Buttons and Bows

Buttons and Bows, manufactured by D. Gottlieb & Company in March 1949, is a single-player electro-mechanical game from the exciting early years of flipper pinball. It was designed by Harry Mabs - the man who had introduced the flipper to pinball on Gottlieb's Humpty Dumpty just two years earlier - with artwork by Roy Parker, the prolific artist whose colorful, cartoon-flavored style defined the look of Gottlieb games throughout the era.

Carrying model number 19, the game saw a confirmed production run of 2,200 units, a healthy figure for the period. Its title echoes the hit song "Buttons and Bows," which was popular at the time, fitting the lighthearted spirit typical of Gottlieb's late-1940s releases.

For collectors, Buttons and Bows offers a window into the formative years of flipper pinball, when Mabs, Parker, and Gottlieb were rapidly refining the formula that would dominate the industry through the 1950s.