The Stanley Souvenir.
Stanley's March to Kavalli
This puzzle is of great interest for several reasons:
It is an extremely rare puzzle celebrating a most interesting and controversial event
in the history of the British Empire in Africa (1886-1889).
It is quite possibly the World's first Pitfall Dexterity puzzle.
It reveals some of the interesting, if sometimes misguided, ways that past owners
have tried to extend the life of this puzzles.
The objective is to roll the ball up the ramp and following Stanley's route through Africa to rescue Emin Pasha at Kavalli (see Wikipedia 1). This to be done without falling into any of the "pit-holes"
The novelty of "Pitfall Puzzles" is obvious as the publisher felt it necessary to explain every detail about how to work it, even down to tilting the box etc.
This picture shows the complex way that little brass split tags were used to support the paper "walls" of the maze. It also show some early repairs: - Cloth sticking plasters were used to repair the corners of the box, and fuse wire strung across the box to support the playing surface.
