Sometimes a true origin story is more interesting than the popular myth. And so it is with Monopoly, the world’s most popular board game.
It turns out that Monopoly’s origins begin not with Great Depression era battler Charles Darrow in 1934, but decades before with a bold, progressive, and inventive woman named Elizabeth “Lizzie” Magie, whose involvement in the development of the game was, until relatively recently, largely lost to history; and, in some cases, deliberately written out of it.
Magie was also a progressive political activist and follower of the economic theories of Henry George, who believed that a single tax on land values only would create a more productive and just society. She designed The Landlord's Game in 1903, seeking to create a game that would illustrate the problems caused by the concentration of land ownership and the monopolistic practices of wealthy individuals. She designed the game as a protest against the big monopolists of her time … people like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller.
The game showcased the consequences of monopolies by depicting how one player, through strategic acquisitions and rent collection, could eventually bankrupt the other players, leaving them with no assets. Magie believed that this would lead to discussions about the unfairness of concentrated wealth and the need for economic reforms.
Magie patented The Landlord's Game in 1904, but despite her efforts, the game, although popular with left-leaning intellectuals at various universities in the Northeastern United States, did not garner much main stream popularity. Then in 1932, Darrow adapted the game, took it to Parker Brothers and renamed it “Monopoly”, this time with a focus on the monopolistic elements including the actual goal of bankrupting opponents.
Darrow's version of the game became a huge success and eventually led to the creation of the iconic Monopoly board game that is widely known today.
Darrow is usually credited as the “inventor” of Monopoly, and one can understand why. The Darrow myth is a “nice, clean, well-structured example of the Eureka School of American industrial legend”, The New Yorker’s Calvin Trillin wrote in 1978. However, in this instance, the truth feels more worthy of promotion; so please spread the word.
Story Idea: Remo Giuffré
__________________________
The Landlord's Game exists in printed form as chapter 43 of RR#1 … available to order HERE
____________________________
References
wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Landlords_Game
nytimes.com/2015/02/15/business/behind-monopoly-an-inventor-who-didnt-pass-go
landlordsgame.info
Images
1. Landlord's Game, 1906. Published by: Economic Game Company, New York. Image Credit: Thomas Forsyth, landlordsgame.info
2. Clarles Darrow Image: AP
3. Monopoly Game. Photograph: WILLSIE / iStock by Getty Images
4. Elizabeth “Lizzie” Magie in the News in the 1970s
5. Landlord's Game patent, 1904
6. Landlord's Game, 1903. Handmade Board by Robert Woolery
7 & 8. Landlord's Game, 1939. Parker Brother's design.
