The Origin of ACQUIRE - Acquisition Games

The Origin of the Game of ACQUIRE

NOTE: The information in this article about the origin of the game of ACQUIRE has been derived from copies of articles that I purchased from the Strong Museum of Play, or more specifically, the Sid Sackson Collection at the Brian-Sutton Smith Library and Archives of Play located within the Strong Museum. The museum houses a large collection of Sid Sackson artifacts, which allowed me the ability to pour through numerous personal diaries, letters, and manuscripts to try to construct an article that helps tell the story of Sid Sackson’s greatest creation, the game of ACQUIRE.

I was alerted to the Strong Museum by Günther Rosenbaum of Germany when he sent me some material he had purchased from the museum. I used one of the articles he sent me, simply labeled, "Biographical Note," and dated June 2010, to construct the personal information on Sid. I have also added some of my own observations and juxtapositions to help piece together this history as there is some information that just can’t be found.

I would like to offer a special thanks to Mrs. Dale Friedman, Sid Sackson's daughter, whose generous donation to the Strong Museum of all these papers made this article possible. She has allowed me to recreate Sid's amazing journey at the birth of this game. I want to also extend a thank you to Sid, God rest his soul, whose meticulous indexing of his diaries made this endeavor extremely easier. Thank you, Sid, for helping me make your memory live on.

~ Lloyd Solon