1866 Parlor Baseball Game

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Posted By: DD

In case anyone hasn't seen the woodcut (I believe) from the 12/8/1866 issue of Frank Leslie's Illustrated, here it is. Anyone want to speculate on value if one is ever found.

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Posted By: barrysloate

David- there are a few examples of this game known. Mark Cooper has one and it is pictured in his book (and almost certainly at the Hall of Fame right now as Mark's collection is on a one year exhibit there).

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Posted By: DD

According to this article, none exist. I guess the reporter was mistaken. I'll take Barry's word over the reporter.

http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080410&content_id=6880&vkey=hof_news

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Posted By: barrysloate

David- Mark has a parlor game that dates from 1869. This must be a different one. I confused them because they had similar names. Sorry.

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Posted By: Butch & Co.

The article on the HOF site is accurate. Barry's confusion was understandable -- there are at least eight different 19th-century tabletop baseball games that include "parlor" in their title (and about a dozen more made between 1900 and the early 1920s).

Mark's 1869 game on exhibit at the Hall (the exhibition is a doozy) is The New Parlor Game - Base Ball., the oldest baseball game known to still exist. There are at least three in private collections.

The 1866 article about the Sebring game in Leslie's followed by several weeks an earlier article on the game in Wilkes' Spirit of the Times. The Sebring game was patented in 1868; an even earlier patent for a similar tabletop baseball game was granted to Buckley in 1867. No sample of either of those two earliest games is known to still exist (there's some doubt as to whether, in fact, either ever went into production) -- but those are the twin "holy grails" of baseball game collecting. Should an example of either ever be found, its price would surely be a record-breaker for baseball games at auction.

Baseball Games
http://members.aol.com/Butch7999/Baseball.htm
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/baseballgames/

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Posted By: barrysloate

Thanks Butch (I know, not your real name).

Most well-to-do 19th century families retired to the parlor in the evening, and board games were often played. Hence, the ubiquitous parlor game.