Monday. Gotta get up early.

Re: Monday. Gotta get up early.

The three in one �wood� link is the word �board� or its homophone. As in a generic board game, using a card board playing field for games, for bored people needing to play a game when trapped at home.

Games are very old like �Hounds and Jackels�, Chess, and similar but �officially� the American entertainment board game was begun by Miss Anne Abbott about 1843 as a Sunday school device, �The Mansion of Happiness�, to teach moral attitudes and tasks to get to heaven (oddly at the successful conclusion it showed (fully clothed) dancing ladies at the end panel). The game featured an eight sided top device (Oh no, not similar at all to a Jewish device) looking a lot like a draedal for counting because, well, die were the �devils playthings.� As it happens any board game was easy to make, transportable, occupying of time, and easily adapted, so eventually within a few years (1860) Bradley, as in Milton Bradley, packaged a bunch of games in a bundle called �Games for Soldiers� and sent them out to Union soldiers (chess, checkers, backgammon, and five versions of dominos) to help them pass the time. Fast forward to 1883 a family in need of funds �his Father was a sea captain, but laid up of bad health and worse investing--had a young boy of sixteen, a game player, who determined to go out and sell what he knew best--games. His name was Parker and together with his brothers put together trendy games to fit the mood and interest of the country. Gone were preachy games and in came exciting games. Games like �Klondike�, �Pikes Peak�, �Across the Continent�, �Around the World�, �Siege of Havana�, �Motor Carriage Game�, �Teddy Bear Hunt�, and �Polly Pickles-Queen of Hollywood� were board games invented by the Parker Brothers. They also set up a primitive assembly line to color in the stations on the board�one person did red, another yellow, etc. Soon however board games proved to be very popular and was too good a money maker not to have competition. A Mr. Charles Darrow in 1933 was out of work and invented a game where he had fond memories of Atlantic City before the Depression. He called it Monopoly. He tried to sell it to the Parker Brothers but they thought it took too long, had too much counting, dealt with banks, jail, and was ruthless in victory; it was designed to ruin the other participants a little at a time. In all, 52 problems were stated in the rejection. Darrow had no job and no place else to go so he went to Wanamaker�s in Philadelphia to go it alone. The rest is history. He needed to sell 25,000 copies and he sold over one million sets in one (Great Depression) year.

The embarrassed and now paying the price Parker Brothers bought out Mr. Darrow who retired in great comfort. Monopoly is the world�s most popular board game and annually prints more money than the U.S. mint. Smyth�s Board Game moral. Forget piety, lose your job, have your family in dire need, exhaust all avenues of fiscal escape, invent something complicated, morally indefensible that takes time away from other things, and be unforgiving in getting what you want. History says you will do well. A CIA Guantanamo water boarding game anyone?

That's neat !

Thanks for the info Gary, very interesting.