This popular television game show was telecast from 1963 though 1991 from various locals. During the years 1963 to 1968, the show was telecast during the day on NBC from a television studio. Then in 1968, it moved to an ABC network studio as a prime time evening telecast. Over the following years it was seen in syndication, as a daytime telecast from Canada, and in1990 was telecast from Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. The boxed game in the photograph above was issued in 1969 - after the telecast first moved to ABC. This copy of the boxed game was produced by the Ideal Toy Company in the United States. The game box is 33.2 cm x 45.5 cm x 4.5 cm and was donated to the Museum in 1991.
On the telecast, the emcee Monty Hall (pictured above on the game box) selected contestants from the studio audience. Often members of the audience wore unusual costumes to attract his attention. Contestants brought items with them to trade for prizes hidden in boxes or behind curtains on the stage. Prizes could be jewelry, trips, money, etc. Contestants were given a number of trading options in hopes they could better their winnings.
Within the game box are two plastic and cardboard devices copied from those on the telecast. Into these devices, cardboard pictures of prizes are inserted - either in a "box" or behind a "curtain". These enabled a player of the boxed game to make a choice, much as a contestant would do on the telecast. Players are also enabled to make more than one choice or to change their decision as on the telecast. The intent of the game, as on the telecast, is to finish the round with a number of items that increased a player's worth.
As on the telecast, during a final round the two players who are in the lead (had accumulated the most) can select one of these "windows" (pictured on the left) in trade for what they have accumulated. By doing this they could win even more - or finish with much less.
Behind the "windows" on the television stage, could be a room full of furniture, a piano, a setting for a tropical vacation, etc. Cardboard pictures of such prizes are placed into this device in the boxed game.
Last update May 29, 2010