Editing Milton Bradley Company (section)

===Foundation===
[[file:Milton bradley portrait.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Milton Bradley, founder]]
[[Milton Bradley]] found success making board games. In 1860, Milton Bradley moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, and set up the state's first color lithography shop. Its graphic design of [[Abraham Lincoln]] sold well, until Lincoln grew his beard and rendered the likeness out-of-date.

Struggling to find a new way to use his lithography machine, Bradley visited his friend George Tapley.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Milton-Bradley-Company-Company-History.html |title=Milton Bradley Company |access-date=April 1, 2011 |archive-date=February 15, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110215005246/http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Milton-Bradley-Company-Company-History.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Tapley challenged him to a game, most likely an old English game. Bradley conceived the idea of making a purely American game.<ref name=Information>{{cite web |url=http://www.answers.com/topic/milton-bradley-company |title=Milton Bradley Company Information |website=[[Answers.com]] |access-date=April 1, 2011 |archive-date=October 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241002103053/https://www.answers.com/redirectSearch?query=milton-bradley-company |url-status=live }}</ref> He created ''The Checkered Game of Life'', which had players move along a track from Infancy to Happy Old Age,<ref name=Checkered>{{cite web |url=http://chnm.gmu.edu/exploring/19thcentury/checkeredgame/index.php |title=Exploring U.S. History |author=Petrik, Paula |access-date=April 1, 2011 |archive-date=March 14, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110314162116/http://chnm.gmu.edu/exploring/19thcentury/checkeredgame/index.php |url-status=live }}</ref> in which the point was to avoid Ruin and reach Happy Old Age. Squares were labeled with moral positions from honor and bravery to disgrace and ruin. Players used a spinner instead of dice because of the negative association with gambling.<ref name=Checkered/>

By spring of 1861, over 45,000 copies of ''The Checkered Game of Life'' had been sold. Bradley became convinced board games were his company's future.<ref name=Information/>

When the [[American Civil War]] broke out in early 1861, Milton Bradley temporarily gave up making board games and tried to make new weaponry. However, upon seeing bored soldiers stationed in Springfield, Bradley began producing small games which the soldiers could play during their down time. These are regarded as the first travel games in the country.<ref name=Games>{{cite web |url=https://www.thebiggamehunter.com/_mgxroot/page_10768.html |title=Game History |last=Whitehall |first=Bruce |year=2002 |access-date=April 1, 2011 |archive-date=October 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241002103046/https://www.thebiggamehunter.com/_mgxroot/page_10768.html |url-status=live }}</ref> These games included chess, checkers, backgammon, dominoes, and "The Checkered Game of Life". They were sold for one dollar a piece to soldiers and charitable organizations, which bought them in bulk to distribute.