Game of Philadelphia Buildings (Philadelphia: The Billstein Company, 1899)

 

Although card games probably did not prove a top requested gift during this most recent holiday season, they still can entertain, especially when ephemera from yesteryear. The Print Department holds a small number of late nineteenth-century card games, including the near self-explanatory Game of Philadelphia Buildings.

Comprised of views of Philadelphia buildings, the game, copyrighted in 1898 by Mary S. Holmes, most likely the Philadelphia educator, meant to test its players about their knowledge of the built environment of the city. Holmes, a teacher at Girls High School, probably devised the game from her lecture, "In the Neighborhood of Philadelphia," presented at the Teacher's Photographic Association the same year. The over 50 cards, numbered to a key and containing letters to create sets, depict photographic reproductions, presumably taken by Holmes, of historic buildings, cultural and religious institutions, and commercial sites in Philadelphia. Given Holmes's background and interests (she was also a member of the Geographical Society of Philadelphia), the buildings not surprisingly include Independence Hall, Franklin Institute,  Century Club, Merchants' Exchange, Ridgway Library, and High School for Girls.

Printed by the Philadelphia design, engraving, and printing firm the Billstein Company, the game appears to have been meant for a local patron base as noted in the instructions that it could be followed by "any person old or young who had an acquaintance with the city." Holmes also appears to have meant the game to be current, as evident from an extra card in the Library Company's copy. Unlike sets discovered at other regional repositories, the Library Company's contains a card numbered 53 showing a drawing of the National Export Exposition Buildings completed in 1899.  Unlisted in the "Key to the Pictures" and absent the letters printed on the other cards, possibly the library's set is a prototype or limited reissue of the game.

No matter the provenance of the Library Company's copy, the original novelty of Ms. Holmes's card game remains – it continues to reinforce an individual's knowledge of Philadelphia. The images acquaint their modern viewers with sites long since demolished and how landmarks looked over a century ago.

Erika Piola
Associate Curator, Prints and Photographs