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Troves & Tales

The Great Blizzard of ‘77

Memories snowball of a winter storm turned board game.

It was a legendary tale I grew up with. One of those classic “where were you when…” kind of stories.

Before I was old enough to write in cursive, I knew what happened to Buffalo, New York in January 1977.

In the span of a few days, over eight feet of snow smothered Western New York and Southern Ontario. Fierce winds — sometimes near 70 mph — spun up 30-40 feet snow drifts. The already frigid temperature plummeted to 0 degrees °F.

Workers in high-rise buildings downtown watched the storm wall invade, and felt wind blasts “that caused the floor to move and the glass window to creak.” Plow drivers couldn’t see past their own plow blades and returned to the garage. Roads were impassible, even by foot, because of the severe wind and cold.

My parents had been stranded at their respective work places for days. A handful of months old, I was cared for by my grandmother and my aunt. The frequent manta in their reminiscent retelling: “We had to walk up to the Market to buy you diapers.”

I don’t remember the ordeal of course, but in Western New York, the Blizzard of ‘77 remains as notorious as it was when it occurred. Nearly half a century later, it’s still an iconic feature of Buffalo’s history, a badge of honor worn on t-shirts and touted on souvenirs. Its legacy endures thanks to those who survived it and those who admired it across space and time.

Like “Jeff” who reflects in a 2012 blog comment, “no description can quite frame this storm, I imagine it as a Katrina type event. It is the only proclaimed natural disaster in two countries on record, and the only snow storm related national disaster decreed by a sitting president.”

Perhaps that status has changed, but no doubt the Blizzard of ‘77 was a momentous event.

One particular piece of memorabilia captured the storm’s remarkable experience in a very tactile way: the Blizzard of ‘77 Travel Game.

For blog commenter, Jeff, the Blizzard of ‘77 is the “only storm I know of that inspired a board game…”

Play begins on the Sunny side of the board, making their way through the city to complete daily tasks. When someone inevitably draws “The Blizzard Strikes” card, players flip the game board to the Blizzard side and continue through a now more treacherous journey.

My aunt had a copy of this board game and we played it often. Whenever my cousins from Virginia came to visit in the 1980s, it was the first game we’d break out.

The Blizzard of ‘77 Travel Game was fun and the suspense of when the blizzard card would strike left me on edge. But I most enjoyed the memories it triggered and the stories shared.

Like where mom and her coworkers rummaged to find food to eat. And who attempted to make everyone breakfast in the break room. How somebody found a secret liquor stash in a filing cabinet. And yeah, how Grandma and Uncle Benny got me formula and diapers from the Market….

The Blizzard of ‘77 Travel Game was created by Buffalo-area resident Charles P. Marino. A graphic artist, he sheltered the storm at a fire station ~30 miles from his home. According to the Akron Beacon Journal, the game idea came days later when he reunited with his family and saw his son reenacting the blizzard experience with toy cars. While snowed in, Marino developed the game and a new company (called Char-Donn) with his wife. The Blizzard of ‘77 Travel Game was released that July and sold 40,000+ copies in three months.

When Ohio’s Blizzard of ‘78 made the Blizzard of ‘77 look like a skate in the park, Marino was inspired once again.

By simply changing the street names along the board path and renaming it The Great Blizzard Travel Game, Marino created a “personalized game for every major city that got hit with a blizzard”. 30+ metro areas, from Boston to St. Louis to Dallas, could brag through gameplay how they survived the “Blizzard of….”.

Marino and Char-Donn struck frozen gold.

“To speak with a fellow western NY-er of the Blizzard evokes memories and conversations from peers and strangers as though they fought as war buddies,” Jeff writes. “The Blizzard of 1977 is my quintessential childhood memory.”

Marino captured that nostalgia in his Great Blizzard game.

“I look at my game as a collector’s item, something related to a newsworthy thing that people want to talk about,” Marino said. “It relates to something that happened to all of us.”

He told the Indianapolis Star, “we do want to remember — the people you helped, and the people who helped you.”

Thank you, Mr. Marino, for helping me experience a major event I was too young to remember. And for allowing me to connect with both family and strangers, to revive the memories, through fun gameplay.

I inherited my aunt’s copy of the Blizzard of ‘77 Travel Game. And I look forward to sharing with my daughter the same stories told to me, when we play. “Grandma and Grandpa were stuck at work. I was a baby. Your great-grandmother had to walk to get me diapers….”

Play continues clockwise…nostalgic ever after.

Roundabout

How to restore games to their glory

Dust off your old gems that have seen better days.

Whether you’re clearing out your parent’s attic or shopping a garage sale, you may land on a game with some feel-good memories from your past. So you want to dust it off and play it….

Only to find the game isn’t in great shape.

Anyone looking to play an old vintage board game can encounter this challenge.

Often the games don’t stand the test of time. Or all the love! Many just aren’t built to last.

But that shouldn’t stop you!

Sure, if the board itself has come apart you could just pull out the Scotch tape. And if some game pieces are missing, you could dig into other games to borrow theirs. I mean, who hasn’t swapped the Monopoly top hat into another game in a pinch?

But those quick fixes may not be enough and if you’re going to play this game more than once, some more careful work may be needed to bring your game back to life.

SAHM Reviews is an extensive site that reviews a ton of games, but they also have this step-by-step for how to clean up an old flea market find. They walk you through how to clean and restore plastic, metal, and other game components including delicate decals. Be sure to read the comments for other tips for cleaning up grimy game pieces and flattening a warped board.

So roll up your sleeves. When it comes to our beloved favorite old board games, a little work before play delivers the greatest victory!

Schoolhouse

Ludologists from around the world gathered in Finland this past April for the 26th annual meeting of the Board Game Studies Colloquium. Across four days, game enthusiasts reveled in topics like probability, Roman law, linguistics, game form history, rules design, materiality, digitalization, and more.

Travel Agency

Take a Road trip, board game style.

Car Travel Game

Milton Bradley | 1958

This mid-century Car Travel Game “entertains the children while you travel” by plane, train, or car. Four games in one, it advertised “no loose pieces”, a feature I wish modern travel game designers would include!

Interstate Highway Game

Selchow & Righter | 1963

Players celebrate the newly established U.S. Interstate Highway system in a game that resembles a mashup of Ticket to Ride and Monopoly. Travel wisely — the player with the most money when the first destination is completed wins.

Oh! Canada

Commissioner of Official Languages, Ottawa | 1974

When I think of government-issued “free” goods, I recall the blocks of cheese and powdered stuff in a can (was it milk?) we got in ‘80s. Turns out in the ‘70s, the Canadian government upped the give-away game by issuing free copies of Oh! Canada.

Featuring both English and French writing on the board and a vinyl record, the game promoted bilingualism as players traveled across cities and provinces. Two million copies were produced by a newly formed commission tied to the 1969 Official Languages Act.

Fork in the Road

Roll the dice with board game “edibles”.

Who says you shouldn’t play with your food?

We often have snacks at the board game table, but what if the game itself - or parts of it - are edible?

Eat your way to victory with these yummy game enhancements.

Edible tokens, anyone?

From romantic meeples to wine-infused dice, there’s a (surprisingly?) large collection of edible dice and other game pieces to purchase online. Even Dungeons and Dragons fans can play their game and eat it too.

Crackerdash: A game that’s literally cheesy

You and your friends are mice racing around a board that you supply with real cheese. Avoid the cats and be the first to clean your plate. Both the Original and Lite versions come with food-friendly, washable boards. Get Crackerdash-ing!

Playground

Reinvented classics

To play, or not to play?

Die-hard (see what I did there) gamers know publishers are incentivized to remake successful games of the past to reach new and old audiences alike.

For example, Dark Tower was released in the 80s, but then disappeared from store shelves. It’s now considered a “grail game” for collectors and players alike. More recently, Restoration Games released Return to Dark Tower as a remake of the game.

Some remakes play with the same rules but feature updated colors and graphics. Others create new editions, with different strategies and tactics. And then there are those that change the mechanical parts, adding or removing electronics, modifying shape and dimensions, altering the material quality.

How do you feel about these changes?

Do you enjoy both old and new? Are you loyal to a particular version?

Is there a particular game or publisher that got it all wrong? Or right?

We want to hear what you love or loathe and why!

Game on or game over?  

Off Road

This week’s finds:

• Drink Wisconsinbly made an old fashioned booze-themed “Brandy Land” board game. Play drinking games as you travel the board and visit Wisconsin landmarks.

  

• Learn about the 13th century Indian origins of Snakes and Ladders. It’s karma because the game was intended to be a moral guide for children. Ladders were virtues and snakes were evil things.

  

  Gyan Chauper is considered the earliest version of Snakes and Ladders.

• Walk through Australia’s history via board games at the country’s National Library. You can’t play the games, but you can view them to see Australia at different times in history. Explore games that take you to the gold rush or to when mail carriers travel over long distances and challenging terrain to deliver mail in the 1890s. And check out the game that let you be bushmen who left home to participate in the Boer War in 1900.

  

  Race to the Gold Diggings of Australia (ca. 1855)

  
  

You’re turn!

Pass to the next player.