Courtship and Marriage

Simple roll-and-move game designed to educate children on the morals of courtship. Now stands as a museum piece both in the National Library of Australia, where it is dated "c1905", and in the National Archives of Australia, where it is dated 1909 based a copyright registration record by the designer. In the latter it is part of a National Archives display entitled The Games We Played, which features a dozen games form the same publisher and designer from around the early 20th century. From the display notes: "...some of the favourite sports of the time - yachting, horse racing, cricket and tennis - were cleverly packaged for parlour play. Even more serious matters - such as not offending your prospective in-laws or getting through to the right number at the telephone exchange - could all be managed with the lucky toss of the dice. "All these board games were designed by Christopher George King of the National Games Company, a man who obviously had a real creative bent. "His moral sense is also evident in Snakes and Ladders where traits such as anger and avarice send you tumbling down the board while kindness and obedience are duly rewarded..."