The Game of the New U.S. Merchant Marine

Title: The Game of the New U.S. Merchant Marine
Date Created: 1918-1919
Creator: McLoughlin Brothers [Milton Bradley after 1920]
Identifier: Australian Museum, 00050946
Original Location: A board game developed to support the U.S. Shipping Board at the end of WWI (US)
Current Location: Australian National Maritime Museum, Australia
Description: This game was developed as part of the publicity campaigns to build the "shipmindedness" of the modern United States under the auspices of the U.S. Shipping Board. This civilian board oversaw the massive ship building program of 1917–20 to support the entry of the U.S. into WWI; after the Armistice it promoted a maritime vision of the modern world.
Geographical and economic games were an established genre in the 19th and early 20th century. This game is noteworthy for its promotion of technological change and the modern conditions of shipping—it was the opposite of nostalgic visions of geographical exploration or the dangers and adventures of a sailor's life.
Credit: ANMM Collection Purchased from USA Bicentennial Gift funds.
Link: https://collections.sea.museum/en/objects/179247/box-for-game-of-the-new-us-merchant-marine?ctx=99ce9dc40035df1e64f79c709d68ceeafd8a8fb4&idx=0
Contributor: Katharine Anderson, Professor, York University