Because of its glowing surface, tinsel painting was appealing for advertising purposes, and gameboards were effective items for promoting a business. 

Nathan Rosenthal was the founder of the Boston Loan Company, which, for eighteen years, was located at 32 Asylum Street in Hartford before the business moved to 759 Main Street. He placed many ads for the company in the Hartford Courant. The business offered cash for diamonds, jewelry, and watches, among other items, and claimed all business was strictly confidential, with a private entrance for women. It is not surprising that Rosenthal would order at least one memento of his business, perhaps when he formed the company in 1901.

An almost identical checkerboard with gold foil and mother-of-pearl advertising "Lothrups, Farnham & Co, shoes, clothing, rochester, dover" probably was created by the same maker. Lothrops, Farnham & Co. was a department store in Dover, New Hampshire, established in 1883.

Lee Kogan, "Boston Loan Co. Advertising Checkerboard," FOILED: Tinsel Painting in America (New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2013), 78