Unnamed sources close to the family report Dr. Buffum has taken to his bed with an unidentified affliction, which continues to baffle his esteemed colleagues in the medical profession. He has thus far been unresponsive to any and all tinctures, tonics or elixirs.
The delirium brought on by his condition produced the apparatus you see before you: a 3-D model of his reoccurring hallucination. Captured in its oak case, it was transported here for viewing today and will be returned to plague Dr. Buffum's subconscious until he recovers or succumbs to his illness.
Miss Wilson prided herself on dreaming up clever games to both amuse and educate all the children in her care, who raged from ages 5-15. Through her creative approach to education most students left school after eighth grade with at least rudimentary abilities in Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, World History and Penmanship.
Due to an anomaly in the transport of this game, leaders from the late 20th & early 21st century have invaded the game board and continue to play out their roles as ally or adversary, jockeying for their position to reign or be deposed.
It should be noted that whoever appears on the board at any one time changes the dynamics of the game.
THE HOUSEHOLD PHYSICIAN
PLUCKED FROM A DOCTOR'S DREAM
On loan from the Traveling Museum of Peculiar Matters-pulled through a time portal from the year 1903
It is the first week of May 1903. Doctor Herbert Buffum is pressed upon to complete his contribution, "The Improved Treatment of Common Ailments and Injuries" for the Woodruff Publishing Company's 1400 Page compendium The Household Physician. While rumored his contribution will detail home diagnostic tools & the treatment of common ailments such as dropsy of the brain, shaking palsy, quinsy and pox, he has yet to produce his findings.
WHEN I RULE THE WORLD
PLUCKED FROM A SCHOOLMARM'S DREAM
On loan from the Traveling Museum of Peculiar Matters-pulled through a time portal from the year 1907
This deluxe board game complete with maps, soldiers and world leaders is a rare acquisition. the original game board and soldiers were retrieved from one of Martha Wilson's dreams in the early 1900's. Miss Wilson had no children but considered the 17 students she taught in a one-room schoolhouse in rural Nebraska her own.
CHOOSE YOUR POISON
PLUCKED FROM A MEDIC'S DREAM
On loan from the Traveling Museum of Peculiar Matters-pulled through a time portal from the year 1918
After enlisting in the army in 1918 Private E.G. Checker found himself at Camp Zachary Taylor, Louisville, Kentucky preparing to become a field medic. He spent his days performing triage on soldiers in training and his nights studying his first-aid manual in preparation for deployment to the Front. As this day loomed closer his anxiety increased. He doubted his ability to successfully treat soldiers in the field with the limited pharmaceuticals available.
The longer he stayed at the camp the more he longed to be back in his native Ohio enjoying board games in the evening with his brother and cousins. His dreams took him home each night, but the board game we have skillfully plucked from his dream is tainted with his trepidation about performing his medical duties.
Private Checker never made it to the Front. He was one of nearly 14,000 soldiers to contract an influenza strain that swept through the camp killing eight hundred. Luckily, Private Checker recovered and returned home, but the game Choose Your Poison continued to haunt him.