World Beauties

Released by D. Gottlieb & Company in February 1960, World Beauties is a beauty pageant-themed electro-mechanical pinball machine designed by Wayne Neyens with artwork by Roy Parker. Gottlieb produced 900 units of this single-player game, featuring the creative partnership of Neyens and Parker during one of their most productive periods at the company.

The playfield features two flippers, four pop bumpers, two slingshots, ten standup targets, and three gobble holes, with eight stationary ball guides shaped like flippers adding visual interest to the layout. A distinctive mechanical backbox animation feature uses a spinner-controlled card selection mechanism. The machine shares its playfield layout and ruleset with Gottlieb's 1959 Queen of Diamonds, representing a common practice of the era where manufacturers reused successful designs with new artwork themes.

The beauty pageant theme is executed through Roy Parker's characteristic 1960s illustration style, with the backglass proudly proclaiming "Amusement Pinballs, as American as Baseball and Hot Dogs!" The machine represents the peak years of Gottlieb's electro-mechanical production, when the company dominated the pinball industry with reliable designs and appealing artwork that captured contemporary American culture.