Fire Ball

The Fire Ball, manufactured by J. H. Keeney and Company Incorporated in April 1937, is a fascinating electro-mechanical (EM) novelty game that offers a glimpse into the early days of pinball's development. In an era when manufacturers were experimenting rapidly with new technology, Fire Ball stands out for a genuinely unusual scoring mechanism.

Gameplay on the Fire Ball is characterized by its unique "invisible" light beam feature: a light source, three strategically placed mirrors, and a photo-electric vacuum tube create a light beam zig-zagging across a playfield that has no holes or bumpers at all. Each time a ball breaks this beam, the score increases on the backglass projection totalizer. With five balls per game of novelty play, players must carefully navigate their shots to maximize their scores.

The machine has a compact cabinet measuring 23 inches wide by 54 inches long. Interestingly, at least one known example carries cabinet artwork matching Keeney's 1937 payout game 'Magic Lamp' rather than the artwork advertised in period Billboard ads. Little information survives about the machine's designer or production run, but Fire Ball remains an intriguing piece of pinball history that shows how inventive the game's mechanics were during its formative years.