W. S. Reed Toy Company in Leominster, Massachusetts earned a place in the annals of American toy manufacture when it launched “Espirto: The Talking Board” in the early 1890s to eat into sales of “Ouija” put out by the Baltimore firm Ouija Novelty Company.
Less well known is Reed’s early entry into the board game market, “The Game of Politics, or The Race for the Presidency” issued on the occasion of Grover Cleveland’s run for the White House against Benjamin Harrison in 1888. Unfortunately, Cotsen only has this promotional flyer, not the actual playing board. Bonham’s sold one in 2007 and the American Antiquarian Society has a complete set, of course.
Here is a transcription of the rules:
This is the year when we elect our President, and this new and entirely original parlor game is a complete presidential contest in miniature.
It is as lively and exciting a game as euchre or whist for older people and for young people it is as easily learned as dominoes, and gives them, besides, the fun of playing it, a perfect education in the political government of their country.
This novel and unique game is played on a finely illuminated board, in five colors, with a pack of 48 cards, in six original colored designs, numbered from 1,000 to 10,000. It can be played with two, four or six players. Ladders, with numbered rounds (each round counting 1,000), lead to a Major’s Chair, a Governor’s Chair, and a Congressman’s Chair. The next stage in the game is to reach a seat in the United States Senate Chamber, a correct interior view of which is engraved on the boards. The race for the White House, a correct view of which makes the center-piece of the board, brings the game to an exciting finish. The States and the number of votes cast by each, are printed in the middle of the board, and are carried one by one, by the side that throws the highest cards.
Cleveland lost in 1888, but retook the White House in the 1892, defeating incumbent Benjamin Harrison. Currently Cleveland has the distinction of serving two non-consecutive terms.
