Under The Boardwalk: The game created for a message, co-opted by those it intended to critique

The board game “Monopoly” can be an awful lot of fun if you own Boardwalk and Park Place. Not quite so much, however, if you’re the one who lands on those spaces.

“Monopoly” went on sale under that name for the first time 90 years ago Thursday. Or so the various official published histories of the game tell us.

In fact, “Monopoly” was copied from another game, invented in 1903 by a woman who wanted it to teach a lesson in the perils of a few rich owning too much property.

The Landlord's Game ...

"Lizzie" Maggie

Elizabeth “Lizzie” Magie was a writer, a news reporter, an actor, a public stenographer and an inventor. In 1892, she patented a device that helped typewriter paper go through rollers more easily.

Magie was also an activist who supported feminism, opposed land monopolies owned by the rich and opposed income tax. Instead, she advocated for a single land tax. After that tax paid for government, the left over money would be returned to the people.

In order to demonstrate the horrors of rent gouging and runaway land ownership among a wealthy few, Magie developed a board game she called The Landlord’s Game. The object of the game was “to obtain as much wealth or money as possible.”

She applied for a patent for the game in 1903 and received one the next January. It was one of the first games to use a “continuous path” around the playing surface, instead of a start and finish point.

The board, money, cards and other game pieces were all handmade until 1906, when she and some friends founded the Economic Game Company of New York, which began manufacturing game boards and sets. Magie tried selling her game to George Parker of Parker Brothers in 1910, but he felt the game was too complex, “too political” and took too long to play. Parker did, however, urge Magie to file another patent for the game once he understood the amount of homemade versions that were circulating.

The Landlord’s Game had become popular on college campuses — in frathouses and by economics and political science students. Some played storebought copies while others played versions in which the various properties were renamed for local streets.

One of these customized The Landlord’s Game sets featured streets and properties in and around Atlantic City, New Jersey. It was one of these sets that, in 1932, fell into the hands of Charles Darrow, and out-of-work salesman in Philadelphia.

Magie's "The Landlord's Game" from 1910.

... Taken Over By A New Landlord

Charles Darrow loved games, he loved working in wood and he was hungry for work. “The Landlord’s Game” was exactly what he needed. Nevermind that it was owned by someone else.

Charles Darrow

He began making game boards out of oilcloth — a cheap fabric with a washable surface used for tablecloths. He added color to the property spaces and small illustrations to various other spaces to liven up the board. Some of Darrow’s drawings still exist in today’s Monopoly sets: Go to Jail, Jail itself, Electric Company... And he made tiny little wooden houses and hotels with his jigsaw.

Darrow copied a handmade version a little too closely, misspelling the Ventnor City neighborhood of “Marven Gardens” like it had.

In 1933, Darrow patented his version of the game — which he called Monopoly — and began selling his handmade sets to friends and neighbors. Each set cost him about a dollar to make. He sold Monopoly for $2 a set. He soon increased his productivity by getting the black outlines and the text on the game boards printed. He’d then paint the colors by hand.

In February 1935, Darrow began selling his games to Wanamaker’s Department store in downtown Philadelphia. He also tried to sell his game to gamemakers Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers, but both turned him down. Parker Brothers issued a memo in which it cited “52 fundamental errors” in the game and complained it was too complicated.

Darrow then spent his life savings on making 7,500 more copies and began selling them to other area stores like Gimbel’s and F.A.O. Schwarz. This got Parker Brothers’ attention.

In March 1935, Parker Brothers made a deal with Darrow to buy out Darrow’s inventory and to begin selling the game. By the end of the year, Parker Brothers had sold 250,000 Monopoly game sets.

Which was a huge surprise to a 70-year-old Lizzie Magie. Parker Brothers had Darrrow apply for another patent for Monopoly in 1935 and then protected its investment by buying Magie’s 1924 patent — by then, her 1904 patent had expired. Parker Brothers also promised to sell other board games she had created: Bargain Day and King’s Men.

Parker Brothers' first versoin of Monopoly in 1935.

90 Years of Passing 'Go' and Collecting $200

Monopoly is published in 114 countries and in 47 languages. In addition, more than 1,500 versions of the game have been published, with various themes like sports teams, movies, TV shows, video games and in versions based on other cities. In 1990, Monopoly Junior was introduced, modified for ease of playing and aimed at kids under eight years old.

The original metal tokens were inspired by Darrow’s nieces’ charm bracelets. Current Monopoly sets include eight game tokens.

One of the original tokens was an iron. When Parker Brothers phased it out, board game fans launched a “Save Your Token” campaign but then voted to replace the iron with a new cat token.

Tokens for the game