North & South Magazine - Milton Bradley - EXTRAS!

I received my copy of the latest issue (Vol. 11, No. 1, September 2008) of North & South magazine in the mail today and was pleased to see my short article on the interesting role that game maker Milton Bradley played in the American Civil War ("Knapsack" section, pp. 14-15). Readers of this blog will recall that I offered a preview of the article in late December 2007.

Al Nofi - editor of the "Knapsack" section in North & South - included a nice nod to my new book at the end of the Bradley article, adding:

"No stranger to these pages, [Jim] is the author of Lincoln's Labels: America's Best Known Brands and the Civil War, based in part on the series of company histories that he has been doing for N&S over the years."

It's important to note that Al also wrote a very nice Foreword for Lincoln's Labels. But he's right - I'm no "stranger" to the pages of N&S. The Milton Bradley article is my sixth contribution over the past several years...and there are more coming!

North & South has distinguished itself among the popular Civil War magazines (the "glossies") by including full annotation for its feature articles. Due to the nature of the material and space considerations, the "Knapsack" section is not annotated.

That said, I always take the opportunity to annotate the manuscript that I send to Al. It's difficult to share the full annotation without re-printing the entire article here; however, I'm happy to share the following bibliography and hyperlinks. If you have read the article and have specific comments on my research, leave a message on this post and I'll be happy to answer.

Bibliography:

• Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC
• Lathrop, D., History of the Fifty-ninth Regiment Illinois Volunteers (Indianapolis: Hall & Hutchinson, 1865).
• McPherson, J. M., For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997).
• Milton Bradley: A Successful Man (Springfield, MA: Milton Bradley Co., 1910)
• Scientific American (various issues, 1864)
• Shea, J. J., It’s All in the Game (New York: Putnam’s 1960)
• United States Patent and Trademark Office, Washington, DC

You can enjoy an interactive Bradley “Myriopticon" (read the article!) exhibit through the Paul Mellon collection at the University of Virginia.

You can learn about the history of the Milton Bradley Company at the Hasbro website.

Also - I'm NEVER done with research! If you have anything you would like to share about Milton Bradley and the Civil War, PLEASE contact me! I'm especially interested to obtain a copy of a history of the Springfield Armory by Bradley:

Bradley, Milton, History of the United States Armory, Springfield, Massachusetts (Springfield: Milton Bradley, 1865).