It is the best-selling and perhaps the best-loved game in the world. Monopoly has been part of our lives and our culture for over 70 years. An estimated 500 million people have played the game over the years, and Monopoly has been exported around the world in many different languages and to over 60 countries ranging from Azerbaijan to Vietnam. Monopoly is even popular in Russia – a country that once banned the game, because of its capitalist principles. To give some idea of how many games are sold - twice as much Monopoly money is printed in a year than the US treasury prints real money!
To some people, Monopoly is more than just a game. It brings out the best and worst in people and it is interesting to see how otherwise mild-mannered people become ruthless property developers for a few hours when playing the game. Some people take the game perhaps far too seriously – an article in a science magazine discussed in depth the chances of landing on a particular property and you can find tables of “probabilities” and articles on strategies on line too. Apparently Illinois Avenue is the square most often landed on, and most experts say railroads are more profitable to own than utilities. And of course there is the often hotly debated question: If you land in jail, is it better to pay $50 to leave jail or wait until you roll doubles on the dice? It depends on the point the game has reached – if you are in danger of paying lots of rent, it is better to stay in jail.
The Origins of Monopoly
Monopoly was devised in 1934, at the height of the depression, by an unemployed worker, Charles Darrow who lived in Germantown, Pennsylvania. With plenty of time on his hands, Darrow devised a game based on real life real estate strategies that he called “Monopoly.” Many elements of the game reflected life at the time – the $1500 each player received at the beginning of the game reflected the average annual income of a typical American household in 1934. Monopoly doesn’t recognize inflation - the values of each property are the same as they were in 1934, although the taxes did change once in 1936.
Monopoly may have had its origins even earlier than that – around the beginning of the 20th century, a homemade board game called the “Landlord Game” was popular, and this may have influenced Darrow’s design. Darrow took his idea to the biggest game manufacturers of his time, Parker Brothers, who rejected the game, claiming that there were too many design errors – over 50 of them - and the game would not be popular, as it took too long to play, and was too complicated.
Not to be thwarted, with the help of a friend in the printing trade, Darrow managed to manufacture 5000 games himself and sold them to a Philadelphia department store. The demand for the game was incredible and Darrow once again went back to Parker Brothers to present his idea. This time they listened – and Monopoly became the institution it is today. Parker Brothers officially credited Darrow with the invention of the game and he became a rich man.
But why streets in Atlantic City, of all places? Darrow actually traveled from his home in Philadelphia to Atlantic City to an area of town known as Steel Pier to pitch his idea to Parker Brothers, and the street names he saw just stuck with him. Additionally, the use of many street names which reflected various states and oceans supposedly made the names easier to remember and easier to identify with, even to someone who had never been to Atlantic City. There is no doubt that the popularity of the game was partially responsible for making Atlantic City famous as a resort in the 1930s and 40s.