American Beauty

The American Beauty, manufactured by Daval Manufacturing Co. of Chicago, Illinois in 1934, is an early example of a commercial electro-mechanical (EM) pinball machine, continuing the production of G.B. Daval Company's 1934 'American Beauty (Improved).' It offers valuable insight into the state of pinball just as the industry was taking shape.

As a single-player EM game from 1934, American Beauty predates the flipper by well over a decade (flippers were not introduced until 1947), so gameplay relied on the machine's mechanical features rather than player-operated paddles — the manufacturer's advertising described a Ball-O-Meter in the lower playfield and a catapult-style ball kicker into a Mystery Score hole in the upper playfield. Interestingly, some period advertisements instead depict a different playfield layout with three decorative aluminum vases around the American Beauty rose and no visible catapult, and researchers have not been able to reconcile which layout matches which production run.

The cabinet was advertised at a compact 36 inches long by 16 1/2 inches wide, with a single bell providing the game's sound. Beyond its dimensions and mechanical layout, little else is documented about the machine's art or design team, but its ambiguous advertising history and place among the earliest Daval-family titles make it a notable curiosity for collectors and historians of pre-war pinball.