Posted by 
Featuring questions from the New Testament, the 1887 Grandmama’s Sunday Game is a McLoughlin Bros. collectible. The bright colors on the box, showing children gathering around Jesus, make for an attractive addition to any game collection.
Interesting to note on the image of this particular production of the game, McLoughlin Bros. is spelled wrong. Above the back of the boy on the left of the box, the letter H can be seen missing from their name. So famous and admired for their beautiful images, probably no one even noticed or cared at the time. Even today, the miss-spelled name only adds charm and makes a unique characteristic to notice.
The game is part of a six set series. All games in the series consisted of trivia type questions which players competed to answer. The titles, or subjects, in the Grandma’s series included, Old Testament and New Testament, Riddles, Geography, Arithmetic, and Useful Knowledge. Each game included an answer booklet within its game box. On the back of this booklet, the complete series was listed and it encouraged players to collect all six. They were wonderful teaching games of the age.
To play the game, one person is chosen to be the Preceptor or the person who holds the answer booklet. In the earlier 1860’s publication of the McLoughlin Bros. game series, this person was to be the oldest person. Since families would gather around at the end of the day or on a Sunday afternoon to play the game, it was most often the Grandma who would ‘hold the book’. This provided the reason for the title. However, as times changed (or Grandma was tired of always being the one with the book), the rules were altered to allow any person to be the Preceptor. The game title remained the same and the answer booklet still shows an image of a ‘grandma’ on the cover.
All other players of the game are considered Scholars. They are dealt at least six question cards face down in front of them. Beginning on the left of the Preceptor, the first Scholar picks a card and reads aloud a question for all to hear. If he can answer correctly, the card is placed to side in front of him and play moves to the next player. If he cannot answer correctly, the card is passed to the following player, and so forth, until the question is answered and then that player keeps the card. If no one is able to answer the question, the card is given to the Preceptor who will read the answer from the booklet for all to know. Play continues in this manner until all cards are used.
A few sample questions (and answers) from the 100 cards within the game box are as follows:
Q) What is the meaning of Golgotha? A) The place of a skull (Matt. 27:33)
Q) For how many pieces of silver did Judas sell his Master? A) Thirty pieces of silver (Matt. 26:15)
Q) Who followed Jesus into the palace of the High Priest? A) Peter, (Mark 14:54)
Q) How many days had Lazarus been dead when Jesus came to Bethany? A) Four days (St. John 11:17)
Q) What became of the clothing of Jesus after his crucifixion? A) Four soldiers divided his clothes; but his coat being seamless, they cast lots for it. (St. John 19:23)
The winner of the game would be the player who answered the most correctly or who had the most cards placed beside him. As the Grandmama’s Sunday Game of New Testament is a timeless game of knowledge, it can still be played exactly like it was over 100 years ago. Bringing down some old games from the shelf to enjoy is something which all can take part in and treasure yet today.
