Drum Major

The Drum Major, manufactured by D. Gottlieb & Company in May 1940, is a single-player game from the pre-flipper era of electro-mechanical pinball. It was designed by Harry Mabs, who would later become famous for putting flippers on Gottlieb's 1947 'Humpty Dumpty', with artwork by the prolific Roy Parker.

As a flipperless game, Drum Major's action comes entirely from its playfield hardware: sixteen spring bumpers that the ball caroms through on its way down the playfield. Its theme of majorettes, the baton-twirling leaders of marching bands, gives the game a cheerful parade-ground character.

Beyond its basic specifications and its notable design credits, limited information survives about Drum Major. For those interested in the history of pinball, it offers a glimpse of Gottlieb's output, and of Harry Mabs' work, in the years just before the flipper changed the game forever.