Fairy Tales Lotto

Lotto, based on the famous scenes from Grimm's fairy tales, is a board game published by Spear-Nuremberg in 1926. It's a lovely idea to spend some quality time with your friends and family while enjoying famous scenes from classic fairy tales illustrated by Otto Kubel.

Otto Kubel designed a cover of the box and six plates from four different fairy tales altogether. The game can be played by at least two up to six players. Each participant picks one of the plates (depending on the number of players, you can modify the rules and each can take two or even three plates), which have nine empty spaces each.

The empty spaces on the plates serve exactly the same as the numbers at a typical lotto game. Well, there are two differences:

When a missing piece is drawn from the sack, it fits on only one of the plates. At ordinary lotto, some drawn numbers can bring luck to more than one player at a time.

The drawn piece is covered with a missing part of one of the pictures on the boards held by players, which means everybody can participate in finding the empty spot where the piece should be placed. Even small children who don't know the numbers yet can actively participate. The game is decided by luck, not by skill, so a whole family can participate, and everybody has the same chance of winning.

As you can see, early production of board games, where at the time Germany excelled and was superior at the printing quality, followed three rules: to be educational, to be fun, and - very important - to be aesthetic.

The fairy tales chosen for this unique board play are:

Hansel and Gretel

Two scenes are portrayed:

The notorious arrival of the lost siblings to the witch's hut is used as a cover for the box. Kubel decided to present a few contrasts with the witch looking almost harmless but with an ominous black crow on her shoulder and two black cats nearby. The hut is obviously made of gingerbread and invites unsuspected victims to be eaten.

The second scene takes place inside the witch's hut. Hansel is already locked in a cage, and the witch is checking if he is fat enough for a decent roast. But her sight is bad, and Hansel is offering a chicken bone instead of his finger. The bone was provided by Gretel, who was forced to become a servant.

The whole fairy tale can be checked in this post.

Mother Holle

For everybody who might not be familiar with the story: it tells how two girls, stepsisters, went to Mother Holle. One was diligent and hardworking, and the other was not. They were awarded accordingly. The complete fairy tale can be resumed here.

Again, two scenes are portrayed:

The girl has a seemingly simple but very important assignment. Every morning, she has to shake the quilt from Mother Holle's bedroom. Her action causes snow. Mother Holle is not an ordinary old lady. Her character is based on the old pagan goddess Holle (also known as Hulda, Holla, Perchta, ...) who could cause snow.

The second scene by Kubel shows how the good girl was rewarded. She did not only get her distaff back (it fell in the well where Mother Holle lives) but was blessed with a very special gift as well. Every time she said a word, a golden coin fell out of her mouth, which eventually encouraged her stepsister to visit Mother Holle too, ...

Red Cap

Otto Kubel portrayed two scenes from the story:

Red Cap meets a wolf. Everybody knows what happens next. Despite her promises about not talking to strangers and straying from the path, she stops and chats with the wolf, who could eat her right away but, instead, decides to find out more about her goal. Why eat just the girl if he could eat her granny as well?

The second scene presents the second famous dialogue between Red Cap and the wolf. As we can see, he is already in the bed, dressed in granny's gown. He obviously has already eaten the old lady and is getting ready for a dessert. Before that, the naive girl should ask a few questions about his image, of course.

You can also check an interesting explanation of symbols in Red Riding Hood.

Snow White

This is the only fairy tale with just one scene in the box:

The wicked stepmother, who is jealous of Snow White's beauty, has already tried to get rid of the girl several times. She orders a huntsman to kill her in the woods but soon realizes that the girl survived in the house of the seven dwarfs. Then, she already tried to kill the girl herself. As we know, the third time is a charm!

To enjoy the complete fairy tale with a full set of Kubel's contemporary, visit this summary.

That's all. Tell your friends!