Little Red Riding Hood

Image provided by:  Bob Finn
Dimensions:  20" x 10"
# of Pieces:  358

“Little Red Riding Hood”                                     

The game of Red Riding-Hood - Adventure Series was a boxed board game, circa 1895. The game contained a spinner and two-colored wooden counters. The interior multicolored lithographed board shows Red Riding Hood, Wolf, and lumbermen along track winding through the forest.

Parker Brothers was founded by George S. Parker in 1883 when he was 16. The Salem, MA based company’s first game was a card game called BANKING. George invented the game himself. During the late 1880s, Parker sold games of his own design. In 1888, his older brother Charles Parker joined the company and the name was changed to Parker Brothers. His eldest brother, Edward H. Parker joined in 1898, and the company was incorporated in 1901.

George Parker died in September of 1952 at the age of 86. He designed over 100 games during his lifetime. The company was family owned until 1968 when it was purchased by General Mills. In 1991, Hasbro acquired Parker Brothers. More than 1,800 games have been published by Parker Brothers. During the period from 1890 to 1905, Parker Brothers mass produced board games with a lithographic printing process that no longer needed to be hand colored. These games were often made of large wood boards or cases accompanied by bone dice, metal tokens, and wooden playing pieces. The beautiful artwork on the board games covers are prized by collectors today.

 A collection of over 100 Parker Brother game cover labels were published in a “salesman’s catalog” in the early 1900s. This collection of prints from 1890 to 1905 was obtained by toy and game collector Steve Olin. Steve entered the toy business in 1962. In 2006, Steve and his wife Diane donated the Olin Toy Catalog Collection to the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY. The 10,000 catalogs in the collection covered the entire spectrum of toys and games. Steve Olin died in 2008.

 In 2015, Bob Finn purchased the “salesman’s catalog” of Parker Brother game prints. Bob has collected board games since the early 1960s. Bob has created solid-faced canvas prints of many of these board game box covers. These canvas prints can be purchased online at www.oldboardgamer.com. Bob can be contacted directly at bob@wpbretiree.com. If you want to know more about old board games and puzzles, visit the Association of Games and Puzzles International (AGPI) at www.gamesandpuzzles.org.