1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:08,559 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:09,240 --> 00:00:12,640 Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:12,760 --> 00:00:16,479 Speaker 1: show that tracks the twists and turns of everyday history. 4 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:21,240 Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Lucier, and today we're talking about the time 5 00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:25,200 Speaker 1: when Johnny Carson saved the game Twister by showing the 6 00:00:25,239 --> 00:00:29,440 Speaker 1: American public that it wasn't as salacious as it first seemed. 7 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:42,959 Speaker 1: The day was May third, nineteen sixty six. Late night 8 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:47,640 Speaker 1: talk show host Johnny Carson an actress Ava Gabor demonstrated 9 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:51,520 Speaker 1: how to play a new party game called Twister during 10 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:54,240 Speaker 1: a segment of the Tonight show. They spread out the 11 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:58,120 Speaker 1: game's plastic mat on the studio floor, took off their shoes, 12 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:02,480 Speaker 1: and did their best to follow the instructions. Carson's announcer, 13 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:06,200 Speaker 1: Ed McMahon was tasked with working the game's spinner and 14 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:09,919 Speaker 1: with calling out the directions it dictated, like right foot 15 00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:14,120 Speaker 1: red and left hand green. Within a few minutes, Carson 16 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:18,120 Speaker 1: and Gabor were hopelessly entangled, and the audience, both in 17 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:22,200 Speaker 1: the studio and at home, was in stitches. Few knew 18 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:25,280 Speaker 1: it at the time, but that on air demonstration was 19 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:28,520 Speaker 1: a make or break moment for Twister. The game had 20 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:32,520 Speaker 1: largely sat unsold on store shelves since its release the 21 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:37,080 Speaker 1: previous year. Some customers were confused by the premise, while 22 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:40,240 Speaker 1: others thought the idea of mingling limbs on the floor 23 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:43,040 Speaker 1: was too lewd a premise for what was billed as 24 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:48,080 Speaker 1: a family game. Twister's reception was so poor that its manufacturer, 25 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:51,200 Speaker 1: Milton Bradley, had already given up on it and didn't 26 00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:55,720 Speaker 1: intend to produce any more copies. However, the pr firm 27 00:01:55,760 --> 00:01:59,400 Speaker 1: that was promoting Twister had already booked a demonstration on 28 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:02,920 Speaker 1: one of the country's most popular shows, and nobody told 29 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:05,440 Speaker 1: them that the game was as good as dead. The 30 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:08,880 Speaker 1: tonight show segment was produced as planned, and by the 31 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: following day it was clear just what a lucky break 32 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:16,200 Speaker 1: that was for Milton Bradley, for the game's inventors, and 33 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 1: for partygoers worldwide. The story of Twister began in nineteen 34 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:26,000 Speaker 1: sixty five when Minnesota ad man RAYN. Geyer was hired 35 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:28,959 Speaker 1: to work on a local back to school promotional display 36 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:32,760 Speaker 1: for Johnson Brands shoe polish. He wanted to include a 37 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:35,600 Speaker 1: mail in offer for some kind of game where kids 38 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:38,960 Speaker 1: used their feet to play. He envisioned a large checkered 39 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:42,440 Speaker 1: matt with colorful squares in a four x six arrangement 40 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:46,280 Speaker 1: on which players would step as they played. Geyer grabbed 41 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:48,760 Speaker 1: a big sheet of cardboard and whipped up a crude 42 00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 1: prototype right there in the design firm office. Then he 43 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:55,200 Speaker 1: called in eight of his coworkers to test out the game, 44 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:58,880 Speaker 1: which he called King's foot See. It was similar to 45 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:02,440 Speaker 1: Tic Tac Toe or or Connect four, except players worked 46 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:05,960 Speaker 1: in teams of two and used their feet to claim spaces. 47 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:10,399 Speaker 1: As Geyer later explained, quote, it didn't make any difference 48 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:12,919 Speaker 1: what the game was at that point, because we began 49 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:15,200 Speaker 1: to laugh so hard that it was obvious we were 50 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:18,760 Speaker 1: onto something. The game was a riot, and I immediately 51 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:21,600 Speaker 1: knew this was more than a promotion for shoe polish. 52 00:03:22,639 --> 00:03:26,120 Speaker 1: Not long after, Geier pitched King's Footsie to one of 53 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:30,160 Speaker 1: his clients at three M, the maker of adhesive office products. 54 00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:33,280 Speaker 1: At the time. The company was trying something new by 55 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:37,160 Speaker 1: offering a line of premium strategy games, but a game 56 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 1: you played with your feet didn't exactly fit the bill, 57 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:43,840 Speaker 1: so three M took a pass. Geyer realized he had 58 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:46,760 Speaker 1: reached the point when it did matter what the game was, 59 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:49,800 Speaker 1: so he hired an artist and a toy designer to 60 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:53,200 Speaker 1: help further develop the concept for a game where people 61 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:57,160 Speaker 1: acted as the game pieces. It was artist Charles Foley 62 00:03:57,200 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 1: who suggested that players should place their hands as well 63 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:02,560 Speaker 1: well as their feet on the game mat, which now 64 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:06,360 Speaker 1: featured multicolored polka dots instead of squares, and it was 65 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:09,240 Speaker 1: toy designer Neil Ravens who hit on the idea of 66 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:12,800 Speaker 1: putting six circles of the same color in four rows, 67 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:17,480 Speaker 1: thereby ensuring that players would always become entangled sooner or later. 68 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:21,760 Speaker 1: Besides the mat, the only other game piece was a spinner, 69 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:24,400 Speaker 1: which told the player to put either a hand or 70 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:27,719 Speaker 1: a foot on a particular colored dot. The goal of 71 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:31,359 Speaker 1: the game was simply to outlast everyone else. The winner 72 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:35,240 Speaker 1: was whoever followed the spinner's directions the longest without their 73 00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:39,039 Speaker 1: elbows or knees hitting the ground. The team called the 74 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:43,160 Speaker 1: game Pretzel, after the unique shapes that people twisted themselves 75 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:46,839 Speaker 1: into while playing it. Altogether, the team came up with 76 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:50,760 Speaker 1: eight possible game ideas to pair with Geyer's mat, but 77 00:04:50,839 --> 00:04:53,920 Speaker 1: the clear winner of the bunch was Pretzel. A hilarious 78 00:04:53,960 --> 00:05:00,040 Speaker 1: test of coordination, flexibility, and personal space Geyer, Foley, and 79 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:04,440 Speaker 1: Ravens approached Milton Bradley Company with their idea. The board 80 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:07,640 Speaker 1: game maker was riding high on hit products like Yachtze 81 00:05:07,839 --> 00:05:10,240 Speaker 1: and The Game of Life, but there was nothing quite 82 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:14,640 Speaker 1: like Pretzel in its lineup. The company's head of development, Meltaft, 83 00:05:14,839 --> 00:05:17,120 Speaker 1: thought it could be a huge seller, but the other 84 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:21,440 Speaker 1: executives at Milton Bradley weren't convinced. They worried that parents 85 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:24,400 Speaker 1: might object to boys and girls playing the game together, 86 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:27,880 Speaker 1: which of course would put Pretzel at a disadvantage compared 87 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:33,440 Speaker 1: to other less compromising games. Nonetheless, with Taft's endorsement, the 88 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:36,880 Speaker 1: company agreed to take the risk. The only problem was 89 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:40,039 Speaker 1: the name Pretzel wasn't available to use, as there was 90 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:43,520 Speaker 1: already a toy dog called Pretzel on the market. The 91 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:47,320 Speaker 1: marketing team at Milton Bradley eventually settled on Twister as 92 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:51,200 Speaker 1: a replacement. Geyer, who was a Midwest native, was not 93 00:05:51,279 --> 00:05:53,840 Speaker 1: a fan of the new moniker as it reminded him 94 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:57,000 Speaker 1: of tornadoes, but in the end he was outvoted and 95 00:05:57,040 --> 00:05:59,920 Speaker 1: the name Twister stuck. One of the things that can 96 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:03,240 Speaker 1: convinced Milton Bradley to roll the dice on Twister was 97 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:06,719 Speaker 1: the low cost nature of the game. Unlike traditional board 98 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:10,400 Speaker 1: games that required detailed printed boards and copious metal and 99 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:15,080 Speaker 1: plastic tokens, Twister only had two components, a vinyl mat 100 00:06:15,279 --> 00:06:18,240 Speaker 1: and a plastic spinner. The only part of production that 101 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:21,640 Speaker 1: was even slightly difficult was figuring out how to cheaply 102 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:26,239 Speaker 1: print large colored dots onto big plastic sheets. The answer, 103 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:28,839 Speaker 1: as it turned out, was to outsource the job to 104 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:33,720 Speaker 1: accompany the printed shower curtains. Everything was going smoothly until 105 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:37,279 Speaker 1: Milton Bradley began to advertise the game to retailers in 106 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:41,000 Speaker 1: the fall of nineteen sixty five. Right away, the company's 107 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:45,520 Speaker 1: worst fears were confirmed, as multiple buyers expressed discomfort with 108 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:49,960 Speaker 1: Twister's intimate style of gameplay. To make matters worse, other 109 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:53,240 Speaker 1: toy makers began referring to the game as sex in 110 00:06:53,279 --> 00:06:57,159 Speaker 1: a box, making Twister into an industry joke that turned 111 00:06:57,160 --> 00:07:01,560 Speaker 1: off retailers even more. Milton Bread badly tried to downplay 112 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:05,720 Speaker 1: the game's sexual overtones by putting cartoon characters rather than 113 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:09,480 Speaker 1: real people on its packaging, But no matter how innocuous 114 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:13,600 Speaker 1: the box art, parents just weren't having it. Twister barely 115 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:16,400 Speaker 1: sold it all during its first few months on the market, 116 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:20,240 Speaker 1: but the real killing blow came when Sears Roebuck declared 117 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:23,640 Speaker 1: the game too inappropriate to be included in its famous 118 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:28,040 Speaker 1: Christmas catalog. Not long after, rain Geier got a phone 119 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:32,120 Speaker 1: call from Meltaft telling him that all promotion and manufacturing 120 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:35,880 Speaker 1: of Twister would be halted in the new year. The 121 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:39,560 Speaker 1: remaining stock of Twister continued to gather dust on store 122 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:42,640 Speaker 1: shelves for the first few months of nineteen sixty six. 123 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:46,000 Speaker 1: Milton Bradley had already written it off as a loss 124 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:49,120 Speaker 1: by then. In fact, the company was so done with 125 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:51,920 Speaker 1: the game that it hadn't bothered to cancel the remaining 126 00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:55,200 Speaker 1: promotions it had already planned for it. As a result, 127 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:58,920 Speaker 1: Johnny Carson wound up giving an on air demonstration of 128 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:02,880 Speaker 1: a game that was a it out to be discontinued. Remarkably, 129 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:07,080 Speaker 1: that oversight turned out to be Twister's saving grace, because 130 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:10,480 Speaker 1: when roughly twelve million viewers tuned into the Tonight Show 131 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:14,200 Speaker 1: on May third, they realized just how fun and wholesome 132 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:18,040 Speaker 1: the game could be. Carson's guest that night was Hungarian 133 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:21,880 Speaker 1: American actress Ava Goobor, the glamorous star of the hit 134 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:25,840 Speaker 1: TV show Green Acres. She accepted the host's invite to 135 00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:29,120 Speaker 1: demo the strange new game, and before long, the two 136 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:32,200 Speaker 1: of them were down on all fours, trying desperately not 137 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:35,320 Speaker 1: to fall on top of each other. The audience laughed 138 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:37,760 Speaker 1: all the way through the segment, and when it was over, 139 00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:40,920 Speaker 1: rather than being scandalized, they wanted to try the game 140 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:45,120 Speaker 1: for themselves. The day after the show aired, customers flooded 141 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:47,760 Speaker 1: toy stores all over New York in search of Twister, 142 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:51,920 Speaker 1: but because Milton Bradley had suspended production, there weren't enough 143 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:55,760 Speaker 1: copies to meet demand. That would quickly change, though, as 144 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:59,800 Speaker 1: the company immediately reversed its decision and began pushing Twister 145 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:03,240 Speaker 1: harder than ever. In the weeks ahead, the game was 146 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:06,439 Speaker 1: profiled on other popular shows of the day, as well 147 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:09,400 Speaker 1: as in newspaper ads, where it was touted as quote 148 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:13,520 Speaker 1: the sensational new party game seen by millions on TV. 149 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:17,960 Speaker 1: The marketing blitz paid off, with Twister becoming the must 150 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:21,840 Speaker 1: have game of the nineteen sixty six holiday season. Milton 151 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:25,640 Speaker 1: Bradley cranked up production and began turning out forty thousand 152 00:09:25,679 --> 00:09:28,960 Speaker 1: copies a day to meet demand, but it still wasn't 153 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:32,239 Speaker 1: enough to keep pace with sales. The game had attracted 154 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:35,480 Speaker 1: fans of all ages, from kids to adults, but its 155 00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 1: biggest demographic by far was teenagers. Milton Bradley rode that 156 00:09:40,559 --> 00:09:43,080 Speaker 1: wave of hormones all the way to the bank, and 157 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:46,000 Speaker 1: by the end of nineteen sixty seven, more than three 158 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:50,120 Speaker 1: million copies of Twister had been sold. The once taboo 159 00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:53,920 Speaker 1: game had secured its place on American store shelves and 160 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:57,000 Speaker 1: in wood paneled basements, where it would continue to be 161 00:09:57,080 --> 00:09:59,600 Speaker 1: trotted out at parties for the rest of the Swinging 162 00:09:59,679 --> 00:10:04,400 Speaker 1: six and beyond. As for the game's co creators, they 163 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:07,839 Speaker 1: had a falling out over royalties and parted ways as 164 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:11,640 Speaker 1: a design team. Foley and Ravens later re teamed for 165 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:17,440 Speaker 1: several other projects, including the first ever set of plastic handcuffs. Meanwhile, 166 00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:20,960 Speaker 1: rain Geier formed a new team and continued working on 167 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:25,520 Speaker 1: other toy development concepts. In nineteen sixty nine, he stumbled 168 00:10:25,559 --> 00:10:31,120 Speaker 1: upon another winning idea for indoor play, the Nerf Ball. Ironically, 169 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:34,760 Speaker 1: both Twister and Nerf are now owned by the same 170 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:38,960 Speaker 1: toy company, Hasbro, but as of twenty twenty three, only 171 00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:42,040 Speaker 1: Twister has the honor of being enshrined in the National 172 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:45,920 Speaker 1: Toy Hall of Fame. The game was inducted in twenty fifteen, 173 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:49,600 Speaker 1: along with the Super Soaker, water Gun and the Humble Puppet. 174 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:54,240 Speaker 1: With an estimated sixty five million people having played Twister 175 00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:57,400 Speaker 1: at one time or another, I'd say the game deserves 176 00:10:57,440 --> 00:11:00,240 Speaker 1: to be called one of the all time greats. Yet, 177 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:03,520 Speaker 1: as popular and as playable as it is, Twister never 178 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:06,240 Speaker 1: would have gotten off the ground without Johnny Carson and 179 00:11:06,360 --> 00:11:09,520 Speaker 1: Ava Gabor leading the way. So the next time you're 180 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:12,200 Speaker 1: at a party and someone breaks out of Matt, be 181 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:17,839 Speaker 1: sure to flick that spinner once for them. I'm Gabe 182 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:21,360 Speaker 1: Lucia and hopefully you now know a little more about 183 00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:25,199 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. You can learn even 184 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:28,400 Speaker 1: more about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and 185 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:33,040 Speaker 1: Instagram at TDI HC Show. You can also rate and 186 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:35,679 Speaker 1: review the show on Apple Podcasts, or you can send 187 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:38,680 Speaker 1: your feedback directly to me by writing to this Day 188 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:43,199 Speaker 1: at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays and Ben 189 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:45,959 Speaker 1: Hackett for producing the show, and thank you for listening. 190 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:49,400 Speaker 1: I'll see you back here again tomorrow for another day 191 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:50,840 Speaker 1: in History Class.