Toys and Games

The earliest reference to a purely electronic game is a 1947 United States patent registration for what its inventors described as a "cathode-ray tube amusement device." Video and electronic games have come a long way since they were simple experiments on room-size computers. Today, the multi-billion-dollar industry entertains and educates millions of people worldwide.  

The Hagley collections are a valuable resource that documents the remarkable evolution of the technologies that brought games from the laboratory to arcades and homes worldwide. These collections include early ideas and drafts, experiments, packaging and advertising materials, consumer products, and other items that illustrate the impact of electronic games on the history of business and technology. 

David Sarnoff Research Center records The David Sarnoff Research Center (DSRC) in Princeton, New Jersey, was the central research organization for the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) from 1942 to 1987. Following GE's acquisition of RCA in 1986, the DSRC was donated to SRI International as a contract research laboratory. It was renamed the Sarnoff Corporation in 1997 and integrated into SRI in 2011. These records document the pioneering research of its scientists and trace the organization's history from its establishment into the twenty-first century.  The collection includes the papers of individual innovators and departments within the organization. 

• Joseph A. Weisbecker papers, Joseph A. Weisbecker started at RCA in 1953 as a staff engineer in their Camden location to work on general computer development and design. In 1967, he was transferred to the David Sarnoff Research Center (DSRC) in Princeton, New Jersey, where he continued to be engaged in computer development, design, and research. In the early 1970s, Weisbecker invented an 8-bit microcomputer architecture to be the foundation of RCA’s future microprocessor business. This 8-bit microcomputer was released commercially by RCA as COSMAC. Weisbecker contributed to developing RCA’s programmable video game and educational systems: FRED, STUDIO II, STUDIO III, STUDIO IV, and Microtutor. Additionally, he developed supporting hardware such as light guns, card readers, and cassette interfaces. In 1976, Weisbecker developed the COSMAC Elf, a computer meant to be constructed at home, and the COSMAC VIP, a more advanced version of Elf. In addition to his work at RCA, Weisbecker ran his own business, Komputer Pastimes. With it, Weisbecker developed simple games based on computer language for children and adults, wrote children’s books, and designed toys and greeting cards. He actively marketed his ideas to toy companies, licensing several of them, including “Fleep House” to Parker Brothers, “Dr. Nim” and “Think-a-dot” to E.S.R., and “Psychedelic No. 9” to Cadaco. 
• Douglas Dixon papers, Douglas Dixon began his career at RCA’s David Sarnoff Research Center (DSRC) in Princeton, New Jersey, where he spent ten years developing interactive video and computer graphics for consumer electronics. Dixon moved to the Intel Corporation in 1988 to work on Digital Video Interactive (DVI) technology. Dixon later returned to DSRC and led teams that developed a virtual reality gaming system, an iris identification prototype, a software program to create panoramic images from multiple still images, a system to convert automated tape to DVD, and image quality analysis technology.  
• Bruce J. Anderson worked as an MTS (Member of the Technical Staff), researching Advanced Video Technology in the Television Research Laboratory at the David Sarnoff Research Center. In late 1994, Anderson became the Technology Leader for Embedded Systems Research in the Television Research Laboratory. He holds two patents related to information distribution systems. The collection includes professional notebooks, meeting minutes, notes, project schedules, researcher contact information, vendor information, and diagrams. The notes are related to projects involving video formats, television transmitters and receivers, console electronics, and graphic chips. Also included are meeting notes and information about Argonaut, a British video game developer. 
• The Frank Marlowe papers consist of drafts, design notes, charts, and schematics from Marlowe’s work on Community Information Systems (CIS) at RCA laboratories from 1972 to 1973. They also include Marlowe’s depositions from the 1996 case General Electric Company vs. Nintendo Co., LTD. and Nintendo of America Inc.  
• Bernard J. Lechner (1932-2014) was a member of the RCA Laboratories Technical Staff from 1957 to 1987. Lechner's work focused on television research, particularly HDTV, and he received awards for his expertise in several areas of electronics. Lechner's files on Magnavox vs. Sega include substantial background on the development of video games and the legal proceedings in the frequent patent disputes of the era. 
• The Anthony D. Robbi papers are composed of correspondence, reports, and diagrams related to his work at RCA on the FRED program, automotive electronics, and electronic ballot technologies. The papers also contain documents related to Alpex Computer Corporation V. Nintendo Company LTD. and Nintendo of America, Inc., Atari games, and other computer programs. 

Hagley's Published Collections preserves many toy catalogs from companies like the Vermont Novelty Works Company (1868, 1888), Playskool Manufacturing Company (1940), Mattel, Inc. (1968, 1971) Federal Smallwares Corporation (1974), Hedstrom-Union Company (1934), Novo Educational Toy and Equipment Corporation (1963), Clever Toys & Novelties (1951), Hasbro, Inc. Toy Division (1994), Carlisle & Finch Company (1900), Garton Toy Co. (1953), A.C. Gilbert Company (1922, 1935), American Mechanical Toy Company (1914), iron manufacturers like A.C. Williams Company, Grey Iron Casting Company (1913, 1930, 1933), and Hubley Manufacturing Company (1950, 1952, 1954, 1964). As well as Model Train catalogs from Thorley Hoople Toy Co. (1966), American Flyer Mfg. Co. (1931), Pacific Fast Mail (1964), Athearn, Inc. (1959), Lionel Corporation (1929, 1940, 1965, 1976, 1977, 2007), Atlas Model Railroad Co. (1999), Revell, Inc. (1958, 1959), Aristo-craft Distinctive Miniatures (1964), Ives Manufacturing Corporation (1910s), Tru-Scale Models (1965), A.C. Gilbert Company (1939), and Varney Scale Models (1950),  

Hagley's Published Collections also include rare imprints like “Mr. Hoyle's games of whist, quadrill, piquet, chess and back-gammon, complete; in which are contained, the method of playing and betting, at those games, upon equal, or advantageous terms, including the laws of the several games (1763); La plus nouvelle academie universelle des jeux, ou, divertissemens innocens: contenant les regles des jeux des echecs, du trictrac, de revertier, du toute-table, du tourne-case, des dames rabatues, du plain & du toc (1721), How to behave and how to amuse: a handy manual of etiquette and parlor games (1895), and Hood's sarsaparilla book of parlor games (1885).