Milton Bradley

Lore & Background

Milton Bradley was born in Vienna, Maine, in 1836 to Lewis and Fannie Bradley. After moving to Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1847, he completed high school in 1854 and worked as a draftsman and patent agent before studying at the Lawrence Scientific School. He moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1856, where he worked as a mechanical draftsman. In 1859, he learned lithography in Providence, Rhode Island, and set up the first color lithography shop in Springfield in 1860.

Bradley's early lithograph business failed after he printed an image of Abraham Lincoln, who grew a beard after the print was published, causing customers to demand refunds. Inspired by an imported board game a friend gave him, Bradley released The Checkered Game of Life in the winter of 1860. The game was an instant success, selling over 45,000 copies by 1861. It defined success in secular business terms, contrasting with earlier Puritan games focused on moral virtue.

Bradley also published tracts on Friedrich Fröbel's kindergarten system and produced two magazines, Kindergarten News and Work and Play. By the 1890s, his company introduced the first standardized watercolor sets and crayon packages with standardized colors. He invented the Myriopticon panorama viewer and held several patents, including one for a social game in 1866.

Reader's Guide

Milton Bradley's significance lies in his role as a pioneer of the American board game industry. His game The Checkered Game of Life shifted the concept of success from moral virtue to secular accomplishment, reflecting post-Civil War America's fascination with wealth and leisure. The Milton Bradley Company dominated game production for over a century, producing classics like Candy Land, Operation, and Battleship. Bradley also advanced educational materials, introducing standardized watercolor sets and crayon packages that influenced later products like Crayola crayons. His company merged with Parker Brothers in 1998 to form Hasbro Games, and the Milton Bradley brand was retired in 2009 after 149 years. Bradley was posthumously inducted into the Toy Industry Hall of Fame in 2004 and the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2006.

Did You Know?

• Milton Bradley's first lithograph business failed after Abraham Lincoln grew a beard, making Bradley's prints inaccurate and worthless.
• The Checkered Game of Life sold over 45,000 copies by 1861, defining success in secular business terms rather than moral virtue.
• He was posthumously inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame (operated by The Strong National Museum of Play) in 2004 and the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2006.