Snake Game board with rules and Washington portrait

Share

This board pairs a printed set of game rules with a portrait of George Washington, a combination that suggests the game was meant to teach as well as entertain. Snake-and-ladder style games traveled from India to Britain and then to America, where makers often added moral or patriotic themes to the familiar climb-and-slide路线 of the play. Patriotic imagery like Washington's portrait was common on American parlor and nursery games of the 19th and early 20th centuries, when parents and teachers valued games that reinforced civic virtue. Look closely at the rules text, which shows how players were expected to behave and what the game was supposed to reward.

More from the Washington collection

Snapshots of the Past helps heritage brands, museums, historians and storytellers tell stories with history: historic prints, image licensing and historical storytelling drawn from more than 25 years of research and curation.