For your consideration is the antique, 1895/1901, Horatio Alger-type board game, THE GAME OF THE DISTRICT MESSENGER, copyrighted and published by McLoughlin Brothers of New York, NY.  The game is complete with board in box bottom, spinner, 4 wooden pawns, instructions printed inside the box cover, all in original box.

The title on the chromolithographed cover is The Game of the District Messenger while the title inside the cover is Game of Messenger Boy.  The copyright date on the cover is 1895 while the date at the top of the directions inside the cover is 1901.  

The game board measures approximately 9-3/4 inches by 19-1/2 inches.  The box measures 10-3/8th inches by 19-3/4 inches.  The spinner measures 3-7/8th inches square.  The wooden pieces are 3/4-inch tall.

The players start from the messenger boy office with the aim of rising "by his own efforts to the position of a good citizen and a rich banker."   Players move forward as a result of intelligence, honesty, politeness, accuracy, etc. and move backward as a result of laziness, inattention, neglect, dishonesty, etc.

HORATIO ALGER:  From 1866 to his death in 1896, Horatio Alger, Jr. wrote numerous rags-to-riches novels for boys, in which the protagonists. starting from humble beginnings, became successful as a result of their hard work, honesty. and good deeds.  Alger's novels captured the spirit of the times, promoting the American Dream to his readers.  The spirit of his writing lives on.  "Since 1947, the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans has bestowed an annual award on 'outstanding individuals in our society who have succeeded in the face of adversity' and scholarships 'to encourage young people to pursue their dreams with determination and perseverance.'"

HORATIO ALGER-type GAMES/GAMES OF ADVANCEMENT:  The success of Horatio Alger's novels became fodder for American game companies who saw in his work the idea of games of advancement in which players would advance through virtuous action or fail through malfeasance.  As one author noted, "In some ways, the board game format was even more perfectly suited to Alger's philosophy than the short story; the dice provided the lucky break, the stroke of divine intervention."

The first of these games that I purchased, in 1970, was McLoughlin Brothers' Game of the District Messenger Boy (1886), and I was hooked.  The games seem to me to speak very much to the tenor of the times of the late 19th and early 20th century.  While the idea of poor boys becoming rich and successful leaders has always been truer in books than in reality, the hope of upward mobility started to take hold in the American imagination.  The games also reflect the values of the times: success could be gained through accuracy, ambition, integrity, intelligence, neatness, promptness, etc. while failure would result from carelessness, impertinence, inattention, laziness, loitering, untidiness, etc.

CONDITION:  The game is complete with board in the box bottom, spinner, 4 wooden pawns, and directions printed inside the box cover, in original box.  The board is in very good condition with bright colors and bold printing; very lightly soiled.  The arrow of the spinner spins freely; it is heavily rubbed and somewhat soiled.  The wooden pieces are in very good condition.  The chromolithograph box cover is rubbed and soiled.  The box top is slightly dished; there are two split corners and two apron splits.  The box bottom is in good condition.  PLEASE MOUSE OVER THE PHOTOGRAPHS FOR CONDITION DETAILS.