Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon, released by United Manufacturing Company in February 1943, is a World War II conversion game: a reworking of Exhibit's 1941 'Double Play' produced at a time when wartime material restrictions prevented manufacturers from building entirely new machines. Conversion games like this one kept arcades and operators supplied during the war years, and they form a distinctive chapter in pinball history.

Gameplay-wise, the Grand Canyon is a flipperless, single-player electro-mechanical game featuring twelve passive bumpers and a single kick-out hole. These elements were common in games of the early 1940s, when play revolved around the plunger launch and the ball's interaction with the playfield rather than player-controlled flippers, which would not arrive until 1947.

Beyond its origins as a wartime conversion, relatively little documentation of the Grand Canyon survives. That scarcity of information adds to its mystique, sparking curiosity among enthusiasts who seek to learn more about the improvised, resourceful side of the pinball industry during World War II.