Hobbies And Interests
Chutes and Ladders
Milton Bradley published "Chutes and Ladders" in 1943. It was an adaptation of "Snakes and Ladders" from the 1800s. "Chutes and Ladders," which is meant to be played by young children, has a theme of good versus evil. Good deeds are rewarded while bad deeds have consequences. Players move according to dice rolls, and must avoid falling into the chute. Landing on a ladder helps a player advance faster to the end of the board.
Clue
Anthony E. Pratt created "Cluedo" in 1944 in England. When Parker Brothers acquired the rights to distribute it in the United States in 1949, the name was changed to "Clue." The object is to be the first player to determine the murderer from a group of suspects based on a set of clues. The only difference between the two versions is a few of the character's names were changed.
Candy Land
Eleanor Abbot designed the children's game "Candy Land" in 1946. Abbot submitted it to Milton Bradley and they began marketing and distributing it in 1949. "Candy Land" players draw a card from the deck and move their piece to the color or image indicated. The object is to follow the colorful road to find the missing king. The winner is the first player to reach a finish line.
Scrabble
In 1947, James Brunot obtained the legal rights to an older game called "Criss-Cross Words." He changed the name to "Scrabble" because he felt the name best represented the way players had to scrabble words together from letters on wooden tiles. Each word is worth a certain amount of points. "Scrabble" did not become popular until the early 1950s, when the firm of Selchow and Righter obtained the license to market it in the United States and Canada.
Lesser Known Games
Milton Bradley also released "The Merry Game of Fibber McGee," "The Horse Racing Game" and the "Adventures of Superman" in the '40s. These games reflected the pop culture interests of the time such as comic book figures, the Kentucky Derby, and radio celebrities. Some other board games of the era were "Citadel," "Polyanna," "Tactics: A Game of World Strategy" and "Snuffy Smith's Hootin' Holler Bug Derby." Snuffy was a top comic strip character at the start of the decade. Players had to spin a dial to move "bugs" across a race track.