Big Top

Big Top, produced by V. P. Distributing Company of St. Louis, Missouri in 1944, is an electro-mechanical (EM) pinball machine built during World War II, a period of reduced pinball manufacturing as companies redirected resources to the war effort. Like several of V.P. Distributing's wartime releases, Big Top was a conversion of an existing game — in this case, Gottlieb's 1940 title Big Show — repurposed under a new name and cabinet.

Gameplay on Big Top follows the flipperless EM format typical of its era: a single player navigates the ball through the playfield relying on tilt and timing rather than flipper control, since flippers would not be introduced to pinball until 1947. The machine's electro-mechanical components, including relays and solenoids, register scoring events on the backbox.

Little is documented about Big Top's specific artwork or theme, which is common for these wartime conversion games. Its rarity and its status as a product of pinball's WWII-era manufacturing constraints make it a notable piece for collectors and historians studying this transitional period in the industry.