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Did you ever wonder if there really was a Milton Bradley? Perhaps the company was founded by a Mr. Milton and Mr. Bradley in a cooperative plan?
Mr. Milton Bradley was indeed just one man. He was born in 1836 and started his corporate career selling office supplies door-to-door. As you can imagine, it was tough work, and times were often hard. He bought a printing press and officially started the company in 1860. He began to print portraits and eventually turned to games when business once again dropped off.
Do you know the first game that Milton Bradley
published? If you guessed the "Checkered Game of Life," then you're absolutely correct. It's still alive and well, under the title "The Game of Life
," and its computerized version can be played right here on the Zone!
Just twenty years later, Bradley changed businesses again and started to produce jigsaw puzzles. As we all know, both his puzzle business and his board game business were a booming success! He wasn't able to keep up with the demand for his games.
By the time he died in 1911, his business was self-sufficient and invented more games, more puzzles, and more ways to entertain people all over the world. If you were to look in your room, or in the basement, or in that old box of toys, we're sure you'd find at least one of the following Milton Bradley
games.
Here's just a small sample of some of the classics that Mr. Bradley's company went on to create. How many of these do you know how to play?
- The Game of Life (1960)
- Chutes and Ladders (1943)
- Candyland (1949)
- Twister (1966)
- Yahtzee (1956)
- Big Ben Puzzles (1941)
- Scrabble Brand Crossword Game (1938)
- Playskool, Inc. (all of the Little-People toys)
- And many, many others!
The Milton Bradley Company
has become a monumental brand involving the efforts of many, many people, but it all began with just one man who went door to door selling pencils, pens, and paper. Maybe you or someone you know has a vision that will grow in a similar way.
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