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World War I wooden puzzle game "The Silver Bullet or The Road to Berlin" (Addition 27) 2023-0196, 1915

 File — Flat_Box: 5

Scope and Contents

This addition to MSS 16758, the University of Virginia Collection on the History of Childhood, Parenting, and Family Building, contains a 9.5" x 6.5" wooden puzzle with a wooden frame and a glass window titled the Silver Bullet: Or the Road to Berlin.

Original metal ball and elements intact. Directions on the verso of the game. British dexterity puzzle for a juvenile audience, made of wood and glass. The game's object is maneuvering a metal ball through a winding course, avoiding holes, to the Berlin area. Although the topography of the play suggests the trenches of the Western Front, at the time of the game's creation, the troops had not "dug in." The title, Silver Bullet, suggests a quick victory and supports the view that the British public believed the war would be over by Christmas 1914.

Dates

  • Creation: 1915

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use.

Full Extent

0.15 Cubic Feet (Custom Made Box ( 8x13 1/4))

Language of Materials

English

Genre / Form

Repository Details

Part of the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library Repository

Contact:
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
P.O. Box 400110
University of Virginia
Charlottesville Virginia 22904-4110 United States