|
|
||
Monopoly History |
|
|
 History of MonopolyThe history of Monopoly is a long one, dating back to the 1930s. In 1933, Charles Darrow, a domestic heater salesman from Germantown, Pennsylvania developed and began to sell the game Monopoly. A year later, in 1934, Darrow set up copyrights for Monopoly and attempted to sell the game to Parker Brothers. Surprisingly, Parker Brothers did not accept the game because it contained “fifty-two fundamental errors.” However, Darrow did not give up. With the help of a friend, he produced 5,000 game sets. He sold those sets locally. Local Philadelphia department stores caught wind of the game and began ordering mass quantities from Darrow. Poor Darrow could barely keep up with the demand. By 1935, word had gotten back to Parker Brothers. They knew the game was a hit and correctly surmised that its popularity would only continue to grow. Parker Brothers purchased the game from Darrow, who would receive royalties. In the contract, Parker Brothers insisted that the game rules would also include a shorter version of Monopoly to avoid the chance that the game could continue on indefinitely. Since then, hundreds of millions of people have played Monopoly and will continue to do so for many years to come. With any history there is often a scandalous twist, usually filled
with speculation and fired on by personal interests. Monopoly is no
stranger to such conjecture. In the primary dispute, some people
have claimed that Charles Darrow was not the true inventor of
Monopoly. Many of these individuals claim that Monopoly was actually
the invention of Elizabeth Magie, from Virginia. She was a proponent
of Henry George’s single tax theory. Her version of Monopoly, called
The Landlord’s Game, only offered property to rent. Its purpose was
to exemplify the benefits for George’s economic theories by showing
that the landlord always has an advantage and a single tax system
could help dissuade any economic discrepancies. Magie did patent the
game; Parker Brothers bought it for $500, but no royalties were to
be paid out. Throughout time, other individuals also claimed to be
first inventor of Monopoly. Additional disputes have surfaced and
then faded away, and disputes will probably arise again. As history
stand now, Parker Brothers holds Charles Darrow to be the only true
inventor.
|
|
