Original Items: Only One Lot Available. We are not going to lie, before this lot was photographed and written up, they were most definitely played a few times and can be addicting, so be careful! All pieces are complete, the rules and still legible on the blackout game and the glass is unbroken on both, however these games do show signs of many years of faithful play but were not abused.

The first game, “Atomic Bomber”, was created by the A.C. Gilbert Company. The American public at the end of World War II had steeled itself for the potential loss of hundreds of thousands of American lives in an invasion of Japan, and so there was general rejoicing in the United States that not only had the long, bloody conflict ended, but that it seemed to have been accomplished through an unprecedented application of American ingenuity and scientific prowess. The feelings of relief and triumph were palpable in the playthings of the period. A.C. Gilbert quickly produced a ball-rolling dexterity game in which players guided a bomb to its target.

The second game is “Blackout” another dexterity game where the object is to get the balls in the correct holes on each building and light. The rules are “The bombing planes have been sighted. They will arrive in exactly two minutes. Can you BLACKOUT all the lights in time to save the town”. A blackout during war, or in preparation for an expected war, is the practice of collectively minimizing outdoor light, including upwardly directed (or reflected) light. This was done in the 20th century to prevent crews of enemy aircraft from being able to identify their targets by sight, such as during the London Blitz of 1940. In coastal regions, a shoreside blackout of city lights also helped protect ships from being seen silhouetted against the artificial light by enemy submarines farther out at sea.

A wonderful pair of items ready for further research, display or play!