Board game:The Office Boy

Parker Brothers' 1893 board game "The Office Boy" is typical of similar games of its time. Manufacturers based many games on the rags to riches themes found in Horation Alger's juvenile literature--very popular earlier in the 19th century. Game-buying parents probably thought games such as this could positively influence their children. these games also mark a change, in game manufacturing, away from moralistic or didactic themes in games and toward games promising a financial reward for the winner.