World War II: Bally shifts to defenseĭuring World War II, Bally shifted from making pinball and slot machines to producing detonator fuses and gun sights to support the war effort.
By the mid-1930s, Bally branched out into slot machines and phased out the punchboard business. The name Bally Manufacturing soon supplanted parent company Lion as the primary moniker in advertisements and popular culture. Ballyhoo became a hit, selling more than 50,000 units within the first seven months. In 1932, he built his first pinball machine at the company’s fourth-floor offices on Erie Street in River North. 1932: Ray Moloney introduces Ballyhoo, a pinball machine that launches an empireĪ Cleveland native who moved to Chicago with his family, Ray Moloney launched a new company in 1931 called Lion Manufacturing that made punchboards - games of chance that used a stylus to reveal prizes - when he was captivated by a pinball machine he saw at a punchboard convention.
