George Swinnerton Parker (1866-1952) was born in Salem, Massachusetts, the youngest of the three sons of George Augustus and Sarah Maria (Hegeman) Parker. George always had an affinity for parlor games, and he would occasionally try his hand at improving existing games. His first commercial game, Banking, came out in 1883; encouraged by his initial success, George published new games and bought the rights to previously printed games from the W. & S.B. Ives Company of Salem. In 1887, he opened a toy store, selling his own game designs alongside amusements and sporting goods. As the business grew, George’s brothers Edward and Charles became partners in the company, which he renamed to Parker Brothers.

In 1896, George married Grace Mann. They went on to have three children: Bradstreet, Richard, and Sally. Both Bradstreet and Richard attended the Hackley Preparatory School in Tarrytown, New York, with Bradstreet set to join the family business after college. Tragically, Bradstreet passed away from influenza in 1918, and just three years later Richard died in an aviation accident near Paris in 1921. Sally eventually married Robert B.M. Barton, who took over as President of Parker Brothers in 1933.

Parker Brothers operated out of Salem, Massachusetts for much of its existence. Their popular hit products of the 20th century included Tiddledy Winks, Rook, Ping-Pong, Mah-Jongg, Pastime Puzzles, Monopoly, Sorry!, Clue, Risk, and Nerf. Parker Brothers remained a family-owned company until 1968, when it was purchased by General Mills. By 1985, General Mills merged their Parker Brothers division with another subsidiary, Kenner, to create Kenner Parker Toys—which was acquired by Tonka Corp. in 1987 when General Mills decided it wanted out of the games industry. In 1991, Hasbro bought Tonka, and with that came Parker Brothers, Kenner, and Milton Bradley products. All game production was moved to the Milton Bradley plant in Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1998, Parker Brothers and Milton Bradley were consolidated into Hasbro Games, and the brand effectively became defunct after more than 120 years of fun.