plunger directly underneath of the main plunger. The game was released in 2014 in 2014 and it was a blast to play I thought it was fantastic there was a new reproduction Jack and Jill back glass in it and I think that made a big difference just as far as player enjoyment because the back glass animation is so Key to the game and got the main several games that used a very similar style at that class animation now as far as the backlash itself this is also the era and when got label was using the projection credit unit and that would shine through A special reel that was mounted in the backbox. A lamp would be behind it and as that reel turned it would show a different number through the glass and so you'd know how many replays you had left. Now the backglass is something I didn't touch on. Of course all your scoring happens on the backglass and this is a lighted scoring game of course because there are no score Reels in 1948 that were in wide use certainly. So Jack and Jill are holding hands and climbing up the hill. There are multicolored buckets down at the bottom andcrenelated scores listed along the top. Jack and Jill arerepresented in a cartoonish form holding onto their respective names. And there's a flag planted on the hill with DeGotly. Just beautiful overall artwork and I again just can't say enough about how wonderful this game was. I think it would be a title that I would certainly jump at given the opportunity especially due to the amount of repro parts that are available including that Tyler Wheeler, Chickie Pee Playbooking bulgari and Crosstown Clienteship thirty, má deparment give the way notange 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 at nbaldridge, or you can listen to us on our website which is formusementonly.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: b9000d2a-6d96-406d-915f-8438ab833259*