Yale Center for British Art

Title:

The silver bullet, or, The road to Berlin.

Alternate Title(s):

Road to Berlin.

Published / Created:

[London] : R.F. & S. ; [approximately 1914]

Physical Description:

1 game ; 17 x 25 x 3 cm

Holdings:

Rare Books and Manuscripts
D522 .S5 1914 Copy 1 Flat A
Yale Center for British Art, Gift of Ellen and Arthur Liman, Yale JD 1957

Rare Books and Manuscripts
D522 .S5 1914 Copy 2 Flat A
Yale Center for British Art, Friends of British Art Fund

Copyright Status:

Classification:

Three-Dimensional Artifacts

Notes:

Instructions printed on sheet affixed to the bottom of the game.

The Jerry Slocum Mechanical Puzzle Collection identifies the publisher as R. Farmer & Sons.

Jerry Slocum Mechanical Puzzle Collection, 003749

British dexterity puzzle for a juvenile audience, made of wood and glass. The object of the game is to maneuver a metal ball through a winding course, avoiding holes, to the area labelled Berlin. Although the topography of the game 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.

Subject Terms:

World War, 1914–1918. | Germany. | Liman, Ellen and Arthur -- Provenance.

Form/Genre:

Dexterity puzzles. | Maze puzzles. | Games -- Great Britain. | Board games (game sets) | Recreations -- Great Britain.

Contributors:

R. Farmer and Sons, publisher. | Collection of Ellen and Arthur Liman (Yale Center for British Art).