Amber

Amber is an electro-mechanical pinball machine released by Williams Manufacturing Company on January 8, 1947 — only the company's third model, from its earliest years as a game manufacturer. Notably, it is a flipperless game: 1947 was the very year flippers debuted on Gottlieb's 'Humpty Dumpty', and Amber, released in January, represents pinball as it existed on the eve of that transformation.

The playfield is built around twelve passive bumpers, a standard configuration for the period. Without flippers, play centers on the skill of the plunge and careful nudging as the ball cascades through the bumper field — a more tactile, chance-inflected experience than the games that would follow.

The backglass, measuring 22 by 19 inches, carries a playful depiction of women, a common theme of the era. An interesting production footnote: the manufacturer's original playfield drawing for Amber is undated, unsigned, and looks little like the production playfield, and it bears three crossed-out candidate names — 'Kitty', 'Aloha', and 'Lola'.