The Game of Cootie
Just in time for Christmas, this original Cootie game box dates from 1949, the year Cootie was first mass produced in plastic.
William Schaper, a postman from Robbinsdale, Minnesota, invented a wooden fishing lure he sold in his small shop. He recognized the lure could be transformed into a game, and created “Cootie” as the first 3-dimensional version of an old, World War I-era game. The association of the word “cootie” and the war calls forth images of lice and mice, and other animals “…near the trenches you get a course in the natural history of bugs, lice, rats and every kind of pest that has ever been invented.” (Gunner Depew, 1918)
The popularity of this game held children’s fascination for decades, and sold over a million copies beginning within the first few years of production. At the turn of the 21st century, Cootie was named by the Toy Industry Association on their “Century of Toys List”.
The family of Katherine Stokes graciously donated this game along with many other items to the Old Independence Regional Museum. We enjoyed opening the box and building a Cootie in her honor to display in our “Things in Boxes” area in the J. K. Southerland Gallery. Come by OIRM and see our antique toys on display!
