First issued by the Milton Bradley Company in 1958, this copy of the 1st edition of the game was donated to the Museum in 1991. The show was telecast from 1958 through 1961 in prime time and a daytime version was telecast off and on until 1993. The Bradley Company issued new content versions of the game in subsequent years; for example, a 3rd edition in 1960 and a 9th edition in 1964.
In 1958 Jack Barry was the the "host" and subsequently Hugh Downs became the "host" on both the evening prime time series and the daytime series.
This television audience participation "quiz show" was a combination of two old parlor games. Two contestants are presented a game board of 30 squares. Behind each square is a prize. The task of a contestant was to match 2 squares and win the prize. However, a contestant could only keep the prize if they would be the first to solve a "rebus" which was revealed as the chosen squares were rotated. A "rebus" is a word puzzle in which the syllables of words and names are represented either by pictures of things that sound the same or by letters.
The Bradley game was similar to the television show. As seen on the box in the photograph above, while the television audience and contestants watched a large wall screen with the game content, the box game contained a red plastic cube shaped "rollomatic box" with slits into which cardboard cards could be inserted. Each card included a "rebus" puzzle. The box game also included paper bills in $50, $100, and $500 denominations to be used as prizes. A booklet of instructions indicated how to use the "rollomatic box" and how players were to play the game.
Last update May 25, 2010