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MEMORIES:
retrophile remembers...This was a lame toy. After about 5 frustrating minutes of trying to get them all connected in a chain ... More »
Posted on 08/07/08
PHOTOS:
Manufacturer:
What began as an idiomatic expression evolved into an iconic game. With the promise of “more fun than a barrel of monkeys,” the game more than delivered on a hand-eye coordinated premise. Various and captivating challenges, a colorful design, and an appeal to the animal-loving kid in everyone helped make Barrel of Monkeys a hit for over three decades.
Barrel of Monkeys made landfall in 1966, courtesy of Lakeside Toys. The rules were so simple that they could be explained and grasped with hardly more than a sentence of explanation—but the challenge could engage a child for hours. A plastic barrel containing twelve monkeys was emptied onto the floor. Each monkey possessed arms that curved, creating an S-shape whereon one monkey could suspend from another and so on – provided that the first monkey was anchored to a table top or chair back. The game began as simply and concluded when every monkey had been successfully linked to the others in one, long, marsupial chain. It sounds easy, but Barrel of Monkeys is serious monkey business.
Though it promises simplicity, many have severely underestimated the power of twelve little monkeys to make a player go bananas. Throughout the years, Barrel of Monkeys has maintained its modest popularity and, thanks to Milton Bradley, still sits proudly on toy store shelves everywhere. If mom tires quickly of the kids monkeying around, Barrel of Monkeys is a sure means to keep her from going ape.
