THE TWISTER GAME: A HISTORY #Twister50

Twister and I have had a lot of good memories, and times together over my life time, but I didn't know it's now officially 50 years old! Did you know that??? Well it's true! As of May 3, 2016 they are 50 years old! 

I was sent this history of Twister and thought it was so interesting I would share it with all of you:

2016 TWISTER BRAND HISTORY

• 1964: Reyn Guyer, the toy inventor who five years later developed NERF, owned a design company with his father. While he was trying to design a promotion for Johnson Wax’s Shoe Polish, he developed an idea for a game that uses people as the playing pieces and a mat on the floor as the game board. He called his first attempt “King’s Footsie” and pitched the idea to 3M where, unfortunately, it was rejected.
  
  
• Guyer hired two game developers, Charles Foley and Neil Rabens, and set up a design team that created several games based on the players-as-pawns concept. The team rearranged the colored dots in a row on the “King’s Footsie” mat, making the players use their hands as well as their feet to become more knotted and renamed the game “Pretzel”. 
  
  
• 1966: The team brought “Pretzel” and other mat games to The Milton Bradley Company in Springfield, Massachusetts where the executives considered the concepts. Mel Taft, senior vice president of Research and Development, chose “Pretzel” after watching other employees get tangled up while demonstrating it. 
  
  
• The Milton Bradley Company officially changed the game’s name to “TWISTER.” The company faced social issues as it was socially unacceptable at that time to be as close to others as the game of TWISTER required. Taft was still convinced the TWISTER game would sell and The Milton Bradley Company scheduled its first appearance for Toy Fair. 
  
  
• That same year, the Milton Bradley Company released the TWISTER game. It was the first game on store shelves that used players’ bodies as playing pieces and required them to bend and stretch in challenging positions. 
  
  
• In the game of TWISTER, each player gives the spinner a whirl to see which colored spot they must place their hands or feet on the mat while maintaining their balance. The last player standing wins!
  At first, consumers had difficultly understanding the concept of TWISTER and they were not inclined to purchase the games. As a result, the TWISTER game was reluctantly pulled off the market and all of the support advertising was cancelled in early 1966. 
  
  
• Before all hope was lost, Taft remembered that Milton Bradley’s Public Relations Company had scheduled a paid appearance for the TWISTER game on “The Tonight Show”. 
  
  
• On May 3rd of 1966, “The Tonight Show” changed everything. The show’s host, Johnny Carson, challenged his guest for that evening to a game of TWISTER. Taft experienced the audience roar with laughter as they watched the two celebrities stretch their bodies into unusual positions, challenging each other’s dexterity. 
  
  
• The TWISTER game’s debut on “The Tonight Show” sent consumers rushing to the stores to buy their own TWISTER game. Abercrombie & Fitch was the only store left with any TWISTER games in stock and it soon became overwhelmed with customers. Eventually, Sears changed their minds and restocked the TWISTER games.
  

• By early 1967, more than three million TWISTER games were sold. 
  
  
• 1987: 4,160 students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst positioned hundreds of TWISTER mats together and set a world record for the largest TWISTER game that was ever played. 
   
• Due to the popular demand of the TWISTER game, the brand has introduced many exciting product extensions over the years. 
  
  
• 2003: Hasbro released TWISTER MOVES, a game that combined the TWISTER concept with dance moves and pop music. In the portable, social game, players were challenged by a virtual DJ to follow the dance moves and match their feet to a color-coded mat. 
  
  
• 2006: The TWISTER DANCE DVD took dancing and music a step further. Players followed step-by-step instructions from a TV-based dance coach who demonstrated 40 different dance moves set to music. The DVD offered dance routines in four unique locations: Aqua Beach, Downtown, Center Stage, and the TWISTER Dance Club. 
  
  
• 2007: Hasbro took the fun outdoors with an exciting TWISTER line that encouraged free form play (running, jumping, ducking, and dodging) for the entire family. These games included TWISTER SCRAM, TWISTER TAKE OUT, and TWISTER DODGEBALL. 
  
  
• 2008: No chalk or sidewalk required! Children could play hopscotch year-round with the TWISTER HOPSCOTCH game. The game was introduced with a non-slip mat surface that’s durable and fits in play rooms and hallways. 
  
  
• 2010: Hasbro’s TWISTER HOOPLA game is a wacky twist on the classic game where players become the TWISTER mat and the iconic dots are turned into rings. Players had to complete five challenges to score and closely interact with other players while trying to maintain balance. 
  
  2015: The TWISTER brand teamed up with singer Thomas Rhett and his fans took part in a huge TWISTER game on the World Record Breaking TWISTER mat which measured 27,159.616 square feet, and The Strong National Museum of Play inducted TWISTER into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2015 alongside Puppets and Super Soakers. 
  
  
• 2016: The iconic TWISTER brand celebrates five decades of right-hand reds and its 50th anniversary! To celebrate the TWISTER brand’s 50th, Reyn Guyer has written a book called “Right Brain Red” which tells the tale of his creative career and offers the complete story of the TWISTER game’s exciting beginnings. 
  
  
  
  Did you know these interesting facts?