An early date, 1879, marks McLoughlin's set "New Yankee Letter Blocks for World Building" game. The stylized decorative box cover also indicates the age of the game; these decorations were common around 1880. Clever marketing on the box cover proclaims the block ideal for "all the old letter games together with all the following new ones." Parents undoubtedly purchased sets such as this to help improve childrens' spelling skills.