The Speckled Band: Suitable Summer Entertainments

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Canon Story: The Speckled Band
Title: A Trip to the Zoo (as featured in the Marylebone Illustrated)
Author:thesmallhobbit
Rating: G

For our readers looking for a pleasant day out we recommend a trip to London Zoo this summer.  There are opportunities to view many exotic creatures, including the cheetah and the baboon.  In addition a number of different varieties of snake can be seen in the Reptile House, although ladies of a delicate disposition may wish to bypass this building.


Canon Story: The Speckled Band
Title: Snakes & Ladders (as featured in the Marylebone Illustrated)
Author:thesmallhobbit
Rating: G

For those rainy afternoons when children need entertaining  we suggest the educational board game of Snakes and Ladders.  Each ladder shows how the virtues of thrift, penitence and industry will lead upwards to grace, fulfilment and success, whilst landing on a snake the player will discover  the vices of indulgence, disobedience and indolence  causing descent to illness, disgrace and poverty.

Comments

[debriswoman]

Very pleased with my investment in subscribing, so far

Can I order the virtue-inspiring board game through your office?

(A gift for my friend, Henry Baker.)

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

If you could send us your postal order we will be pleased to ship you your game. We are sure your friend will be delighted with it.

[laurose8.livejournal.com]

Good work on both. The first gives us a neat and pleasant postscript; so glad to hear they found a reasonably adequate home.

The second is brilliant!

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

They were probably less of a danger in their name home.

When I found out about the second I couldn't resist it.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

I assume your second 60 was the one inspired by mine, but really in all cases we seem to have been thinking along the same lines ^_^ (Perhaps I could do some freelance work for the periodical...)

As laurose8 says, it's nice to hear what became of the menagerie. (I think consulting detectives of a delicate disposition will probably want to give the snakes a miss too ^^") And Snakes and Ladders is a bundle of laughs, isn't it? ^^ I always feel it's significant that, despite this talk of reward and punishment, it's entirely a game of chance.

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

You would be very welcome to submit articles for posting in our periodical. Anything has to be better than Mouselet's contribution (yes, they will appear in due course).

I was amazed when I read about Snakes and Ladders - and as I said it was such a brilliant idea I couldn't resist it. Pure chance, which presumably was ignored.

[tripleransom.livejournal.com]

These are sly and wonderful. I love your sidelong take on the story.

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much.

[tardisjournal.livejournal.com]

I must say, I look forward to your periodical and its unique insights! I was delighted to hear about the exhibits at the zoo (recent acquisitions, surely?), and intrigued by your description of the game. Here in the U.S we call it "Chutes and Ladders" and all references to reptiles have been expunged. Apparently the publisher decided that everyone was of too delicate a disposition to deal with snakes.

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

I'm delighted you like the periodical. After three previous rounds I wanted to find a different angle, and one I could use all the way through.

I discovered the game originated from India (hence the snakes) and in that version there were more snakes than ladders, so the game was loaded against the player. Clearly the Victorians felt this wouldn't serve their morality purposes very well. Sad to hear about the delicate dispositions of our transatlantic colleagues ;)

[morelindo.livejournal.com]

Exploring Victorian social mores via the medium of board games, I love it.

Thanks for these, two very neat ideas for all ages!

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

It was such a gift when I discovered the Victorian board game I had to write the second 60 - especially when they went so well together. I'm delighted you liked them.