In 1943 Harry Williams founded the Williams Manufacturing Company in Chicago and started producing a line of entertainment devices such as fortune tellers. In the beginning, Williams rather converted foreign pinballs by simply changing the desgins. Later, in 1964 JP Seeburg aquired Williams and named the company Williams Electronic Manufacturing Div. A huge line of Pinball machines, 5-6 different models each year, left the factory during the following years.
In 1987 the parental name of the company was changed to Williams Industries (WMS) and in 1988 WMS took over Bally/Midway and manufactured a wide range of highly collectible and most sougt after games such as the Indiana Jones, Medieval Madness and Star Trek The Next Generation.