Phoenix

Phoenix, manufactured by Williams Manufacturing Company in January 1949, is essentially the same game as Williams' 1948 'Rainbow' with a new backglass. Designed by Harry Williams with art by George Molentin, roughly 400 units were made.

A single-player electro-mechanical machine, Phoenix features two flippers, one pop bumper, and two kick-out holes — a modest, compact feature set typical of late-1940s pinball design. Its American Places theme reflects the era's fondness for domestic, homegrown subject matter.

As a backglass reskin of an existing title rather than a wholly new design, Phoenix offers an interesting look at how manufacturers of the period stretched a single game design across multiple releases, giving operators a "new" game with minimal retooling.