Board game:The Improved Game of Fish Pond

New York game makers Clark & Sowdon are often credited with inventing the game of Fish Pond, or Fishing. McLoughlin Brothers patented a version of Fish Pond in 1890. Whoever drerampt up the game, it provided a realistic fishing experience for children of all ages from that period up to the present day. Early versions used wooden poles fixed with little hooks in the end; loops or metal circles on the fish provided a place to hook them. Today's fishing games usually employ magnets on pole lines and fish. Late 19th century lithographers printed detailed box dewsigns to simulate ponds and often printed names on individual fish. Each fish counted a certain number of points. This McLoughlin example is marked with the firm's 1890 patent date.