Checkerboard from the Rock Rest Tourist Home: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A checkerboard manufactured by Parker Brothers, Inc. The board is made from cardboard covered with red adhesive paper on the exterior and a paper adhesive checkerboard on the interior. The board folds in half. On one side of the red exterior, there is a white adhesive label surrounded by a band of green and white checkers and six (6) black squares with green graphics of chess pieces. Black text in varying fonts, printed in the middle of the label, reads [CHECKERS / MADE BY / Parker Brothers Inc. / SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS · NEW YORK · CHICAGO] / MADE IN U.S.A.]. In the top left corner of the front there is a white adhesive label with red, printed text that reads [THE AMERICAN / JUNIOR RED CROSS] with three lines below. The text [SCHOOL], [CHAPTER], [TOWN] is printed in red just below each line and [FORM 2501] in the bottom right corner. Handwritten black text on the top line reads [Shailer], [Portland] on the second line, and [Portland, ME]. The interior is a green and white checkerboard that is bordered by a black and white meander design.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: mid 20th century
• Manufactured by: Parker Brothers, American, 1883 - 1998
• Owned by: Clayton Sinclair, American
• Owned by: Hazel Sinclair, American
• Subject of: The American Junior Red Cross, American, founded 1917
• Subject of: Shailer School, American, 1882 - 1935
• Subject of: Rock Rest Tourist Home, American, 1948 - 1976
• Type: checkerboards
• Medium: ink on pressure-sensitive tape on cardboard
• Dimensions: H x W x D (Open): 16 9/16 × 16 5/8 × 1/8 in. (42 × 42.2 × 0.3 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (Closed): 16 9/16 × 8 5/16 × 1/4 in. (42 × 21.1 × 0.6 cm)
• Place collected: Kittery, York County, Maine, United States, North and Central America
• Place made: United States, North and Central America
• Place used: Portland, Cumberland County, Maine, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Amusements
• Topic: Black Enterprise
• Topic: Black interiors
• Topic: Business
• Topic: Recreation
• Topic: Segregation
• Topic: Travel
• Object number: 2011.12.51.1
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail, Inc.
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Restrictions likely apply. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.