The game box was a simple publishing conceit: several simple board games were packed into one box, with the requisite markers, dice, and spinner. Often the boards were the familiar ones for checkers, backgammon, mill, and other favorites; sometimes they were new ones.

This 1956 set from Saalfield contains ten original games, printed on five boards; I don’t know if it’s complete. The ten are Setback, Doghouse, Solo, Drop Out, Collections, Riskit, Magic Wish, Race to the South Pole, Tots, and Ouch! You can see Ouch! above. I suspect a game that encouraged children to molest the cat, tear up books, write on the walls, and spank each other would meet with an icy silence in an editorial meeting today.

Unlike many games, these are signed, by a certain Howard Boughner. A little research reveals that he assisted on the daily strips “Dumb Dora” and “Wash Tubbs,” wrote the strips “Penny” and “Dotty Dripple,” and drew his own strips “Mac” and “Peter and Polly in Toyland,” as well as drawing the daily panel “Hold Everything” and contributing humor features to Marvel. He also drew other games for Saalfield, including another game box in 1954. Some very stylish ’50s art here! (Please click to enlarge.)

(Posted by Doug Skinner)