When you think back to all the board games you enjoyed as a kid, one that might stand out in your mind is Mouse Trap. With its three-dimensional, Rube Goldberg-inspired design and cooperative play, Mouse Trap revolutionized the board game industry when it hit the market in 1963. Despite a few changes in the design and rules over the years, this classic game remains a strong seller today, thanks to its family-friendly gameplay and interactive nature.
MARVIN GLASS–BUILDING A TOY EMPIRE
The man behind Mouse Trap was Marvin Glass. Glass, who was born in 1914 to German immigrants in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, began inventing playthings for his neighborhood friends from an early age. After graduating from the University of Chicago in 1935, his interest in toy design was renewed through a friend who created animated displays for store windows. The two began selling ideas for toys to manufacturers; one such invention was the Tiny Town Theater, a projector that illuminated comic strips inserted by the user.
In 1941, Glass borrowed some money and formed his own toy
