Victorious 1945

Victorious 1945, manufactured by Westerhaus Amusement Company of Cheviot, Ohio in April 1945, is a World War II-era conversion of Stoner's 1936 'Turf Champs.' Rather than an entirely new design, it repurposed an existing cabinet and playfield with a new theme reflecting the wartime mood, and was produced several months before the war's end that August. It also holds a place in company history as the last pinball game Westerhaus Amusement Company produced before divesting its pinball operations to the newly formed Westerhaus Manufacturing Company.

As a converted game based on a mid-1930s design, Victorious 1945 predates the invention of the flipper (which arrived in 1947), so its gameplay relies on the plunger and tilt-based skill mechanics typical of the era rather than flipper control.

Unfortunately, very little information is available on Victorious 1945's design, art, or theme beyond its production history and its origins as a Turf Champs conversion. Nevertheless, its footnote as Westerhaus's final pinball release makes it an interesting artifact for collectors and historians tracing the company's transition.