Continuing to dip into my antique Australiana collection, the next piece to show is from about 1900. When I first saw this I assumed it was actually referencing World War I (c1914), but other sources assert the turn of the (20th) century and show that it is actually about the Boer War.
Called To Arms (circa 1900) (click to see big)
The strongest provenance for this is the record from the collection at the Power House Museum, although their curators state that “the game was probably made in Great Britain”. I’m not so certain and in the absence of any other evidence I think it just as likely, maybe more so, that it was made in Australia. After all, Australia was an active participant in the second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), and The National Games Company was apparently based in Ballarat, Victoria.
Furthermore, the National Archives of Australia do also have a record of a “Called to Arms” game dated 1900, although no picture to show or author, artist or publisher to list.
Linda Hyde (Hyde and Seek) also has a copy of the game and is responsible for its entry in the boardgamegeek database.
Called To Arms detail (click to see big)
The art is not a masterpiece by any means, but certainly evocative of the theme and the historical period. Like others from this collection, the damage to the original piece is significant – the board has been warped by moisture and there is much scuffing damage, dirt and fading.
I do think it is (digitally) restorable, but given the effort required in the last job (Boy Scouts), this is not a task I’m likely to undertake without an indication that there would be demand for the finished work! Perhaps I’ll set up some kind of poll for that, or even adopt a pre-order mechanism similar to the “P500” mechanism of certain games publishers. And of course, observations and other comments are always welcome.
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