Tower Of Babel Game - A Victorian Marvel

I've always liked Ziggurats. They turn up in various architecture books, and in illustrations hither and yon. A ziggurat, simply, is a spiral tower or a pyramid with a spiral walkway around it. One of my favorite views of a ziggurat was on this game board I had seen a number of times at antique shows. I liked the Victorian version of the Tower, which is shown here still under construction, with crane-like devices on all levels, including many on the top. All the activity on the ramps and on the ground below seems to be directed toward the construction of the tower. There is no sense of unpleasantness associated with this structure. In many other accounts the Tower of Babel was presented as a kind of fearsome thing, with a mythological history inspired by the lack of real historical information.Of course, I would most prefer a photo of the Tower of Babel, but that would be impossibly ideal. But the Victorian lithograph in flaming color was a good substitute. McLoughlin, the NYC book publisher and game designer, was not afraid of bright color. The Tower of Babel game was part of a bigger production from McLoughlin. The game board is wooden with different games on each side. There are two game boards on the side with the Tower, the other being the Game of Pilgrim's Progress, the game being promoted on the slipcase/box label.I am not sure these games will ever be played again, but their entertaining qualities live on.