Name/Title
Mansion of HappinessEntry/Object ID
SS.64.439Description
Two-part folding game board printed and mounted to cardboard, now detached into two pieces: outside cover, mottled brown faux leather, black bias tape binding at spine; leather loop for tab, now missing; green printed label:
MANSION OF HAPPINESS/ Published by S. B. IVES, Salem, Mass./ E. G. SELCHOW & CO., [missing]/ E. I. HORSFORD, NEW [missing]; ADAMS & Co., BOSTON." with imag of a woman in a gazebo (?): interior, printed and handcolored, progressive series of boxed making circular path around the board with certain boxes illustrated: 1. JUSTICE, 2. PIETY, 4. HONESTY, 6. THE WATER, 7. AUDACITY, 9. THE INN, 11. POVERTY, 13. TEMPERANCE, 14. PASSION, 15. GRATITUDE, 17. IDLENESS, 18. PRUDENCE, 20. CRUELTY, 22. WHIPPING POST, 23. TRUTH, 25. IMMODESTY, 26. ROAD TO FOLLY, 28. SABBATH BREAKER, 30. HOUSE OF CORRECTION, 31. CHASTITY, 33. SINCERITY, 34. A CHEAT, 36. THE PILLORY, 38. HUMILITY, 40. THE STOCKS, 42. INDUSTRY, 43. A PERJURER, 45. CHARITY, 47. A DRUNKARD, 50. PRISON, 52. HUMANITY, 54. GENEROSITY, 55. RUIN, 57. A ROBBER, 60. SEAT OF EXPECTATION, 61. INGRATITUDE, 63. SUMMIT OF DISSIPATION; at center image of women dancing and "THE MANSION OF HAPPINESS"; title printed at top: "THE MANSION OF HAPPINESS/AN INSTRUCTIVE MORAL AND ENTERTAINING AMUSEMENT"; printed at lower left: "Taylor & Adams, Engravers/ 29 Joy's Building, Boston."; printed at lower center: "PUBLISHED BY D. P. IVES & CO. BOSTON, and S. B. IVES, SALEM, MASS."; printed a lower right: " Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, by S. B. Ives, in/ the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts."Collection
Sunnyside Object CollectionMade/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Anne AbbottAttribution
MakerManufacturer
D. P. Ives & Company, W. & S. B. Ives, Taylor & AdamsDate made
1864Inscription/Signature/Marks
Type
InscriptionTranscription
(See Description)Dimensions
Dimension Description
OverallHeight
14-7/8 inWidth
18-1/4 inDimension Notes
Display Dimensions: 14 7/8 x 18 1/4 in. (37.8 x 46.4 cm)Material
Ink on paper, Cardboard, cloth tapeCondition
Notes
Remarks: Binding ripped; label partailly missing; exterior tabs ripped off and missing; instructions and markers missing; some losses at interior at binding; all corners banged and damanged, bent and worn.General Notes
Note Type
Curatorial RemarksNote
Often called the first board game commercially produced in the United States, although this is incorrect (the distinction is awarded to Travellers' Tour through the United States of 1822).
The object of the game is to be the first player to travel around the spiral track and reach the Mansion of Happiness at the center of the board. The Mansion of Happiness was based on a puritanical world view. Even game mechanics were influenced by the Puritan view. A spinner or a top-like teetotum, for instance, was utilized in children's board games rather than dice, which were then associated with evil and gambling.The game track is populated with virtuous deed spaces like Honesty and Temperance (which move players forward to eternal happiness) and vices such as cruelty and ingratitude (that move players backward)
The game's rules note: "WHOEVER possesses PIETY, HONESTY, TEMPERANCE, GRATITUDE, PRUDENCE, TRUTH, CHASTITY, SINCERITY...is entitled to Advance six numbers toward the Mansion of Happiness. WHOEVER gets into a PASSION must be taken to the water and have a ducking to cool him... WHOEVER posses[ses] AUDACITY, CRUELTY, IMMODESTY, or INGRATITUDE, must return to his former situation till his turn comes to spin again, and not even think of HAPPINESS, much less partake of it."
Publishing History: 1843 game board copyright "Thayer & Co. Lithog. Boston"; W. & S. B. Ives of Salem, Massachusetts (publishers 1843) and Parker Brothers (1894)Note Type
StorageNoteNote
Home Location: Historic Hudson Valley, Union Church, Storage, Shelf 14E
