| In
1883, an enterprising 16-year-old boy named George S. Parker took $40 of
his total $50 life savings to publish and market a game he had invented
called "Banking" (a card game). Little did he know that this small investment
would lead to the founding of one of America's oldest and largest game
manufacturers, Parker Brothers.
From
1883 we leap forward slightly to 1888, where George's brother, Charles,
joined the company full-time ... and re-named the company Parker Brothers.
Again, a slight leap in time to 1898 and the third brother, Edward, came
on as a partner. Some of the more popular Parker Brothers items at that
time were the "Game of American History", "Presidential Game", "Golf",
"Baseball: and the "Game of Travel".
Three
Parker Brothers' card games --- "Pit", "Flinch" and "Rook" --- were introduced
in the early 1900s as substitutes for playing Bridge. "Rook" alone has
sold over 55 million decks in its lifetime.
Then
along came "Monopoly", one of the most successful boardgames ever published
--- in fact, variations of "Monopoly" can be found for states, cities,
companies and a multitude of topics. When first published, the company
was producing as many as 20,000 sets per week, and is now sold in 75 countries
and printed in 26 languages.
Following
"Monopoly" were several other classic games --- "Sorry" (1934), "Clue"
(1949), and "Risk" (1959). In 1968 the company became a subsidiary of the
General Mills Corporation, which brought out some "on the edge" games like
"Situation 4", "Orion", "Smess", "Soma Cube Puzzle" and others, along with
the NERF ball introduced in 1970.
In
1977 Parker Brothers published their first electronic boardgame, "Code
Name: Sector", quickly followed by other electronic games, including "Merlin".
The 1980s saw an infusion of VCR games, including two VCR versions of "Clue".
Finally in 1991 the company has been a part of Hasbro.
Some
sought after Parker Brothers games include: "Soma Cube Puzzle" (1969),
"Orion" (1971), "Stop Thief" (1979), "Can't Stop" (1980) and "Survive"
(1982), to name a very few.
For
the whole story of the company and to see their current line of products
available, you can visit them at www. hasbro.com
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