The American games industry began as an industry in 1843 with the games of two brothers, William and Stephen B. In the heart of this area, Springfield, Massachusetts, one man, Milton Bradley, a draughtsman in his early 20s, decided to embark on a business that would not only alter his life, but change the impact that games had on society for educational and recreational activities in the United States and Europe. The Northeast-or, more exactly, New York, Pennsylvania and New England-was the industrial center of the country. Increased industrialization led to more leisure time and to improvements in the welfare of children children were allowed more time for play, once the schooling and the chores were done. The elevator and the burglar alarm had just been invented and the new Western Union was exploiting a recent invention, the telegraph. The move from farmland to cities continued, as did the westward migration, even though the Gold Rush in California had ended in 1855. The country was divided between the slave owners in the Confederate states of the South and the abolitionists-those against slavery-in the Union states of the North. The population was over 31 million, 4 million of whom were slaves.
was less than 44 years, though a man in his 20s could be expected to live, on average, to 60. Immigration from Europe continued, following the emigration of more than 1.3 million people from England and, especially, Ireland over the previous decade. With over $2 million in sales over the course of the war, Milton Bradley miraculously survived the great culling of the Depression to continue its mission of making creative and entertaining games.The Checkered Game of Life Milton Bradley’s First Game, 1860īased on a talk given by the author at the 2010 Board Game Studies Colloquium in Paris. On top of taking commissions from the United States Armed Forces to manufacturer weapons parts such as gun stocks, the company reinstated their traveling kits for soldiers. Yet, another war would prove just as helpful for Milton Bradley as it had eighty-years prior. It was nigh impossible to keep the board game manufacturer solvent when its customers could no longer afford to spend money on leisure items and thus support the manufacturing process to create these useless board games. This success wasn't dimmed by Bradley's death in 1911, but was severely challenged by the economic crisis of the late-1920s and the subsequent Depression when the company nearly hit bankruptcy.
Milton Bradley During the Early 20 th CenturyĮxpanding their catalog to involve more and more games, as well as puzzles and educational supplies, the Milton Bradley Company was reportedly net earning around $3.5 million in 1920.
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