The other day, I mentioned “classic” board games. I figure that probably one of the most classic board games has to be Monopoly. It’s been around longer than I have and even has an official birthday — March 19. That’s the date Parker Brothers acquired the rights for the game from Charles Darrow, the original inventor of the game — or at least he claims to be the inventor of the game. Apparently the very first edition of the game that would later become Monopoly was invented by Elizabeth Magie about 30 years before Charles Darrow sold the game to Parker Brothers.
Interestingly, the original game was designed to help people understand taxes. That may be why a lot of kids today think the game is so boring. Elizabeth Magie’s (who is credited with putting together the first version of the game) goal was to not only understand the tax system better but also real estate. Her name for the game that became Monopoly was “The Landlord’s Game,” and it was meant as a parody of a growing commercial practice as well as an educational tool.
But Charles Darrow made a few tweaks to Magie’s idea and sold the game to Parker Brothers, after the company initially rejected it due to 52 “fundamental errors” such as the length and complexity of the game. Obviously, Parker Brothers later changed their mind.
The original game is based on real-life places in Atlantic City, New Jersey. But Monopoly is truly an international game — it’s been sold in 114 countries and translated into 47 languages. More than 300 versions of Monopoly have been created, including “Star Wars,” “Pokemon,” and “Game of Thrones.”
The little “Monopoly Man” pictured on all the games was inspired by J.P. Morgan, a banker who helped finance the construction of railroads and organized several major corporations including General Electric. Even though the character was inspired by J.P. Morgan, the Monopoly mascot has a real name — Rich Uncle Pennybags. Pennybags has become the face of Monopoly and is generally known as “Mr. Monopoly.”
Other characters on the board have names too… that unfortunate guy in jail is “Jake the Jailbird” and the bobby hauling Jake away is named Officer Edgar Mallory. Mallory’s name is actually a play on an old stereotype of the Irish cop — an image popular in the early 20th century.
Every standard game of Monopoly contains $15,140. Parker Brothers prints about 50 billion dollars in Monopoly money every year — that’s more than twice as much money as the U.S. Mint prints in actual money.
You may have noticed, there’s no inflation in Monopoly — values on the game board are the same today as they were in 1935.
Parker Brothers has manufactured over 5 billion green houses — I guess that makes them the largest real estate builder.The original Monopoly game sold for $2 — they cost around $20 today.
I had heard that the most landed on square in Monopoly was Illinois Avenue, but my extensive research couldn’t confirm that…. it appears the top three most landed on spaces are Jail, Illinois Avenue and Go.
The original board pieces were inspired by Charles Darrow’s niece and were created to resemble figures on her charm bracelet.
And finally — if you think about it, this should come as no surprise, there is a special Monopoly version available just for cheaters — called “Monopoly: Cheaters Edition.” It was launched in 2018 and has incorporated cheating into the rules. In this version of the game, players can attempt to get away with “borrowing” money from the bank, skipping spaces and avoiding rent payments.
So if you’re looking for a “classic” board game — if you can sort through all the special editions to find it — Monopoly may be for you…..
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