Childhood Games Turns 60

Aug 19, 2009 1:23 pm US/Pacific

SF's Lombard Turned Into Massive 'Candyland' Game

The world's most crooked street got a makeover Wednesday to honor the 60th anniversary of a classic board game, in what event organizers are touting as the world's largest game of Candyland.

San Francisco's iconic Lombard Street on Russian Hill, featuring a quarter-mile of hairpin switchbacks, was remade Wednesday morning into a larger-than-life version of the game, which was introduced in 1949.

The street was closed to traffic as children from the University of California, San Francisco Children's Hospital participated in the game as colored game pieces and interacted with life-sized game characters.

The event was set to conclude with a 60th birthday celebration and cake.

Candy Land was created by Eleanor Abbott in the 1940's who had been sticken with polio and was recovering in a San Diego hospital. It is a very simple game that she created to entertain other children fighting the polio disease. The orginal price was $1.00.