Palmistry

Decorative paper-covered box with color lithograph label, 5 x 6 x 1 inches. (4)-page instructions, (4) cards with uniform hand diagrams, and 99 number tiles. Very Good+ with typical rubbing to the edges of the box and old tape repair inside the lid. Closed tears around the edges of the instructions because of its tight fit inside the box. Previous owner signature to the base bottom, else unmarked. The cards and tiles are bright and clean. Lacking just 1 number tile, which foretells whooping cough at age 100. We will provide a facsimile to keep future players’ options open. Not in OCLC.

Conspicuously without branding—a likely strategic omission to avoid potential brand fallout with God-fearing contingents that objected to such heathen nonsense. Yet, the title appears in Milton Bradley catalogs from the 1890s and early 1900s. It’s assigned no. 4283 in the 1907 catalog, but whether branding was ever added to the box or instructions as sentiments changed is unknown, given the rarity of examples. Advertised as "A merry hand-to-hand game of fortunes based on the popular science of Palmistry,” it’s worth noting that the text printed in this copy reads “so called” science…

The "fortunes" are mostly innocuous and seem to get more inventive as the numbers rise. 1-3 indicate a strong will, logical mind, and happy marriage, so on and such. By 46, You will invent an apparatus for re-using coffee grounds, which is an odd, if ecologically prescient thing to predict. They go on:

65—All the perverseness of your nature will culminate at sixty-five.
69—You have a mania for buying second-hand goods.
72—You eat onions to excess.
79— You will live to be exhibited in a dime museum as the oldest inhabitant.
92—You enjoy a cat serenade.
98—Corns will cause you to become insane.