Automatic Age

A utomatic A ge
September, 1932
I D E A S
w ith
a
B A L L Y
9
P U N C H
o n
P U T
T O P
The Will Plus the Ability to Lead—That’s the Story Back
of the Bally Manufacturing Company’s Spectacular Rise
By Dana Hubbard
ITHIN a few month’s time
and during the most acute
period of business distress
the world has yet known, a new
leader has forged boldly to the front
in the field of coin-operated amuse­
ment devices. That leader’s growth
has been rapid. Its success has been
one of the sensations of 1932. Yet
there is nothing mysterious or baffling
about this record of achievement.
W
The organization referred to is the
Bally Manufacturing Company which
came into being some nine months
ago in Chicago. Today, h a v i n g
l a u n c h e d Ballyhoo, Ballyround,
Screwy, and 3-Ring Circus, this
company is recognized as the largest
manufacturer of pin games in this
country. Which, of course, means in
the world.
GOOFY, the Bally company’s new­
est game, is now confidently expected
to prove its most successful venture.
It has just been announced and there
are indications that it will set new
records for popularity and profits in
the months that lie just ahead.
Building a Business from the
Ground Up
Now what are the real reasons back
of Bally’s phenomenal rise during the
black days of this year of economic
© In te rn atio na l A rc a d e M use um
disaster? Just what are the forces,
the ideas, aims and policies that en­
abled this youthful company to take
root and grow while so many others
were failing and folding up? Those
questions have been asked often.
Here for the first time is the real
story, given to A u t o m a t i c A g e now
in the belief first, that it will prove
to be of more than casual interest to
thousands of jobbers and operators of
coin machines and, secondly, that
some of the i d e a s and policies
touched on may p r o v e valuable
enough to be taken over and adapted
to their own business problems.
It was in January of this year that
Ray T. Moloney with J. D. Linehan
and Chas. A. Weldt organized the
Bally Manufacturing Company as a
division of the Lion Manufacturing
Company which has been in business
in Chicago for a number of years.
The pin game, it seemed to him, had
the possibilities of developing into a
tremendous vogue, provided it was
developed and merchandised as op­
posed to being dumped on its market.
When the idea for a different type of
pin game was brought to him, he
promptly s e n s e d its possibilities.
With this idea as a nucleus, Mr. Mo­
loney began to organize those forces
that take ideas and theories, perfect
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