The Secret True History of Monopoly

[Cross-posted (minus audio) from letters to sg because I thought y'all might find it interesting.]

The popular story of the origins of Monopoly – the bigger-than-Jesus Parker Brothers board game – has become enough a part of American cultural literacy that it has developed an apocryphal (and almost certainly fictive) crust. (For example, I was pretty sure that someone once told me that it was invented by a hobo or something.) But it turns out that the real story is better than any of the myths (and much better than the commercially-acceptable "official" history).

Part of the problem is that the popular story leaves a good 30 years off of the game's history, and part of it is that the official story doesn't feature any Quaker women. But the biggest problem with the popular narrative is that it leaves out the quirky and unique contributions of the individuals and communities who played the game before Charles Darrow "invented" it in 1934. The American Interest gives us a glance at the real story in "Monopolizing History". You really must bookmark the AI piece to read when you have a few minutes. For now, here's a quote that highlights one of my favorite tidbits about the game's original designer and her original designs.

See, the game is meant to be fun while it teaches players about social injustice and certain flaws in American capitalism. Lizzie Magie (the Quaker woman alluded to above), who first designed "The Landlord's Game", had a point to make.

The object of the game, as she stated in her renewed patent of 1924,

is not only to afford amusement to the players, but to illustrate to them how under the present or prevailing system of land tenure, the landlord has an advantage over other enterprises and how the single tax would discourage land speculation.

And here's a quote from Magie's rules:

• La Swelle Hotel. The space represents the distinction made between classes, only moneyed guests being accepted.
• Throwing one with the single die: Caught robbing hen-roost—go to jail.
• Throwing a two: Caught robbing the public—take $200 from the board. The players will now call you “Senator.”

Now I understand that Darrow (who cribbed the modern game from Magie's) and Parker Brothers made some changes. But the game's basic premise seems to be unchanged, which makes me wonder — is the socio-economic point still there? When you played Monopoly as a youngster, what did you learn from it? Did you learn something about greed and power? Or is the game just a game?

There's much more to the story of Monopoly, and again, I strongly recommend the American Interest piece. (Do not pass go, etc.)

(For what it's worth, what I learned from Monopoly was that, for the sake of family harmony, my brother and I should play other games.)