Harvest Moon

Harvest Moon is an early flipperless electro-mechanical game from Bally Manufacturing Corporation, one of the pioneers of the industry. While its exact production year is not documented, its payout counterpart, Bally's 1935 'Golden Harvest', places it in the mid-1930s, when pinball was still a countertop novelty. A Billboard advertisement for the game referenced Patent No. 1,802,521 ("Game Apparatus"), issued to George H. Miner.

The game offered 10 balls for 5 cents and challenges players with 21 trap holes, a format in which skill and luck combine as balls settle into scoring positions. A light-up backbox, a time clock, and a Stancor transformer round out the package. Notably, Harvest Moon is a non-payout game: unlike its sibling 'Golden Harvest' (which has no backbox), it dispensed no cash awards, keeping it on the right side of gambling regulations of the day.

With its agriculture and farming theme, Harvest Moon offers a glimpse into the pre-flipper era of pinball, when manufacturers competed on cabinet presentation and playfield novelty. It remains a fascinating relic of the game's earliest days.