Derby Day

Derby Day, manufactured by D. Gottlieb & Company in August 1936, is an early electro-mechanical payout machine from the pre-flipper era of pinball. Built around a horse racing theme, it reflects a period when coin-operated pin games were closely tied to gambling-style play, offering payouts rather than the skill-based scoring of later machines. Interestingly, the backglass does not display the game's name at all - instead it shows the words 'TRACK ODDS'.

The playfield features 28 trap holes, the core play mechanic of many 1930s pin games: balls launched onto the playfield settle into holes that determine the outcome. Operators could order the game with a variety of options, including a mystery single or multiple coin slot, a ticket-dispensing version, a check separator, and a D.C. Adaptopak, and it came Electropak-equipped with optional battery operation. It also carried the then-new A.B.T. No. 400 coin slot.

Derby Day was one of several themed variants Gottlieb built on the same design in 1936: 'College Football' carried a football theme, 'High Card' a playing card theme, and 'Hit Parade' a baseball theme. Little is documented about its designer or production numbers, but as an artifact of the payout-machine era it offers a window into pinball's earliest commercial forms.