For many children over the last several generations, one of their first exposures to the concept of a board game was with one colorful classic – Candy Land. Despite the fact that (or perhaps because) there is no strategy involved in the play, the simple game has managed to remain a family favorite since its conception in the 1940s.

Candy Land was created in 1948 by Eleanor Abbott, a schoolteacher who, at the time, was in a California hospital recovering from polio. Perhaps in part due to her career, Abbott understood what her fellow patients – many of whom were young children – would seek in a fantasy world. Candy Land was developed with those children in mind, and the kids at the hospital helped to test the game while Abbott was working on it. They’d eventually encourage Abbott to submit the game for publication by Milton Bradley; she did just that, and Milton Bradley published Candy Land beginning in 1949, billing it as “a sweet little game for sweet little folks.”

The first edition of Candy Land almost immediately became Milton Bradley’s best-selling game, quickly surpassing the company’s previous top game, Uncle Wiggly. This edition has some unique features about it that are worth noting – for example, the player pieces are made of wood (rather than plastic, as they have been since 1967), the track layout itself is a little different, and there are only marked locations instead of individual character spaces on the board.

Several editions of the game have been published since the inaugural version from the ‘40s. Hasbro has been Candy Land’s publisher since 1984, when they purchased Milton Bradley outright. Besides changing the deck of cards to a spinner, some other minor changes have occurred with some recent reissues of Candy Land, such as changing character names (Queen Frostine to Princess Frostine) and location names (Molasses Swamp to Chocolate Swamp). Due to its primary demographic being small children, some themed editions of Candy Land have also been produced with other kid-friendly characters, such as Winnie the Pooh and Dora the Explorer.

Most contemporary editions of Candy Land can be found at just about any toy store for about $10-15. For the sake of collectability, vintage editions of the game from the 1950s through the 1980s have a tendency to fetch a higher price, particularly if the game is still complete and in good condition, but even still can be found for about $25-50 in online auctions.

To learn more about Candy Land and other games, order a copy of The Overstreet Guide to Collecting Tabletop Games from gemstonepub.com.