An epoch ago, in 1932, Charles Todd, a Philadelphia businessman, and his wife, Olive, introduced their friends Charles Darrow and Esther Darrow to a real-estate board game. Charles Darrow developed a great fondness for the game as both couples sat around the board, passionately rolling the dice. But neither Todd nor Darrow knew the name. They just knew that everybody called it The Monopoly Game.
Charles Darrow was unemployed and was in severe need of income. He got the idea of selling the game naming it Monopoly and getting a patent for it. He asked for a written copy of the rules from Todd and started selling it in 1934. Parker Brothers bought the rights to Monopoly in 1935, which eventually became a phenomenal success, making him millions.
However, this is not the origin of Monopoly. A progressive woman named Elizabeth Magie, or as her friends like to call her, Lizzie, from Washington, DC, made a board game called The Landlord’s Game in 1903. It was the early 1900s, and she wanted her board game to reflect her progressive political view, which was the whole point of the game.
On pondering for years, on 23rd March 1903 Lizzie went on to secure her legal claim to the game. She published a version of the game in 1906 through the Economic Game Company, a New York-based firm that made Lizzie a part-owner.
In 1924 Lizzie patented a new version of her game with street names. The game eventually caught on with a community of Quakers in Atlantic City, who customised it with the name of local neighbourhoods, and then it found its way to Darrow.
In 1932 Charles Darrow played an Atlantic City version of The Landlord’s Game at a house owned by Todd. The Game Darrow brought to Parker Brothers sold hundreds of millions of copies worldwide and received royalties throughout his life. Lizzie just received $500 and no royalties. Initially, Lizzie did not comprehend the actual intention behind the sale of her game. Eventually, she realised the truth and became angry publicly.
Parker Brothers is now a subsidiary of the company Hasbro. Hasbro credits the official Monopoly game produced and played today to Darrow, and even in 2015, on the Hasbro website, a historical timeline of the game begins on 6th February, 1935. Lizzie died in 1948, a widow with no children and recognition for game invention.
To celebrate the invention of this popular board game Monopoly, KarmaPlay is hosting a Board Games Quiz. Bring your best foot forward, and hope you do not land in the Monopoly jail.