MAHS-- Part 4: Milton-Bradley Company and the German WW II Game

Milton-Bradley came out with the Concentration and Jeopardy games in the 1950s as well as the ever-popular Game of Life and Twister.

The company was bought by Play Skool (which is the company that makes Yahtzee and he electronic game Simon.

(Are any of these names bringing back memories?)

Pat Wirtz's oldest game  was first produced in 1905 and is a baseball game.

He also has an unopened McHenry Monopoly game which starts at Pearl Street Park.  (I'd never heard of this park, but looked it up and now it is always referred to as Veterans Park.)

He seems to be most proud of a 1940 game from Germany made for kids that features the Battle of Britain.  This game is very colorful (and, of course, in German, and is what got Pat interested in board games.

--Cooter

Deaths: Twister Inventor

CHRIS FOLEY, 82 CO-CREATOR OF TWISTER

From the July 11, 2013, Washington Post.

Died July 1, 2013. Was a lifelong tinkerer and also invented Un-Du, an adhesive remover and designed plastic handcuffs and safety-tipped darts. But most famous for the Milton Bradley game that has sold tens of millions of copies.

He co-created it with artist Neal W. Rubens. They originally called it King Footsie. It was released in 1966.

Milton Bradley first approached Sears to carry the game, but Sears declined saying it was too risky. Critics called it "Sex in a Box" because of contact which always came when playing it. I know it was a favorite at high school parties I attended for some reason.

Milton Bradley was about to pull it for Christmas sale until the game made an appearance on the Tonight Show and Johnny Carson and Eva Gabor played it. After that, it took off.

Deaths: Twist Your Troubles Away

CHARLES FOLEY, 82

Inventor and co-creatir of the game Twister, died July 1, 2013.  "Millions have contorted themselves into awkward and amusing positions."  This was the first game to use humans as board pieces.

Debuted inj 1966 with the slogan "The Game That Ties You Up in Knots."  Some people called it "Sex-In-A-Box."  Sales really took off when Johnny Carson played it with Eva Gabor on "The Tonight Show."  I'd like to play it with Annette.

Mr. Foley had 97 patents, but Un-Du became the product of choice form photographers, scrapbookers' law enforcement officials and the staff at the Library of Congress where it is used at an adhesive remover.

The Twister game was at all our high school parties in the late 60s.  Talk about a great way to "brush up" against that someone you were interested in?  Liz says the gitls felt the same way.

Thanks, Mr. Foley.