History Creator / HarryWilliams

''Advance'' was a modest success, but for a more impressive followup, Harry opted to use battery-powered solenoids and designed the world's first electro-mechanical pinball machine. ''Pinball/{{Contact}}'' featured two solenoid capture holes that, when the player hit the Contact Switch, kicked out balls into higher-scoring holes. He partnered with Pacific Amusements Company to sell the games; the addition of bells and a tilt sensor turned the game into a sensation followed by numerous copycats. Harry continued to design and create more game ideas, which helped carry arcade gaming through TheGreatDepression and elevated him to a major industry leader. By 1938, Harry Williams' name was influential enough to became a selling point in advertisements.

Harry passed away on September 11, 1983 in Palm Springs, CA due to complications from cancer, leaving behind dozens of patents, [[http://www.ipdb.org/search.pl?searchtype=advanced&ppl=Harry%20Williams over 180 games to his name,]] and a place in the annals of pinball history.

* ''Pinball/{{Advance}}'' (Automatic Amusements Company, 1933)

* ''Pinball/BrokersTip'' (Gottlieb, 1934; the first "stool pigeon" tilt mechanism)
* ''Pinball/{{Signal}}'' (Bally, 1934)
* ''Pinball/QuickSilver'' (Keeney, 1935)
* ''Pinball/SpeedWay'' (Williams, 1948)
* ''Pinball/LuckyInning'' (Williams, 1950)
* ''Pinball/HongKong'' (Williams, 1952)
* ''Pinball/{{Firecracker}}'' (Bally, 1970)
* ''Pinball/{{Toledo}}'' (Williams, 1975)
* ''Pinball/WildFyre'' (Stern, 1978)

* ''Pinball/{{Galaxy}}'' (Gottlieb, 1980)
* ''Pinball/SplitSecond'' (Stern, 1981)

'''Harry E. Williams''' was one of the early pioneers of {{pinball}}, an inventor, entrepreneur, and designer of over a hundred and fifty arcade games and game mechanisms. He has often been bestowed with titles such as "The Father of Pinball" and "The Thomas Edison of pinball," imperfect attempts to encapsulate the exceptional role he had on the industry.

When WorldWarII broke out, Harry Williams and Lyn Durant formed United Manufacturing, which reconditioned and redesigned older games for military rec centers. Williams left United after the war and started [[Creator/WilliamsElectronics Williams Manufacturing Co.]] in 1944; their earliest games were a fortune-telling game called ''Select-A-Scope,'' a shooting game called ''Periscope,'' and ''Sunny,'' a flipper pinball game. Pinball games proved to be Williams' bread and butter, and the company's wares served as a respectable alternative to games from Creator/{{Gottlieb}} and Creator/{{Bally}}.

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''Advance'' was a modest success, but for a more impressive followup, Harry opted to use battery-powered solenoids and designed the world's first electro-mechanical pinball machine. ''Pinball/{{Contact}}'' featured two solenoid capture holes that, when the player hit the Contact Switch, kicked out balls into higher-scoring holes. He partnered with Pacific Amusements Company to sell the games; the addition of bells and a tilt sensor turned the game into a sensation followed by numerous copycats. Harry continued to design and create more game ideas, which helped carry arcade gaming through TheGreatDepression and elevated him to a major industry leader. By 1938, Harry Williams' name was affluential enough to became a selling point in advertisements.

'''Harry E. Williams''' was one of the early pioneers of {{pinball}}, an inventor, entrepreneur, and designer of over a hundred and fifty arcade games and game mechanisms. He has often been bestowed with titles such as "The Father of Pinball" and "The Thomas Edison of pinball," imperfect attempts to encapsulate the eceptional role he had on the industry.

'''Harry E. Williams''' was one of the early pioneers of {{pinball}}, an inventor, entrepreneur, and designer of over a hundred and fifty arcade games and game mechanisms. He has often been bestowed with titles such as "The Father of Pinball" and "The Thomas Edison of pinball," which are imperfect attempts to summarize the role he played in the industry.

Born in 1906, Harry graduated from Stanford in 1929 with a degree in Engineering. He had gone to Hollywood with plans to produce advertising films, but the Stock Market crash left him abruptly scrambling for a job. While he was trying to distribute ball-and-bat games at [[Creator/{{Universal}} Universal Studios]], he saw a crowd in the lunchroom lining up to play Yohio's ''Whiffle'' pin-game. Unable to afford his own games to distribute, he started Automatic Amusements Company and made his own copy, ''Advance,'' instead.

* ''Pinball/{{Ali}}'' (Gottlieb, 1980)
* ''Pinball/{{Contact}}'' (Pacific Amusements Company, 1933; the first electro-mechanical game)

* ''Pinball/HongKong'' (Williams, 1952)
* ''Pinball/LuckyInning'' (Williams, 1950)
* ''Pinball/QuickSilver'' (Keeney, 1935)
* ''Pinball/{{Signal}}'' (Bally, 1934)
* ''Pinball/SpeedWay'' (Williams, 1948)

* ''Pinball/{{Toledo}}'' (Williams, 1975)
* ''Pinball/WildFyre'' (Stern, 1978)
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When WorldWarII broke out, Harry Williams and Lyn Durant formed United Manufacturing, which reconditioned and redesigned older games for military rec centers. Williams left United after the war and started [[Creator/WilliamsElectronics Williams Manufacturing Co.]] in 1944; their earliest games were a fortune-telling game called ''Select-A-Scope,'' a shooting game called ''Periscope,'' and ''Sunny,'' a flipper pinball game.

''Advance'' was a modest success, and Harry was soon working for Pacific Amusements Company, where he designed the first electromechanical pinball machine. ''Pinball/{{Contact}}'' featured two solenoid-powered contact holes that kicked out balls to higher-scoring holes when the player made skilled shots, and quickly became an industry standard. Williams' other innovations in that time included electronic game chimes, the anti-cheating "tilt" mechanism, illuminated backboards, and the "free game" Special to reward skilled players. These and other ideas helped carry the game industry through TheGreatDepression, and by 1938 Harry's name was notable enough to be a selling point in advertisements.

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Born in 1906, Harry graduated from Stanford in 1929 with a degree in Engineering. He had gone to Hollywood with plans to produce advertising films, but the Stock Market crash left him abruptly scrambling for a job. While he was trying to distribute ball-and-bat games at [[Creator/{{Universal}} Universal Studios]], he saw a line of people in the lunchroom lining up to play Yohio's ''Whiffle'' pin-game. Unable to afford his own games to distribute, he started Automatic Amusements Company and made ''Advance'' instead.

''Advance'' was a modest success, and Harry was soon working for Pacific Amusements Company, where he designed the first electromechanical pinball machine. ''Contact'' featured two solenoid-powered contact holes that kicked out balls to higher-scoring holes when the player made skilled shots, and quickly became an industry standard. Williams' other innovations in that time included electronic game chimes, the anti-cheating "tilt" mechanism, illuminated backboards, and the "free game" Special to reward skilled players. These and other ideas helped carry the game industry through TheGreatDepression, and by 1938 Harry's name was notable enough to be a selling point in advertisements.

''Advance'' was a modest success, and Harry was soon working for Pacific Amusements Company, where he designed the first electromechanical pinball machine. ''Contact'' featured two solenoid-powered contact holes that rewarded points when the ball landed in them, and quickly became an industry standard. Williams' other innovations in that time included electronic game chimes, the anti-cheating "tilt" mechanism, illuminated backboards, and the "free game" Special to reward skilled players. These and other ideas helped carry the game industry through TheGreatDepression, and by 1938 Harry's name was notable enough to be a selling point in advertisements.

* ''Cue'' (Gottlieb, 1982; unreleased)

* ''Pinball/{{Cue}}'' (Gottlieb, 1982; unreleased)

In 1959 Consolidated Drug Company bought out Williams Manufacturing, and Harry decided to retire, appointing [[Creator/{{Stern}} Sam Stern]] as company president. Williams enjoyed himself in California for fifteen years, but briefly returned in TheSeventies, designing over a dozen games for Creator/{{Bally}}, Creator/WilliamsElectronics, Creator/{{Gottlieb}}, and Creator/SternElectronics in that time.

* ''Pinball/SplitSecond'' (Gottlieb, 1981)

In 1959 Consolidated Drug Company bought out Williams Manufacturing, and Harry decided to retire, appointing [[Creator/{{Stern}} Sam Stern]] as company president. Williams enjoyed himself in California for fifteen years, but briefly returned in TheSeventies, designing over a dozen games for Creator/{{Bally}}, Creator/WilliamsElectronics, and Creator/SternElectronics in that time.

Born in 1906, Harry graduated from Stanford in 1929 with a degree in Engineering. He had gone to Hollywood with plans to produce advertising films, but the Stock Market crash left him abruptly scrambling for a job. While he was trying to distribute ball-and-bat games at [[Creator/{{Universal}} Universal Studios]], he saw a line of people in the lunchroom lining up to play Yohio's ''Whiffle'' pin-game. Unable to afford his own, he started Automatic Amusements Company and made his own, ''Advance''.

Born in 1906, Harry graduated from Stanford in 1929 with a degree in Engineering. He had gone to Hollywood with plans to produce advertising films, but the Stock Market crash left him abruptly scrambling for a job. While he was trying to distribute ball-and-bat games at [[Creator/Universal Universal Studios]], he saw a line of people in the lunchroom lining up to play Yohio's ''Whiffle'' pin-game. Unable to afford his own, he started Automatic Amusements Company and made his own, ''Advance''.

Born in 1906, Harry graduated from Stanford in 1929 with a degree in Engineering. He had gone to Hollywood with plans to produce advertising films, but the Stock Market crash left him abruptly scrambling for a job. While he was trying to distribute ball-and-bat games at Universal Studios, he saw a line of people in the lunchroom lining up to play Yohio's ''Whiffle'' pin-game. Unable to afford his own, he started Automatic Amusements Company and made his own, ''Advance''.

''Advance'' was a modest success, and Harry was soon working for Pacific Amusements Company, where he designed the first electromechanical pinball machine. ''Contact'' featured two solenoid-powered contact holes that rewarded points when the ball landed in them, and quickly became an industry standard. Williams' other innovations in that time included electronic game chimes, the anti-cheating "tilt" mechanism, illuminated backboards, and the "free game" Special to reward skilled players. These and other ideas helped carry the game industry through the Depression, and by 1938 Harry's name was notable enough to be a selling point in advertisements.

When WorldWarII broke out, Harry Williams and Lyn Durant formed United Manufacturing, which reconditioned and redesigned older games for military rec centers.
Williams left United after the war and started [[Creator/WilliamsElectronics Williams Manufacturing Co.]] in 1944; their earliest games were a fortune-telling game called ''Select-A-Scope,'' a shooting game called ''Periscope,'' and ''Sunny,'' a flipper pinball game.

'''Harry E. Williams''' was one of the early pioneers of {{pinball}}, an inventor, entrepreneur, and designer of over a hundred arcade games and game mechanisms. He has often been bestowed with titles such as "The Father of Pinball" and "The Thomas Edison of pinball," which are imperfect attempts to summarize the role he played in the industry.

* ''Advance'' (Automatic Amusements Company, 1933)

* ''Contact'' (Pacific Amusements Company, 1933; the first electro-mechanical game)
* ''Cue'' (Gottlieb, 1982; unreleased)

* ''Pinball/Quick Silver'' (Keeney, 1935)
* ''Pinball/Signal'' (Bally, 1934)

Harry passed away on September 11, 1983 in Palm Springs, CA due to complications from cancer, leaving behind dozens of patents, over 180 games to his name, and a place in the annals of pinball history.