Flat-Top

The Flat-Top is a fascinating piece of wartime pinball history from Williams Manufacturing Company. Produced in January 1945, while World War II was still raging, this flipperless electro-mechanical game is a conversion game: with new game production restricted during the war, Williams rebuilt older machines with new artwork and a new identity. Billboard ads confirm the Flat-Top was built as a conversion of Bally's 1940 'Attention' (or possibly Exhibit's 1940 game of the same name), and later ads added Bally's 'Mascot', 'Air Force', 'Silver Skates', 'Mystic', 'Pursuit', 'Pan-American', and 'Crystal' to the list of donor games.

The military theme fits its moment perfectly - "Flat-Top" is military slang for an aircraft carrier, a name sure to resonate with players in early 1945. The playfield features 12 passive bumpers and a single kick-out hole, a straightforward layout typical of the flipperless era.

As one of the conversion games that kept arcades stocked during wartime production restrictions, the Flat-Top offers a window into a resourceful chapter of pinball history, when manufacturers found clever ways to deliver "new" games from old parts.