Charles Foley, 1930–2013

Inventor Charles Foley said that a good game has to involve “a bit of skill, a bit of chance, sticking it to an opponent—and watching it has to be entertaining.” He and a co-inventor hit all those marks in 1966 when they invented Twister, a party game that intertwines players in sometimes intimate contortions. The game became a sensational hit in an era when everyone seemed eager to break down social barriers. “If you take your shoes and socks off,” Foley once said, “anybody will become a different person.”

Born in Lafayette, Ind., Foley was an inveterate tinkerer who came up with his first invention—an automatic latch for a cattle pen—at age 8, said the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He dropped out of school after the eighth grade, and served in the Michigan Air National Guard before taking a job at the Reynolds Guyer House of Design in St. Paul, Minn., where he and his partner, Neil Rabens, came up with Twister, which they originally called Pretzel.

The game’s fate was uncertain even after game manufacturer Milton Bradley bought it, said The Washington Post. “Buttoned-up critics” condemned Twister as “sex in a box,” and Sears considered it too risqué to carry. But Twister “exploded in popularity after a demonstration on The Tonight Show by Johnny Carson and the buxom actress Eva Gabor.” The game soon became “a favorite outlet for silliness at children’s birthday celebrations as well as a not-so-subtle icebreaker at adult gatherings.” Foley made only $27,000 from Twister, and never got rich from any of his other 96 patents either, including the adhesive remover Un-Du. “Maybe I’m just too darn naïve,” he said.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up