For the Amusement of Youth: Early Board and Card Games in Special Collections

King Library, Room 321
January 27 – May 16, 2014

Reception, March 12, 2014 4-6 PM

Dean of Libraries Jerome Conley
Dean of Libraries Jerome Conley
Speaker Sarah Krom and exhibit curator Kim Tully
Speaker Sarah Krom and exhibit curator Kim Tully
Dr. Krom speaking about the evolution of games
Dr. Krom speaking about the evolution of games
Kim Tully giving a tour of the exhibit
Kim Tully giving a tour of the exhibit
Kim Tully giving a tour of the exhibit
Kim Tully giving a tour of the exhibit
Giving the games a test run
Giving the games a test run
Exhibit cases
Exhibit cases
Goodban's Game of Musical Characters. Published in 1818.
Goodban's Game of Musical Characters.
Published in 1818.
Touring - The Famous Automobile Card Game. Published 1926.
Touring - The Famous Automobile Card Game.
Published 1926.
The New Game of Virtue Rewarded and Vice Punished, for the Amusement of Youth of both Sexes
The New Game of Virtue Rewarded and Vice Punished, for the Amusement of Youth of both Sexes
Billy Bump's Visit to Boston - a reading game, published in 1888.
Billy Bump's Visit to Boston
Published in 1888.
The Game of Kings, the history of the English monarchy made into a game. Published 1845.
The Game of Kings
The history of the English monarchy made into a game. Published 1845.
Jack & Jill - Fly away Jill! An Old-Maid style game, published 1894.
Jack & Jill - Fly away Jill!
An Old-Maid style game, published 1894.
The Magic Ring - a fantasy-esque board game published in 1796.
The Magic Ring
A fantasy-esque board game first published in 1796.
Tiddledy Winks Cover, published 1897
Tiddledy Winks
Published 1897
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Due to advances in manufacturing and printing technologies and an expanding middle class with more leisure time, the mass production of board, table and card games exploded in the 19th century. This exhibit traces the origins of today’s gaming industry, highlighting the products of the golden age of commercial game production in the United Kingdom, the United States, and beyond from the 1790s to the 1920s. Highlights of the exhibit include several hand-colored board games from England circa 1800, early games and puzzles produced by leading American game manufacturers, Milton Bradley, the McLoughlin Brothers, and the Parker Brothers, and an early French version of the popular magnetic fish pond game.

A reception, free and open to the public, will be held on March 12 from 4:00 – 6:00 PM and will include a talk on games and gaming by Sarah Fay Krom, Visiting Assistant Professor in the Armstrong Institute for Interactive Media Studies, and a gallery talk by Special Collections Librarian and curator of the exhibit Kimberly Tully.