War games from the Boer War

Last August I posted about war games from World War II. This time it's about toys and games from the (Second) Boer War (1899-1902).

They are of considerable interest for social historians. In date order, they are:

A new or improved puzzle or game, by Frederick Dunkin of Oxford, surgeon dentist.  We know that that was his occupation as until about 1921 British patents usually gave the occupation of private inventors. The playing pieces had to be moved about so that the "Imperial and colonial forces" occupied Pretoria and the Transvaal and Orange Free State forces were in the prison.

Next is An improved toy or puzzle by Bertie Scott of Bruges, Belgium, gentleman.  The game -- if you can call it that -- involves locking or unlocking the figure, which in the drawing is quite clearly President Kruger of the Transvaal Republic.

Next is A new or improved game for two players by John Reid of Glasgow, architect. Unfortunately it lacks any drawings. The board game was called Patriotism, and was considered to be a tactical game, where you simply had to get your three "men" in a straight line to win the game. One side was the British, the other the Boers, and nine South African towns were marked on the board. Reid called it a "souvenir of South Africa, year 1900 A.D."

The last one I traced was GB19662/1900, which is missing from the database. It is a board with squares making up a grid with a South African town at each corner where small armies fight according to rules. The inventor was from Dunedin, New Zealand.

As so often happens these all date from 1900, before war weariness set in. I find these inventions fascinating as examples of the mind set of the time.

Comments

[wow gold making]

Very useful info

[EVE Characters]

I like the concept and had a great time reading your article...

[WoW Characters]

The new improved version for two players seem to be more interesting...

[WoW Account]

Sounds great...there is a lot of historical input there I can see.