United Manufacturing Co.

United Manufacturing Co., founded in Chicago in 1942 by Lyndon “Lyn” Durant and Harry E. Williams, evolved from wartime refurbishing of coin‑op amusements into a prominent mid‑century maker of electromechanical pinball, shuffle‑alley, bowling and novelty arcade games, earning a reputation for art‑deco styling and inventive mechanical features that appealed to operators and collectors alike. Renowned for pioneering the 1949 Shuffle Alley and for forward‑thinking pitch‑and‑bat baseball machines such as the Star Slugger — which introduced selectable bat speeds and pitching options to increase realism — United produced a broad catalog of titles that includes Red Shoes, Rondeevoo, Yuma Arizona, Wisconsin, Baby Face, Monterrey, Manhattan, Moon Glow, Major League Baseball, Summer Time, Star Dust, Serenade, Paradise, Utah, Blue Skies, 10th Inning, Oklahoma, Ramona, Carolina, Show Boat, Pinch Hitter, Aquacade and Tampico, many of which remain sought after by vintage arcade collectors for their gameplay innovations and distinctive cabinet art. In the early 1960s United’s assets and main plant were acquired by the Seeburg Corporation and the United name was retired from new releases, but the company’s influence on bowling‑style puck games, pitch‑and‑bat baseballs and mid‑century pinball design endures in museum collections and among enthusiasts of vintage coin‑op machines.