Artist/Maker
McLoughlin Brothers
(American, 1854 – 1921)
The Hand of Fate Fortune Telling Game
1901
Place madeNew York, New York, United States, North America
Cardboard, paper, plastic
Container (box): 1 x 15 1/8 x 14 1/2 in. (2.5 x 38.4 x 36.8 cm)
The Liman Collection
2000.476
The Hand of Fate is one of many parlor games revealing Victorians' fascination with mysticism. The magnetic dial at the center can be employed to play different games depending on which of the surrounding rings is used. The innermost circle allows the "hand" to answer historical questions, the middle circle provides character reading based on a player's birthday, and the outer circle of numbers lets players ask true/false questions (even = true, uneven= false).
Description"The Hand of Fate: Fortune Telling Game" divination game in a cardboard box; on cover, illustration with figure of a girl dressed in a witch costume with a peaked red hat and a cape, teaching a black cat, both inside a ring with symbols of the zodiac, around the ring are black cats, bats and owls; box cover lithographed, "THE HAND OF FATE/ FORTUNE/ TELLING/ GAME/ McLOUGHLIN BRO'S/ NEW YORK./ COPYRIGHT 1901/ by McLOUGHLIN BROS./ NEW YORK."; one paper disc pasted to plastic case inside box; a sheet of printed paper with a circle cut out of center, with answers to the questions on the discs in circles bordering interior edge.ClassificationsTOYS
Collections
- Board and Table Games: The Liman Collection Gift
