Home History Game for Boys and Girls (4273)

“That stirring picture, "The Spirit of '76," illustrates this label, and in playing the game children will learn many historical facts...”(1910 catalog)

Paper box with color lithograph lid, 7 x 5.5 x 1". Complete with 105 printed cards with yellow backings, plus 4 blanks to add your own. Instructions printed on the underside of the lid. Of note, there are two cards for the Emancipation Proclamation, one is printed on a different paper stock. Chip to one card and staining at the edges of the base that's bled onto the edges of about 10 cards, not affecting text. Gift inscription to the bottom of the base. Typical rubbing to the edges of the lid with minor loss at the upper left lithograph label which is otherwise still crisp, a Very Good example. Not in OCLC.

The inclusion of events implies importance, making the game an interesting study in what (and who) was considered worthy of knowing for children in 1909—and/or what days of the week they struggled to fill. Printed cards are divided nearly evenly by day: Sunday (15), Monday (15), Tuesday (15), Wednesday (14), Thursday (17), Friday (14), Saturday (15). Was Webster's Speech in reply to Hayne in 1830, an important defense of the Union that’s unmentioned in modern History classes, being taught to ten-year-olds in 1909? Were the deaths of J. R. Lowell and John Whittier in 1891/1892 major historical events, or were the authors struggling to come up with examples for Wednesdays?