S and W Happy Marriage Game (1938)

In the 1930s, canned food company S&W Fine Foods was the sponsor of a popular radio program called "I Want A Divorce", and in 1938 published a promotional board game called "S and W Happy Marriage Game". The envelope used to ship the game says the show ran on eight radio stations in the Western U.S. and ran on the Columbia Broadcasting System on Sunday evenings at 7:30 Pacific and 8:30 Mountain. The board records the copyright date as 1938. The game itself is a simple roll-and-move with a colorful folding cardboard game board. The theme is "happy marriage" and the track moves from "Proposal" to "Golden Anniversary at space 50. The track is littered with squares representing personal faults like Jealousy, Excess, Gossip and Gambling that push players back, as well as virtues like Loyalty and Patience that move them forward. Square 24 is named "I Want a Divorce" after the radio program and sends players back to the start.