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Pictured below are sample cards from Satellite Space Race, a recently acquired children's game produced by Ed-U-Card Manufacturing Corp. just in time for the Christmas market of 1957, at the height of the Cold War. Space Race features Sputnik as the evil satellite ("Lose Two Turns"). Since America's Explorer I was not yet in orbit, Sputnik's counterpart is identified simply as Friendly Satellite ("Take Two Cards"). The game's nicely stylized illustrations and rather garish colors typify the 1950s.
Satellite Space Race and numerous other games and toys are the gift of a Delaware couple who were so favorably impressed with our exhibition on Christmas in the 1950s, '60s, and '70s, that they assumed the role of Santa Claus, donating many playthings acquired for their children, born in 1949 and 1951. Among these is an early version of Mr. Potato Head, the first toy to have been advertised on national television. |
