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Children's Games

 

Before the Gilded Age, children played games primarily for fun or as a way to expend excess energy.  In the 1870s, psychologists recognized children’s ability to learn through play. New board and card games were specifically developed to teach lessons and provide moral guidance.  Games could now provide engaging learning experiences, keeping youths entertained while they were being educated.

 

The Gilded Ideal

 

Popular games aimed to teach children the value of hard work, dedication, and honesty. The Game of the Telegraph Boy encouraged players to advance from delivering telegraphs to becoming president of the company.  This game reflected the popular ideal of the rags to riches story. Children’s games reinforced the moral and ethical values of the adult world.

The Tarnished Reality

 

While these games helped children learn, they also created unreasonable expectations about success. After all, in The Game of the Telegraph Boy only one player could achieve the position of company president.  At a time of growing anxiety about immigration and labor unrest, games like these served to reinforce social and class differences. Though seeming to promote American ideals of equality, these games were available mostly to members of the middle and upper classes.

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