Grand National Victory: A New Game (1870)

This post Civil War spin-and-move game is notable both for its historical value and its sales technique. The board has a track of 100 circles starting at Washington and ending in victory at Richmond. The game requires a 1-8 spinner, and players use toy soldiers as tokens. Each circle is marked with a battle, place, person or unit that took part in the Civil War. Some spaces are setbacks (Bull Run at 20 sends a player back to Washington), while the Andersonville and Libbey prison spaces traps a player until another player reaches a prisoner exchange space. The back of the board both describes the game and shows how it was sold. A veteran soldier "or his agent" would leave a game card on doorsteps for residents to play freely, and then would "call in the morning for 10 cents, as it is earnestly hoped you will patronize", signed "A Boy in Blue". The rest of the back features the words to the patriotic song "We Saved the Union for You".