The Games We Played: The Golden Age of Board & Table Games [Hardcover]

Margaret Hofer (Author), Kenneth Jackson (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2003

As families are rediscovering the joys and virtues of staying and entertaining at home, board games have surged in popularity indeed, sales doubled in the last year alone. this mirrors a trend in the late nineteenth century the heyday of American boards and table games when, fueled by the introduction of games coincided with a growing need for middle-class social entertainment.
Then, like now, the games that best captured players imaginations mimicked, and sometimes poked fun at, the culture that produced them Organized around themes such as courtship, commerce, travel, sports, and city life, The Games We Played brings together over one hundred eye-catching examples of Americas rare and popular board games, such as The Game of Playing Department Store, which encourage players to accumulate the greatest quantity of goods while spending their money as economically as possible, and Bulls and Bears: The Great Wall St. Game, in which players try their hand as speculators, bankers, and brokers, yelling each other down as if in a trading pit.
This playful visual survey of its thematic essays will cause board and table game aficionados to share in the revelry of togetherness.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

You won't find Monopoly or Scrabble here, but rather The Popular Game of Broadway and Soldier Ten Pins. But some of the other names will be familiar in this vividly illustrated collection of late 19th-century and early 20th-century games in the collection of the New-York Historical Society: Milton Bradley (producer of, among others, Anagrams and Other Letter Games) and Parker Brothers (who produced What's His Name, a quiz game about famous men). This fascinating look at games past is not all play: Jackson, president of the Historical Society and a historian at Columbia, posits that games reflect the social concerns of their times, and illuminating captions offer bite-size lessons in social history.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Commemorating an exhibition that closed in January 2003, this big, square book revivifies a forgotten corner of American popular culture. On nearly every page, it displays the board, box cover, and other accoutrements of one or more nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century board games, exemplified by some of the best-kept specimens of the old amusements, their brilliant colors barely jaundiced with age. Hofer's sparse text imparts that board and table games enjoyed their American heyday from the 1840s to the 1920s, though, of course, the type persists, as the continued popularity of Monopoly, invented as late as 1935, indicates. Indeed, some of the oldest games survive, perhaps in adapted form, to this day--for instance, Fish Pond lives on as a little children's activity at fund-raiser carnivals. Hofer presents the games in such broad and narrow topical chapters as "Parlor Amusements" (a big category) and "War Games" (almost all based on the Spanish-American War), and usually relays just enough, and never too much, information in the captions for one of the most charming sets of illustrations imaginable. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press; 1 edition (March 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568983972
• ISBN-13: 978-1568983974
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 10.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #369,831 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars BOARD GAMES ARE THE STUFF OF LIFE, May 31, 2003

By 

Alan W. Petrucelli (THE ENTERTAINMENT REPORT (ALAN W. PETRUCELLI)) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Games We Played: The Golden Age of Board & Table Games (Hardcover)

Board games seem to have a monopoly on our entertaining
pastimes: Their sales have doubled in the last year alone! And if
your idea of a great game is Chutes & Ladders or Risk, they go to
jail and do not pass go. Margaret K. Hofer's nifty volume brings
together more than 100 eye-popping examples of rare and popular
board games, organized by theme, such as sports, courtship and
travel. The late 19th century and early 20th century games here are drawn from more than 500 such gems from The New York
Historical Society's tremendous collection. What's most fascinating (besides the glorious color photos) is being reminded
that as much as times change, some things (like games) don't. Take "The Elite Conversation Cards," manufactured in 1887. Think of it as a vintage "20 Questions" or a host of other games that can be found at Toys R Us .... courting couples "break the ice" with cards that ask such deep, thought-provoking questions
such as "Are you inclined to boss the house?" and "Have you ever
been in love?" Pass the dice, please.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A perfect gift pick for the Christmas season, December 11, 2003

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Games We Played: The Golden Age of Board & Table Games (Hardcover)

Board game have long been a family passtime, and this history of the board game will intrigue any who enjoy games. Bright full-page color photos of vintage board and table games accompany descriptions of their themes and history. Games are organized around themes - chapters survey a surprising one hundred of popular American games, drawn from over five hundred given to the New York Historical Society by Arthur and Ellen Liman, flea market devotees who amassed a large collection. Highly recommended for collectors and game enthusiasts alike: The Games We Played is a perfect gift pick for the Christmas season!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Overview of Nineteenth Century American History through board games., August 21, 2005

By 

J. Collins (Las Vegas, NV USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Games We Played: The Golden Age of Board & Table Games (Hardcover)

Board games as we understand them in the 21st century, really began in the early nineteenth. Before then, children were really considered to be junior adults: time not spent in school was for work on the farm, or in a factory. Of course there was chess, checkers (draughts) or games like Go, and Senet. But these were primarily played by adults. With growing prosperity, and corresponding disposable income and spare time, came a realization of the value of play for children. This play could be used for socialization: instill values, increase literacy, and develop dexterity, without the kids knowing it. Since board games had this mission, as well as entertainment they make a unique window into the social history of the Victorian Era.

"The Games We Played" does an excellent job of showing the changes wrought in American society reflected in board games. The rise of urbanization, development of a transportation infrastructure, and the nascent consumerism all are described via the illustrations. This is not an in depth social history, but association of major nineteenth century events, and how they affected games is pointed out. The illustrations alone are almost worth the price of the book, as they are practically works of art (in an era before lithographs, game art was hand painted by factory workers). The only weak areas of the book are the two chapters about travel; neither is more than a few pages, and the narrative is not of the level of the others in this work. Overall, if one has any interest in games, or social history this is worth considering.