Description

This is an exact reproduction of D. Appleton and Co.’s “THE POCKET CHESS-BOARD” edition of 1858. This company made these pocket games specifically for soldiers, sailors and travellers beginning in the pre-war period. This is the edition produced during the war by them. Several other companies copied them and they continued to produce them into the 1890s. As the original label indicates “being a Chess and Checker-Board provided with a complete set of men adopted for PLAYING GAMES in RAIL-CARS, and for FOLDING UP WITHOUT DISTURBING THE GAME”. Perfect for the oft interrupted soldier’s life. The original price of the game as indicated on the label was 50 cents. The slip cover is made of hand made butternut oil cloth by our now famous Mr. Marsh, as is the outer cover of the folding board. Inside the actual board he has duplicated the original slips for the pieces, just as he did the men themselves, out of heavy paper cardstock. The checker board is a series of slips, painstakingly put together, so that each square holds a game piece firmly in place. To move the piece one simply slides it out and into the space desired. One side of the game pieces are printed with red and black chess men and the other with the same color checkers. As advertised, the players can fold the board shut with the pieces in any position, and, put it back into the slip case, to return to whenever desired and pick up precisely where they had left off. Every detail of the original has been faithfully reproduced, from the size and shapes to the color and material, for a truly museum quality result.