Adams & Co. (Boston)

Adams & Co.

Company type	Publishing house
Industry	Publishing, Games and novelties
Founded	1865 (1865)
Founder	John S. Adams, George L. Stafford
Headquarters	Boston , United States
Products	Books, periodicals, parlour games, novelties

Adams & Co. was a publishing house based in Boston, active from approximately the 1860s through the 1880s. The firm concentrated on works by spiritualist writers such as Hudson Tuttle and produced parlour games like "Oliver Twist." Established and overseen by John S. Adams alongside George L. Stafford, their operations were located at several addresses over time: Bromfield Street (circa 1867–1873), Pearl Street (around 1875), and Tremont Street (circa 1880).

Games and novelties

The company’s catalog featured an assortment of games and novelty items that helped define its presence in the marketplace:

• Budget of Wonders
• The Cryptograph
• The Electric Cannon
• The Electric Cottage, a safe novelty involving explosions
• Eskemo
• The Feast of Flowers, a fortune-based floral game
• Forced Confessions
• Go–Bang, Stay–Bang, Slam–Bang (games inspired by Japanese verandah pastimes)
• The Great Egg-Trick, performed by Moulabux at London's Crystal Palace
• Invisible Ink and Invisible Photographs
• Japanese Curiosos and Japanese Snapping Pictures
• Komikal Konversation Kards
• Labyrinthian Puzzles
• Magic Picture Cards and Magic Wonder Telescope
• Match and Catch
• Mystic Scrolls
• Oliver Twist
• Parlor Ring-Toss
• Pocket Conjuring Box
• Santa Claus Magical Christmas Box
• The Shakesperian Oracle
• Spiral Puzzle
• Trade and Dicker
• Zarofiel

Published by Adams & Co.

During the mid-19th century, Adams & Co. produced a varied range of publications encompassing instructional manuals, poetry collections, religious writings, and periodicals. Noteworthy titles include:

• How to play croquêt (1865), an instructional manual reflecting popular leisure activities.
• A Youth's History of the Rebellion by Thayer (1865), providing perspectives on Civil War events.
• Branches of Palm by Harriet A. Adams (1866), demonstrating literary contributions from those connected to the firm.
• Musical pieces such as Waterfalls and Frizzes (1866) and Love Never Sleeps (1866), illustrating an engagement with cultural content.
• Practical handbooks like More than One hundred Things Worth Knowing (circa 1866), designed for everyday usefulness.
• Memoirs including George Edward Clark’s Seven Years of a Sailor's Life (1867).
• Inspirational and spiritual texts such as Lizzie Doten’s The Inner Mystery (1868) and Hudson Tuttle’s The Career of the God-Idea in History (1869).
• Periodicals including the religious magazine The Radical from the 1860s, alongside entertainment-focused journals like Holiday Journal of parlor plays (1870) and Sports and Games (1870s).

This extensive selection underscores Adams & Co.’s business approach centered on a broad spectrum of literary genres aimed at diverse audiences—ranging from educational and religious readers to those interested in leisure and self-improvement. Under the guidance of founder John Stowell Adams, the company carved out a niche within specialized publishing sectors, capitalizing on cultural interests and practical content to drive sustained growth throughout that period.