cover image Monopoly: America's Game

Monopoly: America's Game

Philip E. Orbanes, . . Da Capo, $27.50 (262pp) ISBN 978-0-306-81489-1

In his account of the development of "the most significant money game in history" (200 million copies sold in 60 countries since 1935), former Parker Brothers vice president Orbanes (The Monopoly Companion ) sets the game against a backdrop of political and economic events spanning a century. He introduces entrepreneurs and game inventors, beginning with Elizabeth Magie, who created the Landlord's Game in 1903 to educate people about Henry George's idea of a "single tax" on landlords (it even had a space called "No Trespassing/Go to Jail"). Initially unpublished, it circulated among game players in handmade copies on oilcloth. In 1930, Quakers in Atlantic City added local street names—Illinois, Pennsylvania, Mediterranean—to their handmade variation, which became the source of the Monopoly game that Charles Darrow marketed in 1934. Tracing this evolution, Orbanes covers collectors, foreign editions, memorabilia, licensing, copyrights and trademarks with fascinating details: Esquire magazine's Esky was the springboard for Monopoly's cartoon financier, and the metal tokens were inspired by the charms from charm bracelets that Darrow's 11-year-old niece used as game pieces. Orbanes heightens the readability by interweaving his own personal story—at Parker Brothers, which he joined in 1979, and judging Monopoly world tournaments—throughout this lively chronicle that puts the iconic game in the context of a slice of social history. 32 pages of b&w photos, 40 illus. throughout. (Nov. 30)