Tag Archives: Vintage Board Games

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Spin Again Sunday: The Bride Game, 1971

The Game: The Bride Game, “the exciting game of planning a wedding.”

Copyright Date: 1971.

Object: “To be the first girl to get her complete matching wedding party along with the necessary accessories for the wedding ceremony.”

Recommended For: “Girls 8 to 14.” I don’t think they really needed to specify girls.

The Box: What girl could resist that full-length portrait of wholesome bridehood? Well, lots of girls probably could and did, but it would have snared me.

The box photo immediately called Tricia Nixon to my mind.  That might have been what Selchow & Righter was going for—Tricia Nixon did marry in 1971. Tricia’s gown was downright sexy, however, compared to the prim one our box bride wears.

The Board: In the early 1970s, Selchow & Righter (best known for Parcheesi and Scrabble) tried to carve out a niche in girls’ games. In this series, we’ve seen another of their offerings—the Emily Post Popularity Game. Like that game’s board, this one features misty pastel graphics.

Game Pieces: Regular colored pegs, wooden rather than plastic. The die is unusual; it has a natural wooden finish and sports numerals instead of dots.

Game Play: Before she can march down the aisle, each player must collect cards representing a bride, a groom, and honor attendants ALL IN THE SAME STYLE. Yes, the instructions give that last part in all caps. You wouldn’t want to commit a disastrous faux pas by having a groom dressed in “Daytime Formal” style and a Maid of Honor dressed for a “Semi-Formal” wedding, would you?

The grooms

The attendants

The brides. So, readers, what apparel would you pick?

Some of the other game cards. I’m glad the snazzy lingerie is something new, rather than something old or, worse, borrowed.

Each player must also collect a wedding cake card, a bridal bouquet card, and a wedding ring card, as well as cards representing something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.

While collecting these cards, players circle the board and visit the pastry shop, flower shop, jewelry store, and bridal salon. When all the cards are in hand, players can start marching toward the altar.

Today’s Bonus Feature: When it comes to bride-related toys, this game doesn’t live up to the Bonnie Bride doll, who could actually toss her bouquet. You know it was a quality product, since it was “sold only at food markets.”

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Spin Again Sunday: The Waltons (1974)

This week, my series on vintage board games is taking us to Walton’s Mountain.

The Game: The Waltons Game

Copyright Date: 1974.

Recommended Ages: 8 to 14.

Game Box: The colors are drab, which perhaps befits the Depression setting. The actor caricatures are good, as such things go. John Boy’s head is the biggest–frequent Waltons viewers will appreciate how fitting that is.

Object: “Be the first player to get rid of all your cards.”

Game board

Game Play: Like the H.R. Pufnstuf Game, this is a card game masquerading as a board game. All the cards are dealt at the beginning of the game; playing one card each turn, players try to complete puzzles featuring Waltons characters.

Game Board: The board, which features pictures of common Waltons settings, serves as a place to complete the puzzles. (The top puzzle, strangely, includes a non-regular cast member.)

An example of a completed puzzle. Anachronism alert: It’s very unlikely that a conservative 1930s farm wife would have had pierced ears.

My Thoughts: I’m surprised I didn’t own this game as a child because my family loved The Waltons. Watching the show together was a big weekly event, and it spawned a running joke that persists to this day. During the early seasons, the show’s end signaled my bedtime. My parents always tried to hustle me off to bed as the final scene faded to black, but I wasn’t having it. Didn’t Earl Hamner’s voice always announce, “Stay tuned for scenes from our next episode?” I would argue that I needed to see “the scenes.” My parents still bring this up when my own daughter is stalling at bedtime.

A John Boy card can be used to compete any puzzle. Of course it can.

Bonus Feature: Although we loved the show, my family also loved laughing at its corniness. I remember how amused we were by this Waltons parody on The Carol Burnett Show.  I don’t think we ever referred to the series as anything other than The Walnuts from then on. (The sketch more than lives up to my memories. Vincent Price and Joan Rivers as Ma and Pa Walton? Awesome!)

Read my whole Spin Again Sunday series!