Collection Highlights
Pictorial map of New York and vicinity, showing the suburban towns, and railroad and water communications
Date:
1871
Object Number:
LIB.NS4.M32.3.10.1
Medium:
Black ink on paper, backed with cloth
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Museum Collections
Luce Center
Mansion of Happiness
Object Number:
2000.436
Date:
1864
Medium:
Cardboard, paper
Dimensions:
overall (open): 15 x 18 1/2 x 1/8 in. ( 38.1 x 47 x 0.3 cm )
Marks:
lithographed: on the board: "THE MANSION OF HAPPINESS./ AN INSTRUCTIVE MORAL AND ENTERTAINING AMUSEMENT/ Taylor & Adams Engravers,/ 29 Joy's Building Boston/ PUBLISHED BY D. P. IVES & CO., BOSTON, AND S. B. IVES, SALEM, MASS./Entered according to Act of C
Description:
"The Mansion of Happiness" paper covered game board chromolithographed with a spiral oval path with sixty-six spaces, more than half printed with virtues and vices; board inscribed, "THE MANSION OF HAPPINESS./ AN INSTRUCTIVE MORAL AND ENTERTAINING AMUSEMENT/ Taylor & Adams Engravers,/ 29 Joy's Building Boston/ PUBLISHED BY D. P. IVES & CO., BOSTON, AND S. B. IVES, SALEM, MASS."; label applied to reverse of board inscribed, "MANSION/ OF/ HAPPINESS./ PUBLISHED BY/ S.B. IVES, Salem Mass.;/ E.G. SELCHOW & Co., N. York.".
Gallery Label:
In this earliest of American board games, players strove to attain the seat of Happiness at the center of the board by living a virtuous life. Based on the Puritan view that success is achieved through Christian deeds and goodness, games such as this reflected the dominant beliefs of pre-Civil War America.
Bibliography:
Hofer, Margaret K. "The Games We Played: The Golden Age of Board & Table Games." New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2003.
Credit Line:
The Liman Collection
Due to ongoing research, information about this object is subject to change.
