The Bittersweet History of Candy Land

By Miss Cellania for Neatorama

It was 1948, and Eleanor Abbott was bored. The retired schoolteacher was stuck in a San Diego hospital surrounded by young children who, like her, were hobbled by polio. The kids were lonely and sad, and Abbott, with nothing else to do, decided that a cheerful board game could be the perfect antidote. So she supposedly grabbed a piece of butcher paper and started sketching plans.

The end result was perfect for young children. No counting. No reading. Players simply needed to grasp colors and follow instructions on the cards to travel around the board, stopping at various delicious-sounding locations along the way. She shared it with the children in the polio ward, and they loved it. One year later, Milton Bradley bought the game—and it became a surprise hit: Candy Land.

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