As has been pointed out by game ethnologists, one of the things people seem to do to become comfortable with new technology is play with it, or play a game based upon the new technology! And so it was with radio in the early years of the 19th century. A number of games in playing card format and boxed board games appeared on the market concerning the subject of "radio".
The photograph above illustrates one of these games, manufactured by the Milton Bradley Company (Springfield, Massachusetts) sometime in the 1920s. It has the serial number 4652. This copy was purchased by the Museum and added to the collection in 1982.
Printed on the inside of the top (23cm long x 38.3cm wide x 3cm high) are the instructions for playing the game. Printed on the inside of the bottom of the box (22.5cm long x 37.8cm wide x 30cm high) is the game board. On the game board is a stylized map of the United States at that time, indicating the boundaries of each State. The map is in four colors, and each color indicates a time zone:
red - Pacific Time
green - Mountain Time
grey - Central Time
yellow - Eastern Time
The circles printed in each State either indicate the call letters of various radio stations or contain movement instructions for the 2 to 4 players. Certain circles across the map are joined by red lines, while others are joined by blue lines - the lines indicating (networks?) and tracks for movement of the player's counters. The disc shaped cardboard counters (1.5cm diameter x .5cm thick) are in the upper right of the photograph.
At the bottom left of the photograph is a "spinner card" (9.8cm square) used by the players to determine their movement around the board. As a "chance device", a metal arrow fixed into the center of the card is spun by a player. Where the point of the arrow stops determines the player's move. The outer circle on the card is divided into the four US time zones. Within each zone are the numbers 1, 2, 3.
The collection also includes a reproduction of a similar game manufactured by Alderman-Fairchild Company about the same time - titled "Radio Game For Little Folks". The original from which the reproduction was made resides in a museum in Washington, D.C.
Last update March 24, 2010