Milton Bradley Company
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| Type | Wholly Owned Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1860 |
| Headquarters | Springfield, Massachusetts, United States |
| Industry | Games |
| Products | Battleship Connect Four Hungry Hungry Hippos The Game of Life Simon Twister Yahtzee |
| Parent | Hasbro |
The Milton Bradley Company is an American game company established by Milton Bradley in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1860. In 1920, it absorbed the game production of McLoughlin Brothers, formerly the largest game manufacturer in the United States and in 1987 it purchased Selchow and Righter, makers of Parcheesi and Scrabble.
Milton Bradley was taken over by Hasbro, Inc., in 1984. Now wholly owned by Hasbro, it is still retained as one of Hasbro's brands, similar to the manner in which Parker Brothers is one of Hasbro's brands. It is a board game and sometimes video game publisher. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Milton Bradley marketed a series of games (such as HeroQuest) in North America that were developed in the United Kingdom by Games Workshop (GW) that drew heavily from GW's Warhammer Fantasy universe, albeit without explicit reference to the Warhammer product line.
Milton Bradley was sued by two men, Alan Coleman and Roger Burten, who claimed to have presented the original concept for Dark Tower to Milton Bradley in the late 1970s, at which point, MB declined to pursue it, but thereafter "independently" developed the game[1]. One of the Dark Tower game designers claims the court's decision was unfair[2]. As part of the resolution of the lawsuit, Milton Bradley pulled the game off the market, and it was never republished.[citation needed]
James J. Shea was the board chairman of the Milton Bradley Company who rescued the company from going into bankruptcy. [3]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Lee Gesmer, Esq., Triumph v Dark Tower: How Two Inventors Won Their Trade Secrets Case Against a Game Giant, http://www.gesmer.com/publications/article.php?ID=157
- ^ Jim Francis, Triumph: the Origin of Dark Tower, http://well-of-souls.com/tower/triumph.htm
- ^ "James J. Shea, 87, Dies; Rescued Milton Bradley From Brink of Bankruptcy". New York Times. January 4, 1977, Tuesday. "James J. Shea, retired board chairman of the Milton Bradley Company, Springfield, Mass., died at a hospital there yesterday. He was 87 years old and a resident of Springfield."
[edit] External links
- Milton Bradley Company history on Hasbro's website
- Milton Bradley Company at BoardGameGeek
- Cornell Exhibit on Games with MB Kindergarten Curriculum
- Predecessor Company McLoughlin Bros. History
- Milton Bradley Games Information and parts at Gamepart.com
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