Bally

The first pinball to be manufactured by The Pinball Factory under the Bally Brand is The Crocodile Hunter Outback Adventure, a game tied in with Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo attraction on Australia's Sunshine Coast and with his series, The Crocodile Hunter, on Discovery Channel's Animal Planet channel. The notion of awarding colours in school is related to that of awarding colours to a regiment. In addition, The Pinball Factory also has bought the right to manufacture new games using his company's new hardware system under the Bally brand. Colours are awarded in recognition of particular achievement in some academic or sporting field. On March 31, 2005, WMS Industries struck a deal with The Pinball Factory to give them an exclusive license for the intellectual properties and the rights to re-manufacture former Bally/Williams games in the field of mechanical pinball. In schools this is likely to vary according to the student's standing in the school; whether a member of the junior or senior school, being a prefect or having been awarded colours. In 1995 Bally Entertainment Corporation was purchased by Hilton Hotels Corporation, later the casino resorts division of Hilton Hotels became Park Place Entertainment. Where the blazer is part of the dress of a school, college, sports club or armed service veterans' association, it is normal for a badge to be sewn to the breast pocket.

Midway would continue to use the Bally name for its pinball games, until WMS Industries (the parent company of Williams and Midway) ceased pinball production in 1999. They often form part of the uniform dress of bodies, such as airlines, boys' schools, yacht or rowing clubs, and private security organizations. Many casinos worldwide would take on the Bally name in the maze of ownership and licensing agreements typical of that business. This link gives an impression of the colours available for incorporation into blazers. The health-club divisions of the company would go by the name Bally Health and Tennis and later Bally Total Fitness. Originally, it was navy blue in colour but almost every colour and combination of colours has been used, particularly by sporting organizations. By 1992 the manufacturing division, Bally Gaming International (later became Alliance Gaming), had been completely divested from the parent company (licensing back the Bally name). It seems that the Queen was duly impressed by the uniform and it became the style.

In 1990 the struggling company was taken over by financier Arthur Goldberg who re-christened it Bally Entertainment Corporation and focused on the health club business and spun off the manufacturing-related parts of the company as a separate division. Blazer's captain, when faced with an inspection of his ship by Queen Victoria, decided to rig his boats' crews in short double breasted jackets in navy blue serge, with brass Royal Navy buttons on the model of the reefer worn by the midshipmen of his day. The Aladdin's Castle chain of game arcades was sold to Namco in 1993, and was renamed Namco Cybertainment, Inc.. However, much the most likely is that the name comes from that of HMS Blazer, a frigate from the days when ratings supplied their own rigs or the captain did it for them if he wanted uniform dress. The pinball division, along with Midway, was acquired by Williams Electronics in 1988. Another is that the red summer jackets of the oarsmen of the Lady Margaret Boat Club, in Cambridge, look ablaze and began a tradition which today is seen in single breasted blazers at Henley Regatta. This buying spree quickly took its toll on the company finances, however, and Bally was soon forced to sell off several divisions, including Six Flags and Bally-Midway. Two such are that the name could derive from the traditional practice of attaching a school's, regiment's, club's, or ship's embroidered coat-of-arms to the breast of the coat - thus emblazoning the garment.

The company also was finally successful in purchasing several casinos, including the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and the Golden Nugget Atlantic City. There are several explanations of its origin; some are apparently folk etymology. The company also tried to enter the restaurant business with a hybrid restaurant/arcade called TomFoolery, a predecessor to places like Dave and Buster's. As sporting dress has become more adapted to the activity, the blazer has become more restricted to clubs' social meetings. The company began buying other businesses including the Six Flags amusement park chain, the Health and Tennis Club exercise chain and a maker of exercise equipment. A blazer's cloth is usually of a durable nature as it is used in schools and was used for sport. By the mid-1980s the company again was flush with cash and management envisioned re-defining the manufacturing business as a far-flung leisure industry giant. In more recent times, a single breasted form, long in existence, has come into more common use.

In the late 1970s Bally made an unsuccessful attempt at getting into the casino business as Atlantic City legalized gambling; this effort was thwarted when the company was unable to attain a permanent license for the completed casino. A blazer is a type of double breasted jacket, like that of a suit except in that it usually has patch pockets with no flaps and usually, metal shank buttons. In the 1970s Midway would become a primary source of income for Bally as it became an early arcade video game maker and obtained the licenses for two of the most popular videogames of all time, Space Invaders and Pac-Man. In the late 1960s Bally became a publicly-traded company and went on an acquisition spree, buying several companies including a German game company and Midway Manufacturing, an amusement game company who made coin-operated electromechanical devices as puck bowling games. Through the 1960s Bally continued to dominate the slot machine industry, cornering over 90% of the worldwide marked for the machines by the end of the decade.

Roy Moloney died in 1958 and the company foundered briefly; amid the financial failure of parent company Lions Manufacturing Bally was bought out by a group of investors in 1963. After a wartime foray into manufacturing munitions and airplane parts, Bally Manufacturing continued to produce innovations in both pinball and slot machines through the late 1950s, and also designed and manufactured vending machines and established a coffee vending service. In the late 1930s, Moloney decided to begin making gambling equipment, and had great success developing and improving the modern mechanical slot machines that formed the backbone of the nascent gaming industry. The company, based in Chicago, quickly became a leading maker of the popular games.

The company took its name from its first, highly successful, game, dubbed Ballyhoo. The Bally Manufacturing Corporation was founded by Ray Moloney in early 1932 when Bally's original parent company, Lion Manufacturing, established the company to make pinball games. . The company has existed for more than 70 years with a complex history of re-organizations, mergers, and divestitures; it had roots as an early and successful maker of pinball games and slot machines, and was later associated with both the health club and gambling industries.

Bally (originally the Bally Manufacturing Corporation) is an American corporation. Playboy (2002). Blazing 7's (1993). Money Honey (1964).

The Crocodile Hunter Outback Adventure (2006). The Twilight Zone (1993). The Addams Family (1992; based on the 1992 movie, it would go on to become the best-selling pinball of all time). Xenon (1980; features music and voices by electronic music composer Suzanne Ciani).

Wizard! (1975). The Six Million Dollar Man (1978). Sky Divers (1964). Playboy (1978).

Pac-Man (1982). and Mrs. Mr. KISS (1979).