Collecting Gadgets and Games from the 1950s-90s

Chapter 1

(There’s) Always Something There To Remind Me

Top Fifties & Sixties Gadgets

The TV Remote Control: Yes, it’s a product of the 1950s, however much we may associate it with 1980s videos and the image of Homer Simpson sprawled in his armchair knocking back a can of Duff beer. No longer would you have to rouse yourself from your sedentary position to switch between the two available channels. The ‘Lazy Bones’ remote was connected by a wire to the TV, but the first ever wireless remote-control was designed by Eugene Polley and known as the ‘Flash-matic’ – it operated by means of light aimed at photo-cells. Ultrasonic units took over from 1956 until 1982, when infra-red became the norm
The Microwave Oven: Percy Spencer, working on active radar sets for defence contractor Raytheon, noticed that a candy-bar in his pocket had started to melt – and saw the application. The patent was filed in 1945, and by the 1950s the Tappan Stove Company introduced the first home microwave oven
The Cordless Drill: The first Black and Decker cordless drill was brought out in 1961, but it wasn’t terribly powerful – only the arrival of nickel-cadmium batteries 20 years later made it a viable proposition at last
The computer mouse: The first prototype was invented by Douglas Engelbart and Bill English in 1963 at the Stanford Research Institute
The Moog Synthesiser: Robert Moog’s revolutionary analogue sound-manipulator came out in 1964, just a year after BBC Radiophonic Workshop sorceress Delia Derbyshire had worked her magic on the Doctor Who theme tune with old-fashioned tape-splicing methods. The 1967 Monterey Pop festival helped to raise the profile of what would arguably be the most defining and revolutionary instrument of the next 25 years in popular music. A 1960s Moog can sell for over £1,500 in good condition
The Arpanet: The connection of four separate computers in 1969, which would eventually lead to the Internet revolution of the 1990s and 2000s

Monopoly

The essential: Capitalism for beginners

The empire began: 1934

Current value: Brand new sets for around £13, £40 for a ‘nostalgia edition’ reproducing the look of the 1930s game. Vintage 1970s editions can be found in reasonable condition for under £6. The Landlord’s Game, the forerunner of Monopoly, can sell for £10,000+

Whether you see it as an essential primer in city geography and relative property values, an introduction to a capitalist economy or a way of making a long Sunday afternoon go by more quickly – or, indeed, tiresomely tedious – there is no doubting Monopoly’s dominance of the board game arena. Cited by many sources as the best-selling board game ever (the game has sold over 250 million sets worldwide), its appeal lies in its essential simplicity coupled with its versatility, and its ability to produce long, involved, cutthroat contests and bravura displays of ruthlessness.

The game was purportedly invented by salesman Charles Darrow, but it is now accepted that his place in history should be that of one of the game’s developers. It is based on The Landlord’s Game patented by one Elizabeth Magie as early as 1904. Darrow obtained a copyright for the game in 1933, and this early version featured many of the icons still associated with the game today, such as the big red GO arrow.

The rules of Monopoly are very simple to grasp – essentially, players, represented by metal icons (a car, a hat, a battleship and others) are given a set amount of toy money. They then move round the board in a clockwise direction beginning (in the main UK version) in London’s impoverished districts, Old Kent Road and Whitechapel, coloured mud-brown, and ending up in the leafy boulevards of Park Lane and Mayfair, coloured a rich purple, then back to the start – aiming, on the way, to buy properties, represented by cards. Each time a player gets back to the start, he or she acquires another £200 in their personal fortune. Once a player owns a property, he or she can start being a filthy capitalist landlord, ignoring brownfield site regulations and building houses and hotels on the relevant street. And woe betide any other player who lands on a built-up space – because, even though they are just visiting, they are then charged with a whacking great amount of rent.

The aim, a rather callous one in this post-credit-crunch age, is to make your opponent(s) bankrupt. Variations involving sub-prime mortgages and runs on banks have, sadly, not yet made it into the Monopoly canon.

RetroFax

Fans of Monopoly have played the game in all sorts of weird and wonderful places – including underwater (a diving club in Buffalo, USA in 1983) and inside a lift
The most expensive Monopoly game was made by Alfred Dunhill. It sold for $25,000 and included gold and silver houses and hotels
The moustached, cane-wielding, top-hatted icon of the game was originally called Rich Uncle Pennybags – his name was changed to ‘Mr Monopoly’ in 1998
Some of the American streets in the original Monopoly no longer exist. Illinois Avenue, for example, was renamed Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in the 1980s
Believe it or not, you can also analyse your personality based on your choice of Monopoly counter. Those who favour the Car are supposedly confident and drive a hard bargain. Battleship players are aggressive and see everything as a challenge. The Dog is chosen by players of tenacity and courage. The Boot – experienced and wise. The Iron – neat, tidy and smooth. And the player who chooses the Top Hat aspires to the finer things in life. One has to ask – do people actually get paid to come up with this stuff?
The shortest possible game of Monopoly (based on the US version) can last just two turns per player. It presumes a great deal of luck on one side and misfortune with the dice and the cards on the other, but it’s theoretically possible to be done and dusted in half a minute
In the 1930s, Waddingtons attempted to cash in on the success of Monopoly with a horse-racing version called Totopoly. Surviving sets can sell for £70
A handmade Monopoly game by Charles Darrow sold for £40,218 at a US auction in 1992