Video games, Ralph Baer, and my first accession

Imagine that it’s your first day on the job and your new boss brings you into a storage area. It’s filled with boxes of papers and strange looking objects, all donated by Ralph Baer, the Father of the Video Game. These are the notes and prototypes that made playing games on your television possible. And now it’s your job to process them.

This is exactly what happened to me about three years ago. I started my work by separating out all the papers, which were then picked up by the Museum’s Archives Center. That left me with about ten objects to identify, without the benefit of a list. The Objects Processing Facility documented and assigned each object an accession number, a unique identifier that tells us the object is officially a part of the Museum’s collections. I created records for each object in our electronic collections catalog, gathered all the important documentation that proved that Ralph Baer had donated these objects and that we were now the official owners, and submitted everything to the Registrar. I found a space in the storage cabinets for the objects, updated the location records, and figured that I could consider my first accession to be a success. That was the end of the story… or so I thought.

The following spring, Smithsonian Networks approached the museum about a segment on the Brown Box, the video game prototype that led to the Magnavox Odyssey (the first video game system produced). They wanted to fly Ralph Baer down for the filming, which was to become part of their Stories from the Vaults series. I was excited to meet host Tom Cavanagh (who I would sometimes watch on Ed and Scrubs) and to see a television episode being filmed. But I was thrilled about meeting Ralph Baer.

Something highly unusual happened during that filming. We don’t run the objects in our video game collections. Ever. But since we had the inventor there, we felt like we could make a special exception. We decided to run the Brown Box one last time. You won’t see me in that episode, but I was just offscreen, sitting under a table as I watched Ralph Baer and Tom Cavanagh play Ping Pong on the Brown Box. (Definitely an unorthodox place to sit, but it gave me a very good view without being in anyone’s way.) It was incredible to see an inventor using his own invention right before my eyes! Things like that don’t happen… except at the Smithsonian.

The funniest thing about all this? I’m not a gamer. I rarely pick up a video game controller and, when I do, it’s usually at the request of one of my brothers. Strangely enough, this is something I have in common with Ralph Baer. He’s admitted that he is “not a game player. I don’t play any of these things. My kids do. I don’t. I’m not a game player. I’m a lousy game player.” For him, the fun was being able to figure out how to create the games, not in playing them. For me, the fun is being able to share the story of how video games got their start.

Petrina Foti works in the Computers Collection, part of the Division of Information Technology & Communications, at the National Museum of American History.

Comments

[Sean]

Wow, I would love to meet Ralph Baer, though I think it would be one of those moments from Wayne's World, the "we're not worthy" moments. For some reason I find it kind of sad that he doesn't play the games, but also it's weird to think if he didn't invent them we wouldn't have them today, and I don't know if technology would have advanced so much without them. It's interesting to think about.

[Norma Mortenson]

Do you think that twenty years from now a museum will be collecting the papers of the inventors of Farmville? I am not much of a gamer either, but I like reading about games and gamers and watching documentaries and game reviews.

[DC Douglas]

It's funny. I have voiced a few big characters in modern video games (RE5 and Mass Effect 2) and played these amazing games, but I'm still tickled more by my memories of playing pong! And to see the inventor playing on his invention all these years later? That's a special memory ya got there!

[Squinkies]

ok I guess I can understand that, being able to tell the story is almost as powerful as making the games. You've got to admit the wii is fun at least.

[Games Up]

I am a video game lover, thing is too amd more interested in making them than playing them. Is a kid tho I must have spent whole days playing ping pong on one of those machines! Thanks for the article, it brought back lot of memories.

[Gamerentalarena]

Man, as a video game lover, I have to say we owe a lot to Ralph Baer. Thanks for the great story !

[Alex Cook]

As a student, avid video game player, and video game tester, I find the fact that you found your inner gamer very exciting.

Excellent article and a fantastic peek back into the history of video games!

[Anthony B.]

I am thankful for stories like these.It reminds me why I started working in video games.

Hearing about the pioneer of video games demonstrating how his invention worked makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

He gave so many people a fun pastime and many jobs were created because of him.

Great blog post.

[Aoleon]

Wow that Magnavox Odessy looks really cool! What a great antique game console.

[Dana Allen-Greil]

You can watch the full episode of "Firsts" from the "Stories from the Vaults" series on the Smithsonian Channel Web site:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid14354335001?bctid=26381287001
To skip to the part about video games and Ralph Baer, fast forward to minute 18. Watch as host Tom Cavanagh goes one on one with Baer in a rousing game of tennis.

[James Cumella]

When we walk through a museum we usually never get to appreciate or experience the “process”. Your story helps give insight into this process. It helps me appreciate both the work involved in procuring materials and the excitement. It truly has to be an exhilarating experience and rewarding to known that you are an important part of the process of providing the world access to history and allowing us to recognize the value of these artifacts in a new light. Thank you for your dedication and enthusiasm.

[John]

very good read and intresting, thanks for this.

[Shirley Muraca]

What a wonderful story of how information is collected and saved for curious minds and than put into another creative way for all of us to appreciate again.

Thank you for this!