The US town of Holly Hill in Florida has renamed a street after Bob’s Space Racers’ classic game Whac-a-Mole.
The new name, Whac-A-Mole Way, recognises the contribution of the game to the local economy….BSR is based in that street.
The name of the game is these days synonymous with any game in which players try to strike an emerging character out of a playdeck.
BSR has been at the same location for 46 years after Don Anderson and Garold Denton, who carnival businessmen, built their first prototype mole hunter game for carnivals, after they were helped in the design by Bob Cassata, who went on to found Bob’s Space Racers.
As Jack Cook, today’s president of BSR, says: “It isn’t easy to make a game that is hammered on for hours every day and stays in one piece and works every time.”
From there, Cassata acquired the rights to the Whac-A-Mole game from Anderson and Denton. He then went on to invent the arcade coin operated version, a best score of the day, computer-controlled electronics, durable hammers, optical sensing technology, sound effects, special kid versions and custom ‘Whac-A’ games for corporate marketing. In 2008 the brand rights were sold to Mattel Inc. that manufactures a home board game. But still the company holds the rights to produce all of the amusement versions.
Images: The new street sign in Holly Hill / Bob Cassata, his wife Glenda and Jack Cook.
