Churchill Cabinet Company was established by Ole Gullickson in 1904 in the Cicero suburb of Chicago. The company is still located there and is known for making pinball machines under the Chicago Gaming brand.
History
The company was founded as an industrial cabinet maker located on Churchill Street, after which it was named. It initially focused on creating high-quality wooden cabinets, such as those used for organs and phone booths. Important customers during its early years included Rock-Ola, Seeburg, and Bally. In the mid-1970s, Roger Duba purchased the company, and it began to concentrate more on making cabinets for the coin-operated (coin-op) industry. Over the next 30 years, this part of the business grew significantly. By the late 1990s, half of the company’s work involved making cabinets and games for other companies, while the other half included consumer products like foosball tables, air hockey tables, and bumper pool tables. During this time, the company produced cabinets for companies such as Namco, Midway, Williams, and Stern. In 1996, the company bought Lenc-Smith, a maker of pinball playfields, from Williams. In 1999, the former Lenc-Smith location became the company’s main manufacturing site and headquarters.
Pinball cabinets made by Churchill Cabinet Company were often labeled with the letters "CCC."
In the early 1990s, Roger Duba began producing foosball tables under the name Good Time Novelty, aimed at the home market. In 2001, this part of the business was reorganized as a separate division called Chicago Gaming Company, which became part of Churchill Cabinet Company. This division was started by Doug Duba, the son of Roger Duba. In its early years, the division made a series of products called MAME Arcade Legends. Today, this part of the company also makes complete pinball machines.
Pinball manufacturing
Chicago Gaming Company's first original pinball machine was called Vacation America. It was released in November 2003 and designed by John Trudeau and Steve Kordek. The game used a single-level playfield with no ramps. Unlike most pinball machines at the time, it had a simple display with two rows of 10-digit numbers using 7-segment lights instead of a DMD with animations. This design helped save money on production costs by using printed circuit boards instead of a large wire harness. The machine was made for home users, not for arcades, and sold for $2,995. It was the first pinball machine marketed for home use and did not include a coin mechanism. John Trudeau left the company during the design process, and Steve Kordek finished the machine. A total of 530 units were made.
Most of the company's business continued to focus on producing cabinets, back-boxes, and playfields for Stern Pinball, Jersey Jack Pinball, and other companies.
In 2014, Vacation America was added to Pinball Expo's Service & Support Hall of Fame.
In 2015, Chicago Gaming released the first Williams pinball remake under a license from Planetary Pinball. This was Medieval Madness, which came in a standard edition and a limited edition. The limited edition had 1,000 units and included all features of the standard edition plus a shaker motor. The game was announced in October 2013, with preorders for a 2014 release. The limited edition sold out within four hours. The remake used LED lights instead of incandescent bulbs, stereo speakers instead of mono speakers, and an LCD screen instead of a DMD. The machines were assembled at the nearby Stern factory.
Medieval Madness was re-released in 2019 with three versions: Classic, Special, and Royal. The Classic edition was similar to the original. The Special edition added a color display, RGB lighting, and improved sound. The Royal edition included all features of the Special edition plus a shaker motor, side mirrors, and a King of Payne topper. The Royal edition was limited in number.
Attack from Mars was the second remake, released in 2017. It had three versions: Standard, Special, and Limited. The Standard edition was similar to the original but used modern parts. The Special edition included a larger color display, tri-color lighting on the main saucer, improved sound, and a shaker motor. The Limited edition had all features of the Special edition plus extra lighting on the mini saucers, a custom topper, and more trim options. Unlike the 2015 version of Medieval Madness, Chicago Gaming produced all units at their Cicero site.
Monster Bash was the third remake, announced in 2018. It had three versions: Standard, Special, and Limited. The Standard edition was similar to the original but used modern parts. The Special edition included a larger color display, RGB lighting on the playfield, improved sound, and more detailed monster designs. The Limited edition added all features of the Special edition plus a Monsters of Rock 3D sculpted topper, a shaker motor, and a numbered plaque. A total of 1,250 units were made.
Cactus Canyon was the fourth remake, announced in 2021. Unlike earlier remakes, this version was based on a Williams machine with unfinished code. The remake included completed code, color animations on a larger display, full RGB lighting, and improved sound. The Special edition added a wild west shootout topper with a mini-game. The Limited edition included extra sculptures, art blades, and a shaker motor. Only 1,250 units were made.
Both versions of Cactus Canyon can be upgraded with the Lyman Sheats upgrade. This upgrade adds 10 new game modes, new animations, sounds, and music, as well as a physical saloon mechanism and a spinner. Lyman Sheats was the last person to work on this upgrade, and his code was completed by Josh Sharpe and Sam Zehr.
In 2023, Chicago Gaming and Play Mechanix released their first joint project, Pulp Fiction, based on the film. The game had two versions: the Special edition and the Bad Mother Flipper Limited Edition, with a maximum of 1,000 units. The Limited Edition included an animated topper and other upgrades. The game used 1980s-style alpha-numeric LED displays instead of a dot-matrix or LCD screen. It featured over 250 sound samples from 19 characters and five music tracks from the film. While the game looks like a 1980s pinball machine, it uses modern technology, including RGB lighting and a more complex ruleset. The rules were designed by Josh Sharpe, the son of Roger Sharpe. The game was developed at the request of Quentin Tarantino, who wanted a 1980s-style Pulp Fiction pinball machine for his home.