Board game:Game of the District Messenger Boy or Merit Rewarded

Several game manufacturers produced board games, in the late nineteenth century, patterned after the "rags to riches" juvenile literature written by Horatio Alger during this same period. These games all bear similar titles and game play involves beginning as a baseline laborer and persevering until one player becomes the president or boss of the whole business. The games doubtless appealed to game-buying parents who hoped their children might learn from them, similar to encouraging children to read Alger's fiction. McLoughlin's "Game of the District Messenger Boy or Merit Rewarded" is one of the most deluxe games from this series in the museum collection. The box sides are wood, covered with fancy paper. Lead figures serve as playing pieces and the fold-out board has a hole to place the game spinner.