Donated to the Museum in 1981 and pictured on the left, is a re-issue of a game first produced in 1898. This version, as may be seen on the red box cover (upper right), was produced by the Cincinnati Game Company (Ohio, US), and designated as an Educational Game.
The box is 9.7cm long x 7.cm wide x 2.2cm high and has thumbnail cuts on the lid sides to help in opening the box. Attached to the inside bottom of the box are fold-out instructions indicating how to play the game. In the box are 52 cards, each 8.8cm long x 6.3cm wide. On the back of each card is a stylized photograph of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's home in an ornate oval frame.
The deck is divided in to 4 literary sections, based upon nationality of a poet - that is - American, Irish, English, Scottish. These sections are known in the game as "classes" and the "class designation" appears in the upper left corner of each card. "Classes" are subdivided into "books". Thus, the 52 card deck is divided into 4 groups of 13 cards each - one for each English speaking country.
Each 13 card group includes 1 card representing that group's country, and 12 cards subdivided into 4 "books" (or 4 poets) with 3 cards in each "book" each featuring selections from the works of a poet. Each card includes a drawing suggested by the poetic work, and a quotation from a poem. Poets such as Robert Burns, Lord Byron, Thomas Gray, Longfellow, Sir Walter Scott, Alfred Tennyson, and others are included. Poetry selections include such works as Evangeline, Lochinvar, Paul Revere's Ride, Ivanhoe, etc.
Last update March 10, 2010