The photograph at the left illustrates some of the 56 cards that are part of this game. Printed on the box (lower right): This game received the highest premium (silver medal) awarded by the Cincinnati Industrial Exposition (1874) for the Best New Parlour Game. The game was manufactured by F.A. Wright, Cincinnati, Ohio (US).
This copy was purchased by the Museum in 1982 and is thought by the seller to have been produced in 1870s or thereabouts!
The backs of the cards are illustrated on the lower left, and have a green geometric design with fleur-de-lis in the corners. The box has a lid and a bottom and is 9.4cm long x 7.1cm wide x 1.4cm high. On the box is a picture of crowd looking at a sign with the name of the game. A boy is climbing a fence to point at the sign.
The cards are 8.9cm long x 6.4cm wide. The playing surface of each card has a letter of the alphabet, some letters are duplicated. These cards include a picture of a bird on branch.
Cards J,K,V,X,Q,Z are different, and include the word "prize" (see example of card on the upper right. The Z card is marked "double prize" (upper left) with the same illustration as on the box top.
Logomachy is a "word game" in which the object is to change a word into another word by moving the letters around. The instructions included with the deck indicates that there are a number of variations in the way this game may be played.
Last update March 9, 2010