Just listed this old MB puzzle on etsy and then I researched it. Oh boy. The history.
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| Big Ben Puzzle Surf Riders #4962 1970's |
In 1860, Milton Bradley, only 24 years old, formed the Milton Bradley Company to produce lithographs for Springfield, Massachusetts businesses. Since he owned the only lithograph machine in the state outside of Boston, he was very busy but his profit was small. He decided to produce an American board game after playing an English game at a friends house. "The Checkered Game Of Life" game was born complete with a moral message of achieving a "Happy Old Age" or "Ruin. Thank goodness it was a huge success because his other idea of a clean shaven Abe Lincoln lithograph went belly up after old Abe grew out his beard. The Civil War sidetracked the game business momentarily until Bradley began production of a small kit of games including chess, checkers, dominoes, backgammon, and of course, "The Checkered Game of Life" for troops enjoyment during downtimes. At one dollar each kit, he first sold to individual soldiers until charitable organizations bought kits in large quantities for distribution. By the end of the war, the Milton Bradley Company was profitable and ready to expand.
The 1870's saw production of dozens of different board games and also an American croquet lawn game which became the US standard with printed rules. Then Bradley became involved in the German kindergarten movement which encouraged the creation of classes offering guided play for pre-school age children. He manufactured colored papers, paints and other educational materials and gave them free of charge to the only two kindergartens in Springfield. When a recession hit in the late 1870's, Bradleys business partners protested because Bradley's pre-school obsession cost more than it brought in. A friend, George Tapley, bought out the partners when Bradley chose to dedicate himself to the kindergarten movement. Tapley ran the business and Bradley designed games and educational materials. By the first decade of the 20th century, the education department bloomed as kindergartens sprung up across the US and teachers bought Bradley's supplies from story books to furniture. Milton Bradley continued to be the driving force behind his company until his death in 1911. Tapley's son and Bradley's son-in-law assumed control and net earnings of $350,000 were reported in 1920.
Without the genius of Bradley the company had a rough time during the depression. The factories were aging and had difficulties keeping up with its huge supply of products and clever new games were few and far between. By the 1940's the company sank and had huge loans being called due. Trying to avoid bankruptcy the board of directors hired James J. Shea to clean up the mess. Shea found lower interest loans to pay off the banks and began to renovate the manufacturing plant. He burned old accumulated inventory from the turn of the century and the fire went on for days. World War II roared to life and produced a boom for Shea and the Milton Bradley Company. Shea designed a universal joint for fighter planes landing gear and obtained a contract from the Army for $300,000. He put his idle woodworking shop to work making gunstocks and obtained a $270,000 contract. And the Milton Bradley Game Kit for Soldiers sold over 2 million kits through the war.
After the war and with solid profits, the company revived teaching aids from the turn of the century. Old board games were modernized and reintroduced. Smart new games including Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders were introduced. In 1959 with television gaining popularity analysts predicted the end of board games. Not so. Shea decided to embrace TV instead of competing with it and issued a memory game called "Concentration" based on the TV show with the same name. It sold one million units within eight months making it the largest sale of a game in its first year up to that time. In 1960 "The Checkered Game of Life" was re-issued as "The game of Life". Now the goal was to become a millionaire instead of reaching a "Happy Old Age".
The early 1960's also saw expansion into foreign markets making licensing agreements with European toy makers and opening its own manufacturing facilities in Europe. At home in the US, Milton Bradley Company broke ground on a new multi-million dollar plant and office. The game of Twister was launched and played on the Tonight Show by Johnny Carson and Eva Gabor. Three million Twisters sold in the first year and the game became an icon of the sixties.
In 1968 with annual income of 4 million, Shea was succeeded by his son as president of the company. Through the 1970's, acquisitions of many companies followed including Playskool Mfg. Co. and E. S. Lowe, the maker of Yahtzee.
The rise of electronic games in the early 1970's was countered with "Simon Says" which was another huge success in 1977. The Milton Bradley Company initially avoided entering the video game market, but by 1982, and recognizing that the video game market was here to stay, they tried and failed. A 30 million dollar disaster. It was the first net loss since the 1940's restructuring. Back in profit by 1984, due to being the largest seller of classic games in the US and its international facilities, Milton Bradley Company was purchased by Hasbro for 360 million dollars. And the rest is history. This made Hasbro the largest toy company in the world. Milton Bradley continued to sell its classic games and design and manufacture new games through the 1990's and is still doing so today through its parent company Hasbro.
