Very old French game, of which several versions exist. There is little doubt that the "M-D, Paris" mentioned on the colourful paper label pasted onto the back of the board is Mauclair-Dacier, Fabrique Speciale de Jeux, situated in Paris, headquarters in 5. Rue des Haudriettes, factory in 148. Avenue Daumesnil (thanks, Siegfried, for drawing my attention to this point). Furthermore, as stated on the label, the game was printed by Roche Frères and illustrated by Ludovic, as was not uncommon in Mauclair-Daciers's production.

This game is dated as "vers 1890" on the French Musée National de l'Éducation website. It has been dated more conservatively elsewhere (as belonging to the first decade of the XXth century), but who am I to oppose the French government's datation? Furthermore, this game is not included in the 1901-02 Mauclair-Dacier catalogue published on Alain Rabusier's blog. Whether this may be because the game had not been made yet or because it was already out of production is open to debate. On the other hand, if, as Rabusier says, the MD brand disappeared in 1904, there is little room for this game being made after the catalogue was published. (Nevertheless, the datation of the catalogue itself is uncertain: Rabusier also mentions 1898).

 

 

There are several different versions of this game. By far, the most common is the two-fold monochrome board backed with coloured paper of different shades (at least green, blue, and red), with a polychrome pasted label, as pictured above. This version of the game measures 30 x 34 cm. As was usual at the time, this game came with the implements and rules in a different small box, which is very difficult to spot, and of which I cannot describe the contents.

 

The polychrome label pasted onto the back of the board.

 The inner illustrations are not signed, but they are by the same hand.

The rules of this game are quite hard to come by. (This game has been many years in the "missing rules" section of this website). Fortunately, Didier's copy had the rules, which mention six small bicyclists, to be used as counters, and a numbered teetotum. Both the rules and the use of the word "bicyclists" have a distinctive (though not conclusive) XIXth century flavour.

 

The race starts at a bike rental ("location") shop, though the rules mention a buyer ("acheteur").

 

Didier's game also had this small (7 x 5 cm) box, which probably originally contained the riders and the teetotum mentioned in the rules. Sadly, this is not the case anymore.