Hoss-Feathers

Hoss-Feathers is a horse-racing-themed pinball design from the Williams Manufacturing Company that was never put into production. Two competing playfield drawings survive: one dated October 8, 1951 and signed by designer Gordon Horlick ("Hoss Feathers"), the other undated and signed with Harry Williams' initials ("Horsefeathers"). Pinball historian Duncan Brown, who examined both, believes Williams' version came first and Horlick's was a later reworking that was ultimately abandoned.

Both versions call for a full-sized single-player layout with reversed flippers flanking a bottom lane, and a striking eight pop bumpers used to advance numbered "horses" on a backbox display -- an ambitious and expensive feature set for the era, which may help explain why the game was shelved.

Because it was never produced, no physical example of Hoss-Feathers exists today. It is not to be confused with Williams' related but distinct, actually-produced 1952 two-player titles, 'Horsefeathers' and 'Sweepstakes.'