Sports and Recreation | Page 18

Skunk dice game

Skunk dice game made by W. H. Schaper Manufacturing Company, Incorporated of Minneapolis, ca. 1950–1960.

Put and Take game

Put and Take game. Manufactured by Schaper Manufacturing Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1956.

Filming a TV commercial for Stadium Checkers and the Cootie game

Television advertising for Stadium Checkers and the Cootie game, WMIN TV, Minneapolis, 1954.

In 1948, Herbert W. Schaper was a mailman in Minneapolis and a fisherman who made his own lures. One day, he added six legs to a lure that he had whittled and called it a “Cootie.” Starting out with a basement factory in his home and $1200 in 1949, he transformed the fishing lure into the Cootie game that reached $1.5 million in sales by 1953.

Original Dungeons & Dragons rulebooks

Copies of the original Dungeons & Dragons rulebooks printed by Tactical Studies Rules (TSR) in 1974. Photograph by Flickr user Cory Doctorow, December 25, 2011. CC BY-SA2.0.

Dave Arneson referees a Blackmoor game

Dave Arneson referees a Blackmoor game at a convention (ConQuesT) on September 2, 2006. Photograph by Wikimedia Commons user Madeline Ferwerda. CC BY-SA2.0.

Dave Arneson receiving an ENnie award

Dave Arneson receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2008 ENnie Awards. Photograph by Flickr user Carlos A. Smith. CC BY-SA2.0.

Arneson, David Lance (1947‒2009)

David Lance Arneson was a game designer from St. Paul who collaborated with Ernest Gary Gygax to publish the famous tabletop roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) in 1974. Although the D&D property changed hands in 1997, and the game’s mechanics have evolved, its core wouldn’t be what it is today without Dave Arneson.

Children in boats at Pine River Fish Fry, 1920s.

Fish Fries have been a spring and summer tradition in Pine River and surrounding towns for generations, and Dam Park was a favorite spot even before it was an official park. Photograph from Logsleds to Snowmobiles, used with permission of the Pine River Chamber of Commerce.

Diving Platform at Dam Park, Pine River

Even before Dam Park was competed in the late 1930s, the placid water above the dam on Norway Brook made it a popular spot for swimmers. This makeshift diving platform was eventually replaced by a 17-foot metal platform by the WPA, but taken down more recently due to high insurance costs.

Gale Family Library