The Night Before Christmas 1896

For any number of players. Players used a spinner to race each other to the finish and collect “gift” cards along the way. From the rules: All Present cards are shuffled, and divided equally among the players. The players all use the same piece, spinning the indicator, and starting from Santa Claus' head-quarters, they moving the piece called Santa Claus, in turn, until he is carried over the entire road, and back to his home again. At the end of player's move, if Santa Claus stops at a house, the player takes the presents called for, from his pack of Present cards, and lays them aside. A player may not always have all the presents called for and, in that case, he lays aside all that he can. When a player lands on dot marked "Go Back to Fourth House", "Seminary" or "Orphan's Home" Santa Claus is placed back, as directed, and the player delivers the presents called for, and Santa Claus starts on his travels again, from that place, as before. The player who first runs out of "Present cards" or the player who has the smallest number of "Present cards" in his hand, after Santa Claus has reached his home again, wins the game. Components: spinner, 20 cards (pairs of 10 different), and one wood game piece (Santa Claus). Size: 15" x 17"

More about the box design: In the 19th century, Americans fell in love with Santa Claus. Clement Moore first published his poem “An Account of a Visit From Saint Nicholas,” which he originally wrote for his daughters, Margaret, Charity, and Mary, in 1823. German immigrant Thomas Nast who created the familiar image of the white-bearded man in the red suit that was reinterpreted by unknown artists for these box tops. During the Civil War, Nast drew on the German tradition of Saint Nicholas for a Harper’s Weekly cover depicting Santa Claus as a “spirit of Christmas” visiting lonely soldiers in camp. The image proved to be a turning point in the popularity of Santa.