Uploaded November 2023 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
I found this unused box, a set, of Gilbert Boxed Problem Puzzles dated 1940. What we'd call today 'games.' So what was 'gaming' like back then? Let's find out.
In these games you do battle with gravity and inertia and friction.. and your own impatience.. to get all the little balls in all the right holes or some such thing. In "Topsy Turvy Rivets" it's rivets we're dealing with--and trying to get them to all stand up on their heads. None of the games have dates on them, but this one is shown on the front of the outer box, which is dated 1940. At least one of the others CAN'T be that early and you'll see why.
Now here's the 'Radio Tube Trick,' the point of which is to get the little radio tubes into their sockets. The tubes are weighted little capsules and this is not easy to do. Radios were still made with tubes in those days-- what are called in some parts of the world, 'valves.'
And here's the "Hungry Pup"--You can help out our canine friend by getting the two bones up onto the platter.. which looks kind of like a frying pan to me.
"Ring a Tail" brings cats into the act. The point here is to get the 5 rings onto the cat's tail.
In the "Lucky Horseshoe," the point is to get the six "nails" into the holes in the horseshoe. The four leaf clovers are here to provide a bit of added luck, which you'll need.
Now, look what we're supposed to do here--with the two little 'atomic bombs.' How this was considered fun, or appropriate for children, I don't know. The 'fun' had to rely on having absolutely NO thought or empathy for the targets represented in this game. Like imagine in the "Hungry Pup"--if you succeeded in getting the bones on the platter, it would.. blow up an animal shelter. What if that were the point of that game? Well, that's ridiculous.
ISn't it. But it's not ridiculous to blow up people?
This is why collecting is essential to culture. Collecting lets us see what our culture doesn't want us to notice. The collector sees the careless violence in this old Atomic Bomb game and says wow, what were they thinking? Relating it to today--as all collectors do--the collector asks, what are we doing now in our culture.. like this? ...Ohhh yeahhhh. Violence as entertainment. Everyday entertainment.
Using history.. to more clearly see the present: This is the collector's key role in a society.
And THAT'S WHY the powers that be.. see collecting as a SUBVERSIVE act. And that's why collectors are silenced. Yes, silenced. Look how collectors are portrayed in establishment media, never as historians or documentarians,... but as hoarders... or treasure hunters, or some other kind of weirdo, easily dismissed.
From the perspective of something like this, the collector can see that we are so used to casual violence in our culture, we don't even notice it. We're not supposed to notice it--much of our economy depends on it.
I found this unused box, a set, of Gilbert Boxed Problem Puzzles dated 1940. What we'd call today 'games.' So what was 'gaming' like back then? Let's find out.
In these games you do battle with gravity and inertia and friction.. and your own impatience.. to get all the little balls in all the right holes or some such thing. In "Topsy Turvy Rivets" it's rivets we're dealing with--and trying to get them to all stand up on their heads. None of the games have dates on them, but this one is shown on the front of the outer box, which is dated 1940. At least one of the others CAN'T be that early and you'll see why.
Now here's the 'Radio Tube Trick,' the point of which is to get the little radio tubes into their sockets. The tubes are weighted little capsules and this is not easy to do. Radios were still made with tubes in those days-- what are called in some parts of the world, 'valves.'
And here's the "Hungry Pup"--You can help out our canine friend by getting the two bones up onto the platter.. which looks kind of like a frying pan to me.
"Ring a Tail" brings cats into the act. The point here is to get the 5 rings onto the cat's tail.
In the "Lucky Horseshoe," the point is to get the six "nails" into the holes in the horseshoe. The four leaf clovers are here to provide a bit of added luck, which you'll need.
Now, look what we're supposed to do here--with the two little 'atomic bombs.' How this was considered fun, or appropriate for children, I don't know. The 'fun' had to rely on having absolutely NO thought or empathy for the targets represented in this game. Like imagine in the "Hungry Pup"--if you succeeded in getting the bones on the platter, it would.. blow up an animal shelter. What if that were the point of that game? Well, that's ridiculous.
ISn't it. But it's not ridiculous to blow up people?
This is why collecting is essential to culture. Collecting lets us see what our culture doesn't want us to notice. The collector sees the careless violence in this old Atomic Bomb game and says wow, what were they thinking? Relating it to today--as all collectors do--the collector asks, what are we doing now in our culture.. like this? ...Ohhh yeahhhh. Violence as entertainment. Everyday entertainment.
Using history.. to more clearly see the present: This is the collector's key role in a society.
And THAT'S WHY the powers that be.. see collecting as a SUBVERSIVE act. And that's why collectors are silenced. Yes, silenced. Look how collectors are portrayed in establishment media, never as historians or documentarians,... but as hoarders... or treasure hunters, or some other kind of weirdo, easily dismissed.
From the perspective of something like this, the collector can see that we are so used to casual violence in our culture, we don't even notice it. We're not supposed to notice it--much of our economy depends on it.
