Par Golf

Par Golf, manufactured by the Artists and Creators Guild Incorporated of Chicago in April 1932, is a pure mechanical (non-electric) tabletop/counter golf-themed pinball game, one of five interchangeable playfields sold with a common cabinet. The cabinet was advertised as finished in rich walnut with chromium-plated metal parts, and cost $12.50 with one playfield in 1932; additional playfields were $3.00 each, and a collapsible steel stand cost $1.50.

Gameplay accepted either 1-cent or 5-cent play. As a purely mechanical counter game, Par Golf relied on no electrical components at all, distinguishing it from the electro-mechanical machines that would soon dominate the industry. A June 1932 trade article referred to this family of interchangeable playfields collectively as 'Variety,' though that name does not appear on the playfields themselves.

The artwork was created by A. Raymond Katz (1895-1974), a noted New York muralist and painter of religious art whose work has been exhibited in museums and galleries in the United States and abroad. As one of five interchangeable playfield options for a shared cabinet, Par Golf offers an interesting look at the variety-format counter games of the early 1930s.