William H. Schaper founded his toy company in 1949, with the introduction of the best-selling game Cootie. The success of Cootie allowed the firm to branch out into other games, all of which utilized plastic components. Schaper was the first American toy company to embrace plastic to this extent. The firm introduced The Game of Chicken in 1957. A dice-rolling and scoring game, Chicken features bright graphics and an unusual plastic scoreboard.