District Messenger Boy!
We're having another day of shitty Internet connections, but I'll try to get this up before it vanishes again.Here was the jewel of the board game exhibit, at least for me: "The Game Of District Messenger Boy" (published 1886). Here's the box:
It's a beauty, isn't it?
According to the BoardGameGeek page, here's the game's objective:
...see which player will first become the President of the Telegraph Company. The players move metallic messenger boy pawns around a spiraling track. Some spaces direct a piece to advance for meritorious service. Spaces reflecting misbehavior direct a piece to go back, or sometimes to prison which requires a return to the start upon release."
Here's the board:
This game was made by McLoughlin Brothers, who were bought out in 1920 by Milton Bradley.
I never realized this before, but with a list of board games released by year, you could understand very quickly how our culture has changed in the last 150 years. Just the idea of messenger boys is so impossibly evocative and nostalgic that it is an instant reminder of how overwhelmingly the world has changed.
I actually have more pictures, but given the damnable nature of the connection, I'm going to post this while I can. The miracle of a reliable Internet connection resumes tomorrow.
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