Games collectors play
Vintage board games fun and profitable
By Robbie Moreland-Adams
Before the days of video games, people came together to test their skills at board games. From Monopoly to Scrabble, children and adults of all ages could have fun while exercising a little mental muscle.
The fact that board games endure, albeit sharing the limelight with electronic entertainment, is a minor miracle. Perusing the shelves of a local toy store and the discount giants Wal-Mart and Kmart, I was heartened to see the latest versions of Clue, Scrabble and Yahtzee occupying shelf space with Harry Potter and Monsters Inc. video games.
Games attest to man as a social being with an innate tendency to think, explore—and compete. Games have been an educational tool and form of recreation for thousands of years. Dating back more than 7,000 years are the board games Mancala, which originated in Egypt and the Red Sea region. Also from the reign of Egyptian King Tut are the games Wari and Senat. Checkers, called “draughts’’ in Great Britain, dates to the 12th century. Chess was said to have originated in India in A.D. 600 or China before A.D. 200, while backgammon, a variation of a game called Tabula, dates to the first century. Many of these early strategy games employed tactical maneuvers closely associated with warfare.
Still another worldwide favorite is dominoes, which originated in China between the first and 12th centuries. Dominoes are actually “flattened dice,” with the early sets and oriental versions having one to six “pips” per half block and not having any blank halves. Jacks, now the star-shaped metal pieces, were originally played more than 2,000 years ago in Greece as “knucklebones,” so named because it was played with the knucklebones of sheep.
Games originating in Europe and the Orient have played an important role in the development of American games. Along with this influence, the Native American culture is credited with contributing to the tradition of games, which were played utilizing game “boards” patterned in dirt and implements of wood, stone and bone. Early settlers in the United States played games that were copied or brought from other countries. Although American-made playing cards were used in colonial America, games that used special cards weren’t manufactured in the U.S. until the late 1700s or early 1800s. American-made board games didn’t appear until much later.
The first documented card game that became widespread was “Dr. Busby,” a “game of families” made by the firm of W. & S.B. Ives of Salem, MA., in 1843. Other early card games popular in Civil War times featured question-and-answer themes on history, geography and literature. Included in this genre were “Peter Coddles,” copyrighted in 1858 by Gould & Lincoln of Boston. This game was based on the book “Jessie” published by the firm. In 1861, August Smith produced what was to become a highly popular, widespread game, Authors. This game, which was produced solely by Whipple & Smith for years, was patterned after the European game of Quartet. Eventually other companies reproduced the game of Authors since an international copyright law wasn’t passed until 1891.
The earliest board games were printed on paper and later on linen-backed paper. By the 1840s board games were made by pasting a lithographed sheet on a piece of cardboard. Among the earliest companies to jump on the bandwagon of manufacturing board games was Travellers’s Tour Through the United States, made in 1822 by F& R Lockwood, a New York firm. This game was virtually the only one of its kind made in the U.S. for almost 25 years. In 1843, the W. & S.B. Ives Co. produced the board game Mansion of Happiness, which was based on the European Game of Goose, standard good-vs. -evil game. By the mid 1800’s, the Milton Bradley Co., began making a variety of board games that became immensely popular. Among the firm’s first successful pursuits was the Checkered Game of Life, introduced in 1860. The company also produced Bamboozle, or The Enchanted Isle, in 1876.
Contemporaries of Milton Bradley, a draftsman and lithographer, were John McLoughlin, founder of McLoughlin Brothers, which produced The Game of City Life or The Boys of New York in 1889. Unlike his counterparts, George S. parker, founder of Parker Brothers, was strictly a game player interested in strategy games and games of amusement for adults and children. From his company in Salem, MA., Parker developed favorites including Chivalry and Pillow Dex.
Still another early force in the development of games was the Selchow & Righter Co. This firm was responsible for developing the ever-popular game of Parcheesi in 1867.
The beginning of the 20th century brought numerous improvements in the printing and lithography industries. Companies such as Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers expanded and began to produce a variety of new games with themes influenced by a burgeoning industrial age. Parker Brothers produced The United States Air Mail, a game reflecting the country’s interest in air transportation, and Milton Bradley produced the Game of Traffic. Also in the early 1900s, an unknown, independent economist and inventor, Elizabeth Magie, obtained a patent for her Landlord’s Game, a precursor to what would become the largest-selling game in the world, Monopoly.
The World War I era also saw the production of other games that would become mainstays and survive well into the late 20th century. These included the Uncle Wiggly Game for children (Milton Bradley, 1921) and an updated version of mah-jongg (Parker Brothers, 1917). The Great Depression saw a lull in the production of games, but 1935 became a banner year for a few companies. Parker Brothers scored the biggest successes with the introduction in 1935 of both Monopoly and Go To The Head of the Class.
World War II and the period of recovery after the war brought about a number of board games that have endured through the years. These include Chutes and Ladders and Candy land (Milton Bradley, 1944-45).
The Golden Age of television that began in the early 1950s had a remarkable influence on the game industry. Companies that were particularly prolific by drawing on early TV shows were Lowell and Hasbro. Games produced by Lowell included Groucho Marx’ You Bet Your Life (1951); Route 66 (1962) and 77 Sunset Strip (1961).
Prime time TV continued to have a marked effect on the design and marketing of board games into the 1970s-1990s. Popular and collectible in this category are The Munsters Drag Race Game (Hasbro, 1964); Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (Reiss Games, 1977); The Twilight Zone (Ideal, 1964); Good Ol’ Charlie Brown Game (Milton Bradley, 1971) and The Jetsons (Milton Bradley, 1986). Other popular entries based on hit shows of the last two decades include Spy Vs. Spy (Milton Bradley, 1986) and The Simpsons Mystery of Life (Cardinal Industries, 1990).
Of the hundreds of games introduced to the American public since the late 1800s, there are several that rank as all-time favorites. These games are ranked according to both sales of new games and demand in the collectibles market. They are:
• Battleship: Milton Bradley, 1967. This game formerly was a pencil-and-paper parlor game dating to the 1930s.
• Chutes and Ladders: Milton Bradley, 1943. Based on Snakes and Ladders, a morality game originating in India.
• Clue: Parker Brothers, 1949. Imported from England in 1948 as Cluedo, this game was licensed to Parker Brothers as Clue, The Sherlock Homes Game.
• Monopoly: Parker Brothers, 1936. Designed after The Landlord’s Game, patented by Elizabeth Magie in 1904.
• Cootie: Milton Bradley, 1949. Herb Schaper is credited with inventing this game that originally was called Tu-Tee, in the 1920s.
• Candy Land: Milton Bradley, 1949.
• Sorry: Parker Brothers, 1934. Originally from England, this game is still sold by Hasbro/parker.
• Yahtzee: E.S. Lowe, 1956. Originally the game of Yacht, the game was adapted by Lowe.
There are literally hundreds of board games dating from the late 20th century that are readily available at flea markets and antiques stores that specialize in toys. Board games based on popular TV shows can still be found for well under $50, depending on condition and demand. Included in this category are games by the Ideal toy Corp. that include The Sting (1976); Man From U.N.C.L.E. (1965) and Hollywood Squares (1976).
Collectors concerned primarily with the possible appreciation of a game should look for those only in very good to excellent condition and with striking or thematically significant subject matter. Some collectors will still buy a game in less than satisfactory condition because it is affordable and can be repaired or used for replacement parts. Unless purchasing a very rare item, avoid games that are stained or faded. It’s Ok if a game is dirty; this can be carefully cleaned, but without using any kind of detergent or cleaning solvent!
If collecting pre-World War II games, look for those by McLoughlin Brothers, Parker Brothers, All-Fair, Wilder, Selchow & Righter and Singer. Also, the games by very early companies such as Ives are worth investigating.
Vintage board games fun and profitable
By Robbie Moreland-Adams
Before the days of video games, people came together to test their skills at board games. From Monopoly to Scrabble, children and adults of all ages could have fun while exercising a little mental muscle.
The fact that board games endure, albeit sharing the limelight with electronic entertainment, is a minor miracle. Perusing the shelves of a local toy store and the discount giants Wal-Mart and Kmart, I was heartened to see the latest versions of Clue, Scrabble and Yahtzee occupying shelf space with Harry Potter and Monsters Inc. video games.
Games attest to man as a social being with an innate tendency to think, explore—and compete. Games have been an educational tool and form of recreation for thousands of years. Dating back more than 7,000 years are the board games Mancala, which originated in Egypt and the Red Sea region. Also from the reign of Egyptian King Tut are the games Wari and Senat. Checkers, called “draughts’’ in Great Britain, dates to the 12th century. Chess was said to have originated in India in A.D. 600 or China before A.D. 200, while backgammon, a variation of a game called Tabula, dates to the first century. Many of these early strategy games employed tactical maneuvers closely associated with warfare.
Still another worldwide favorite is dominoes, which originated in China between the first and 12th centuries. Dominoes are actually “flattened dice,” with the early sets and oriental versions having one to six “pips” per half block and not having any blank halves. Jacks, now the star-shaped metal pieces, were originally played more than 2,000 years ago in Greece as “knucklebones,” so named because it was played with the knucklebones of sheep.
Games originating in Europe and the Orient have played an important role in the development of American games. Along with this influence, the Native American culture is credited with contributing to the tradition of games, which were played utilizing game “boards” patterned in dirt and implements of wood, stone and bone. Early settlers in the United States played games that were copied or brought from other countries. Although American-made playing cards were used in colonial America, games that used special cards weren’t manufactured in the U.S. until the late 1700s or early 1800s. American-made board games didn’t appear until much later.
The first documented card game that became widespread was “Dr. Busby,” a “game of families” made by the firm of W. & S.B. Ives of Salem, MA., in 1843. Other early card games popular in Civil War times featured question-and-answer themes on history, geography and literature. Included in this genre were “Peter Coddles,” copyrighted in 1858 by Gould & Lincoln of Boston. This game was based on the book “Jessie” published by the firm. In 1861, August Smith produced what was to become a highly popular, widespread game, Authors. This game, which was produced solely by Whipple & Smith for years, was patterned after the European game of Quartet. Eventually other companies reproduced the game of Authors since an international copyright law wasn’t passed until 1891.
The earliest board games were printed on paper and later on linen-backed paper. By the 1840s board games were made by pasting a lithographed sheet on a piece of cardboard. Among the earliest companies to jump on the bandwagon of manufacturing board games was Travellers’s Tour Through the United States, made in 1822 by F& R Lockwood, a New York firm. This game was virtually the only one of its kind made in the U.S. for almost 25 years. In 1843, the W. & S.B. Ives Co. produced the board game Mansion of Happiness, which was based on the European Game of Goose, standard good-vs. -evil game. By the mid 1800’s, the Milton Bradley Co., began making a variety of board games that became immensely popular. Among the firm’s first successful pursuits was the Checkered Game of Life, introduced in 1860. The company also produced Bamboozle, or The Enchanted Isle, in 1876.
Contemporaries of Milton Bradley, a draftsman and lithographer, were John McLoughlin, founder of McLoughlin Brothers, which produced The Game of City Life or The Boys of New York in 1889. Unlike his counterparts, George S. parker, founder of Parker Brothers, was strictly a game player interested in strategy games and games of amusement for adults and children. From his company in Salem, MA., Parker developed favorites including Chivalry and Pillow Dex.
Still another early force in the development of games was the Selchow & Righter Co. This firm was responsible for developing the ever-popular game of Parcheesi in 1867.
The beginning of the 20th century brought numerous improvements in the printing and lithography industries. Companies such as Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers expanded and began to produce a variety of new games with themes influenced by a burgeoning industrial age. Parker Brothers produced The United States Air Mail, a game reflecting the country’s interest in air transportation, and Milton Bradley produced the Game of Traffic. Also in the early 1900s, an unknown, independent economist and inventor, Elizabeth Magie, obtained a patent for her Landlord’s Game, a precursor to what would become the largest-selling game in the world, Monopoly.
The World War I era also saw the production of other games that would become mainstays and survive well into the late 20th century. These included the Uncle Wiggly Game for children (Milton Bradley, 1921) and an updated version of mah-jongg (Parker Brothers, 1917). The Great Depression saw a lull in the production of games, but 1935 became a banner year for a few companies. Parker Brothers scored the biggest successes with the introduction in 1935 of both Monopoly and Go To The Head of the Class.
World War II and the period of recovery after the war brought about a number of board games that have endured through the years. These include Chutes and Ladders and Candy land (Milton Bradley, 1944-45).
The Golden Age of television that began in the early 1950s had a remarkable influence on the game industry. Companies that were particularly prolific by drawing on early TV shows were Lowell and Hasbro. Games produced by Lowell included Groucho Marx’ You Bet Your Life (1951); Route 66 (1962) and 77 Sunset Strip (1961).
Prime time TV continued to have a marked effect on the design and marketing of board games into the 1970s-1990s. Popular and collectible in this category are The Munsters Drag Race Game (Hasbro, 1964); Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (Reiss Games, 1977); The Twilight Zone (Ideal, 1964); Good Ol’ Charlie Brown Game (Milton Bradley, 1971) and The Jetsons (Milton Bradley, 1986). Other popular entries based on hit shows of the last two decades include Spy Vs. Spy (Milton Bradley, 1986) and The Simpsons Mystery of Life (Cardinal Industries, 1990).
Of the hundreds of games introduced to the American public since the late 1800s, there are several that rank as all-time favorites. These games are ranked according to both sales of new games and demand in the collectibles market. They are:
• Battleship: Milton Bradley, 1967. This game formerly was a pencil-and-paper parlor game dating to the 1930s.
• Chutes and Ladders: Milton Bradley, 1943. Based on Snakes and Ladders, a morality game originating in India.
• Clue: Parker Brothers, 1949. Imported from England in 1948 as Cluedo, this game was licensed to Parker Brothers as Clue, The Sherlock Homes Game.
• Monopoly: Parker Brothers, 1936. Designed after The Landlord’s Game, patented by Elizabeth Magie in 1904.
• Cootie: Milton Bradley, 1949. Herb Schaper is credited with inventing this game that originally was called Tu-Tee, in the 1920s.
• Candy Land: Milton Bradley, 1949.
• Sorry: Parker Brothers, 1934. Originally from England, this game is still sold by Hasbro/parker.
• Yahtzee: E.S. Lowe, 1956. Originally the game of Yacht, the game was adapted by Lowe.
There are literally hundreds of board games dating from the late 20th century that are readily available at flea markets and antiques stores that specialize in toys. Board games based on popular TV shows can still be found for well under $50, depending on condition and demand. Included in this category are games by the Ideal toy Corp. that include The Sting (1976); Man From U.N.C.L.E. (1965) and Hollywood Squares (1976).
Collectors concerned primarily with the possible appreciation of a game should look for those only in very good to excellent condition and with striking or thematically significant subject matter. Some collectors will still buy a game in less than satisfactory condition because it is affordable and can be repaired or used for replacement parts. Unless purchasing a very rare item, avoid games that are stained or faded. It’s Ok if a game is dirty; this can be carefully cleaned, but without using any kind of detergent or cleaning solvent!
If collecting pre-World War II games, look for those by McLoughlin Brothers, Parker Brothers, All-Fair, Wilder, Selchow & Righter and Singer. Also, the games by very early companies such as Ives are worth investigating.