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With the advent of the American Civil War, Milton saw the interest in games fade until he created the idea of a small kit of games for the soldiers to play during periods of inactivity. His kit included chess, checkers, backgammon, dominoes, and his Checkered Game of Life. The kits were sold directly to the soldiers as well as charitable organizations who distributed them to the soldiers.

Milton's success with games monetarily carried his interest in supporting the new kindergarten movement. However, with the 1870 recession, his partners were no longer willing to support these extra costs. Milton chose to continue his support of the kindergarten movement and his friend, George Tapley, bought out the partners and became president. This left Milton free to invent new games and educational materials.

This foresight paid off by the early 1900s. Kindergartens were spreading across the United States and the teachers were buying Milton's art supplies, multiplication sticks, toy money, movable clock dials, story books, school furniture, and educational games. Milton Bradley Company's education department went from operating at a loss to being a major source of earnings for the company.1

Bradley grew up in a working-class household in Lowell, Massachusetts.

completing high school he found work as a draftsman before enrolling at the Lawrence Scientific School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1856, he secured employment at the Watson Company in Springfield, Massachusetts.

company was shuttered during the recession of 1858, he entered business for himself as a mechanical draftsman and patent agent

In 1885 C. Harold Smith founded a company with his cousin, Edwin Binney.

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Board game pioneer who invented The Game of Life

American draftsman and lithographer Milton Bradley founded the Milton Bradley Company, famous makers of family board games such as The Game of Life, CandyLand and Twister. Raised in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, Bradley attended Harvard's Lawrence Scientific School from 1854 to 1856. He then worked as a draftsman for the Wason Car Works, manufacturers of railcars, until 1860, when he founded a lithography business in Springfield, Massachusetts. His initial success with a lithograph of clean-shaven presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln was dashed after Lincoln grew his famous beard, but Bradley moved on with a board game called The Checkered Game of Life. Now called The Game of Life, it is part of a Milton Bradley catalog that includes Yahtzee, Connect 4, Chutes and Ladders, Mouse Trap, Operation and Big Ben jigsaw puzzles. Mr. Bradley was also an advocate of kindergarten programs and early art education, and for many years his company manufactured materials and published books for childhood education. Bradley himself published several books in the field, including Color in Kindergarten (1893) and Water Colors in the Schoolroom (1900).

Kneading and rolling the gum

A pioneer in the manufacture of carbon black, EdwinBinney was a founder of Binney & Smith, better known today for its Crayola products used by millions of children. Smith’s innovations made black automobile tires, electric light carbons, and many other technological advances possible. He was also active in many natural gas companies, was instrumental in the development of parts of the state of Florida, and was a noted philanthropist.

Binney was known not only for his impeccable business sense but also for his integrity and good will. During the Depression of the 1930s, for example, Binney & Smith gave destitute local farmers work hand-labeling boxes of crayons, a tradition that continued for many years. While his partner Smith spent much of his time traveling and selling, Binney was known as a quiet man who used his time to diversify the company at home. Binney died in Gainesville, Florida, on December 17, 1934, while visiting a grandson at the University of Florida.

On October 16, 1887, in Brooklyn, New York, he married Alice Stead of London, England, with whom he had four children: Dorothy, Helen (whose husband, Allan Kitchel, succeeded Binney as president of Binney & Smith), Mary, and Edwin Jr. Binney enjoyed spending time in the state of Florida, where he owned large orange groves in St. Lucie County. He was an important force in the opening of the east coast port of Ft. Pierce in 1930. He enjoyed deep sea cruising, fishing, hunting, and designing sail and motor boats.

When people think of the most creative companies of the twenty-first century, they think of revolutionary companies like Apple and the creative giant behind the brand, Steve Jobs. Edwin Binney wasn’t quite the Steve Jobs of his time. But his products have had a far longer shelf life than any Apple product so far. His little company started out making industrial colorants which still doesn’t sound too creative. But from those products, Binney had a vision. He saw a need in the market, specifically among children, and he converted his business to meet that need. He began manufacturing wax crayons, packed in little boxes, for children to use at school in a time when crayons were expensive artists’ tools. Combining two French words, his wife Alice names the little crayons “Crayola.”

Milton Bradley

orn November 8 1836 – Died May 30 1911

inventor of the Checkered Game of Life

They began in 1980, when a St. Paul, Minnesota, choir member's hymnal bookmarks kept falling to the floor. Chorist Arthur Fry, an engineer at chemical company 3M, joined forces with 3M scientist Spencer Silver, inventor of a peculiar adhesive that stuck poorly to surfaces. The glue provided perfect temporary fixes for paper scraps such as hymnal bookmarks

One year after 3M officially launched the Post-it Note, the packs of sticky paper raked in more than US$2 million in sales. Post-it Notes - available in 27 sizes, 57 colors, and 20 fragrances