Rambles Through Our Country

“An Instructive Geographical Game for the Young”

This spectacular visualization of the continental United States in the late 19th century was originally copywritten by the American Publishing Company in 1881. This is a later example of the game, issued in 1886.

It provides a wonderful pictorial distillation of American self-identity, using pictorial elements that represent cityscapes, local fauna, and iconic geographic features. Steam and sailing ships clutter the waves, representing economic growth and commercial abundance. According to an article by Slate;

“This map is from a geographical game meant for children, published in the 1880s. The game starts in Hartford, Conn.—the location of the publishing company that sold the set—and proceeds westward via a northerly route, and then back east via a tour of the South, ending up in New York City after 200 total possible “stops.”

The beautiful game board reflected a then-current vision of the kinds of “rambles” that would intrigue a childish populace weaned on Western dime novels and adventure stories. Miners, cowboys, and teepees feature heavily. The bottom left-hand corner features an inset tableau of a group of Native Americans watching a train pass by, with sadness in their faces—a common motif at the time, as people justified the development of the West as an inevitable fact of life.”

The upper-right features a second embellishment, dedicated to ‘The Rising Generation.’ It presents the Statue of Liberty (note the original color of the bronze), dedicated the same year as the game’s publication. A beautiful and dramatic representation of American self-identity during the Gilded Age, designed to inculcate like principles into the children of the age.

Sources: Slate; Directions (Internet Archive);