Week 14

A US patent for the original board game was granted in 1904. established by Elizabeth Magie, a progressive thinker and Quaker who supported the idea of a single tax (pg 85). She agreed with the opinion of renowned San Francisco Journalist Henry George that land monopolies are largely to blame for American poverty (pg 85). The game she presented Parker Brothers, the firm that makes Monopoly, was rejected mostly due to its political and academic connotations (pg 87). However, the game went on, particularly in the Midwest and among universities (pg 87). Following the debut of the New Jersey (perhaps Atlantic City) version, Charles Brace Darrow started to promote his own copies under the name "Monopoly."

Unfortunately, Elizabeth's version was never commercially successful. Elizabeth's patents were eventually bought for a low sum. her Games did end up leading to one of the most well-known and best-selling games in the west by 1935. Unfortunately, many people do not know of the Landlord game because the game that took over for it was seen as a better version of the game entirely, this game was known as Monopoly Many companies tried to recreate this game with many copies such as the Anti-Monopoly game, and Class Struggle. So while Monopoly was gaining popularity Elizabeth's game was almost entirely forgotten and almost no credit was given to her for one of the most iconic games of all time. So while many know of Monopoly the same can't be said for its predecessor that helped pave the way for many of the board games that we know and love today.