The History of Monopoly: From Critique of the Mega-Rich to Capitalism 101

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The History of Monopoly: From Critique of the Mega-Rich to Capitalism 101

The History of Monopoly: From Critique of the Mega-Rich to Capitalism 101

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Before Monopoly there was The Landlord’s Game. Photo of Barcelona edition of Monopoly. Credit: Jorge Franganillo Wikimedia Commons CC BY 2.0

Monopoly is one of the most popular board games in the world; it started as a critique to greedy landlords and later was seen as an enticing introduction to capitalism.

The inception of the board game that would come to be known as became Monopoly was of humble origins. Elizabeth Magie conceived of the game, criticizing the moguls of the beginning of the 1900s.

The money men Magie had in mind were the monopolists of her time, namely John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt and Andrew Carnegie, the movers and shakers of the early 20th century. She named her invention “The Landlord’s Game” and patented it in 1904.

Little did she know that in the next decades her board game would transform to something that would contrast her ideology and her noble intentions.

‘The Landlord’s Game’

Elizabeth Magie was born in Macomb, Illinois, in 1866 to a homemaker mother and newspaper publisher father. She was an ambitious woman who aspired to change the way Americans viewed everything from land ownership to taxes.

Her father, James, had taught his children that inequality between the rich and the poor was the greatest threat to American society. Magie absorbed this lesson well and proceeded to put it in practice.

Elizabeth’s ideas were progressive for her time, even verging on socialism. She was a feminist who embraced the ideas of political economist Henry George: people should own the value they produce themselves, but the economic value of land should belong equally to all members of society. His economic principles were named Georgism.

To make these principles understood, Magie created The Landlord’s Game “as a practical demonstration of the present system of land grabbing with all its usual outcomes and consequences”.

Her definition did not sound as a game for children, but Magie was a nonconformist determined to pursue her idea and speak her mind. She advocated working women’s rights, spoke against sexism and societal expectations.

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The Precursor of Monopoly: The Landlord’s Game board designed by Lizzie J. Magie (Phillips); Published by Economic Game Company, New York, 1906. Credit: Thomas Forsyth owner of the REGISTERED TRADEMARK “The Landlord’s Game®” Public Domain

Chromolithography and the ascent of board games

From the end of the Civil War through the early 20th century, Americans developed a new approach in leisure time. Chromolithography allowed for color printing on cardboard and wood, making board games more versatile and attractive.

Magie’s patent application for The Landlord’s Game stated clearly the game’s purpose: “The object of the game is to obtain as much wealth or money as possible.”

But unlike the Monopoly we know today, her version featured two sets of rules: the Monopolist rules, which focus on individuals acquiring great wealth through property and rent, and the Prosperity rules, under which every player benefits when someone acquires wealth.

The game became a great success not only in the general public but in college students and professors as well. Some economics professors incorporated The Landlord’s Game in the curriculum. Even Harvard, Wharton and Williams embraced the game as a means to discuss economic issues and inequality.

Magie and two colleagues produced and sold The Landlord’s Game through the Economic Game Company, which they co-owned and co-founded. In 1909, Magie and her colleagues tried to sell the rights to Parker Brothers, but the publishers refused because they found it too complicated!

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Elizabeth Magie: the creator of the board game that became Monopoly. Credit: Photographer unknown. Public Domain

The Landlord’s Game becomes Monopoly

It took one clever man to steal a feminist’s successful idea and take it to the bank. In 1933, years after the creation and success of Magie’s board game, a game developer named Charles Brace Darrow was introduced to The Landlord’s Game at a party.

Darrow had such a good time that his hosts typed up the game’s rules and sent him a copy. Darrow proceeded to draw his own version on a circular piece of oilcloth. He took his prototype and pitched the game to Parker Brothers calling it Monopoly. The rules were exactly the same as those his friends had shared. Reluctant at first, Parker Brothers finally bought the rights and Darrow became a millionaire.

Darrow made up a story of himself creating the game in his basement after years of experimentation and hard work. For decades, every box of Monopoly included the story of the self-made man who beat poverty by inventing Monopoly. Parker Brothers went along with the story, despite the existence of The Landlord’s Game patterns.

During the Great Depression, board games provided a cheap diversion for all the family. Monopoly became all the rage. It was a good diversion, giving people the illusion of making money and owning real estate.

A blockbuster for Parker Brothers

Along with Darrow, Parker Brothers made millions from Monopoly. However, Parker Brothers kept pushing Darrow to provide an official account of how he got the idea for the board game. Meanwhile, people started writing letters to the company saying that they played the same game years before 1934.

Company founder George Parker visited Magie in 1935 and offered her money to buy the rights to The Landlord’s Game, produce her version of the game, and credit her role in Monopoly. The latter never happened.

However, in 1973 a Berkeley professor named Ralph Anspach, who created and tried to copyright a game called “Anti-Monopoly”, was engaged in a legal battle with Parker Brothers over the origin of Monopoly. Amidst the high profile case, the story of Elizabeth Magie came to light.

Elizabeth Magie passed away in 1948 at age 81. She was never credited for creating the precursor to Monopoly.

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