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Games

The Society's game collection has over 200 items, and continues to grow as acquisition opportunities appear. The games are arranged in two classes: one for instructional games, the other for entertaining games. The games collection is particularly strong in holdings of board and card games, both for children and young adults. In addition, the collection has a fine representative sampling of puzzles, blocks, and paper dolls. The games collection can be surveyed and accessed through an online checklist. McLoughlin Brothers, a firm that pioneered the mass production of color picture books, also published a significant number of games in the collection. Over one thousand McLoughlin Brothers picture books are now in the AAS children.s literature collection, some of which contain advertisements for games available at AAS. The Society also holds archival drawings depicting figures used in some McLoughlin Brothers games. These drawings can be accessed through a finding aid. Historians conducting research on topics such as childhood, courtship, leisure, the rise of popular authorship, and the cult of celebrity will find very rich materials in the games collection.

- Laura E. Wasowicz, Curator of Children's Literature

Pope and Pagan game

W. & S. B. Ives published The Game of Pope and Pagan in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1844. The game collection features board games and card games, both instructional and entertaining.

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American Antiquarian Society
185 Salisbury Street
Worcester, Massachusetts 01609-1634
Tel.: 508-755-5221
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Last updated October 18, 2005

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