Parker Brothers is an American toy and game producer who later became the Hasbro brand. More than 1,800 games have been published under the name of Parker Brothers since 1883. Among its products are Monopoly , Cluedo (licensed from British publisher and known as Clue Sorry! , Risk , Trivial Pursuit , Ouija , Agravation , Bop It and Probe . The trade name is now out of use; former products marketed under the label "Hasbro Gaming".
Video Parker Brothers
Histori
Parker Brothers was founded by George S. Parker. Parker's philosophy deviates from the general theme of game board design; he believes that the game should be played for fun and need not emphasize morale and value. He created his first game, named Banking , in 1883 when he was 16 years old. Banking is a game where players borrow money from banks and try to generate wealth by guessing how they can do it. The game includes 160 cards that predict their failure or success. This game is very popular among family and friends whose brother, Charles Parker, urged him to publish it. George approached two Boston publishers with the idea, but to no avail. Not desperate, he spent $ 40 to issue 500 sets of Banking. He ended up selling all but twelve copies, earning $ 100.
Parker founded his game company, originally called George S. Parker Company, in his hometown of Salem, Massachusetts in 1883. When George Charles's brother joined the business in 1888, the company's name was changed to a more familiar form. In 1898 the third brother, Edward H. Parker, joined the company. Over the years, George designed most of his own games, and wrote down all the rules. Many games are based on an important event of the day: Klondike is based on the Alaskan gold rush, and War in Cuba is based on the forthcoming Spanish-American War.
The game industry is growing, and companies are becoming very profitable. In 1906, Parker Brothers published the game Rook , their most successful card game to date, and quickly became the best-selling game in the country. During the Great Depression, as many companies went out of business, Parker Brothers released a new board game called Monopoly . Although the company initially refused the game in 1934, they decided to publish it next year. It was an instant success, and the company had difficulty following requests. The company continues to grow over the next few decades, producing enduring games like Clue , Risk , and Sorry!
Parker Brothers marketed its first puzzle in 1887. The most sought after puzzle of Parker's puzzle is a wooden pastime. Parker also produces children's puzzles, as well as Climax lines, Jig-A-Jig, Jig Wood, and Paramount. According to Jigsaw Puzzles: An Illustrated History and Price Guide , by Anne D. Williams, Parker Bros. closing out the Pastime line in the 1950s and their dead die puzzles were removed in the late 1970s.
Even after the death of George Parker, the company remained family property until 1968 when General Mills bought the company. After this, Parker Brothers produced the first Nerf ball, which was another big national hit. In the United Kingdom during the 1970s, Parker Bros. was the game division of Palitoy (also the company of General Mills), and produced various releases such as Escape from Colditz . At the turn of the decade, the company moved to Beverly, Massachusetts.
The company began producing electronic versions of their popular board games in the late 1970s and early 1980s. At this time, the company ventured into the toy market with an electronic action figure, Rom the Spaceknight, in 1977. Although the toy proved to be a failure, the comic book comic published by Marvel Comics lasted many years after the toy was discontinued. They also produced video games for various systems during the early 1980s, with home ports from many popular arcade games like Konami's
In early 1983, Parker Brothers spent US $ 15 million to establish a book publishing branch; Their first title featured the American Salam franchise, Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake. The branch office published twelve titles in February 1984; sales of these books amounted to 3.5 million units. Parker Brothers also operates record labels around the same time; one of the releases, based on Coleco's Cabbage Patch Kids and involving Tom and Stephen Chapin entitled Cabbage Patch Dreams , was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in July 1984.
In 1985, General Mills joined the company with its subsidiary Kenner; this new company, Kenner Parker Toys Inc. , was acquired by Tonka in 1987.
Tonka, including Parker Brothers, was bought in 1991 for $ 516 million by Hasbro who also owns Milton Bradley Company. After the acquisition, Parker Brothers continued to have a corporate office in Beverly, but game production was transferred to Milton Bradley headquarters in East Longmeadow. In 1998, Parker Brothers and Milton Bradley consolidated on the new Hasbro Games campus (based in former Parker Brother headquarters).
Maps Parker Brothers
See also
- Cluedo
- Monopoly
- My Monopoly
- Probe
- Risk
- Scrabble
- Waddingtons
References
Further reading
- From Hostility to Honor: 100 Years of African-American Images in the Game
- Don Kader, "Collecting Black Memorabilia", Collector 'Showcase (September/October 1982), 16.
External links
- The Game Makers, a book by Philip Orbanes, tells the history of Parker Brothers.
- Vintage Parker Brothers and other games
- Parker Brothers in the History Channel
- Parker's early game story
- Merger of General Mills/Parker Brothers: Playing with Different Rules, a book by Ellen Wojahn, tells how incompetent and void management destroyed the company in just a few years.
- The New York Historical Society has many examples of Parker Bros. games, such as:
- Good Old Games from Grocery Store, 1887
- Chivalry: The Greatest Modern Board Game of Skill
- Around Joe's World
- Young People Geographic Game. Salem, MA: Parker Bros., ca.1890
- List and game information of Parker Brothers at the Association for Games & amp; Game Puzzles International Catalog
- List and game information of Parker Brothers on BoardGameGeek
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments