Monopoly Legends

[MrRING]

Monopoly and other game legends

What are the legends you have heard about Monopoly? Found a cool site:

http://www.gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/index.html#american

This site has many cool old games listed, and it even talked about the disputed origins of Monopoly (it was actually based on an earlier game that had a wild political origin). But what about the pieces - why are they what they are, and have they changed over the years? Why does everybody I know associate the Top Hat with Mr. Moneybags? Why a racing car?

Also, looking at the Chutes and Ladders/Snakes and Ladders site, it says it was originally a religious tool. Is this an urban legend, or the real deal?

And are there other game stories or legends out there?

 

[Anonymous]

snakes and ladders was originally one of those 'morally uplifting' games... ie, virtues allow you to move higher, vices send you back, &c &c &c - I've got one of the early boards somewhere.
I don't know any monopoly-related legends, and suspect the pieces were chosen pretty much at random (some sets (not the 'themed' ones) have different pieces).

 

[Yithian]

Re: Monopoly and other game legends

But what about the pieces - why are they what they are, and have they changed over the years? Why does everybody I know associate the Top Hat with Mr. Moneybags? Why a racing car?

Well, I suppose the obvious point is, being a critique of capitalist society, only one person wins, we are all stuck playing the game (even if we'd rather be doing something else), and the 'players' are represented not by figures but objects and status symbols (cf. marxist critique of object fetishism in late-capitalist society)

This site seems to hold the definitive, if slightly uninteresting, answer:
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mmonopoly.html

As to urban legends, there's the annoying bit of folk-psychology whereby its claimed that one can read deep psychological signs from an individual's preferred playing piece.

Personally, I like the top hat because hats are cool (or because I secretly harbour a desire to rule over the proletariat).

 

[Anonymous]

heh... i prefer the horseman (so's i can trample the peasants underfoot) >: D

 

[Anonymous]

snakes and ladders was originally one of those 'morally uplifting' games... ie, virtues allow you to move higher, vices send you back,...

IIRC, the game was originally a Buddhist teaching tool: the "ladders" leading to Enlightenment, the "snakes" leading back down to the Wheel of Incarnation. Something like that. The Brits picked it up in India and turned it into a game for kids. How very paternal of us. :nonplus:

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

What we know as Monopoly was originally called The Landlord's Game. It was created in 1903 by Elizabeth Magie.
Charles Darrow bought the rights to the game, made a few minor amendments to the gameplay and was later credited as the inventor by Parker Brothers, the game's publisher.

 

[Tunn11]

There's the "Mandela effect" phenomenon where many people think the "monopoly man" on the box is wearing a monocle. Sure there's something about it on the Mandela effect thread on here.
Yes,
https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/the-mandela-effect-false-memory.60041/page-36
and other posts.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

There's the "Mandela effect" phenomenon where many people think the "monopoly man" on the box is wearing a monocle. Sure there's something about it on the Mandela effect thread on here.
Yes,
https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/the-mandela-effect-false-memory.60041/page-36
and other posts.

Yes, and as discussed over there, in certain Monopoly sets (The Netherlands version I believe) Mr Moneybags does sport a monocle.

 

[Victory]

There are some interesting notes about how the original London Monopoly board was compiled.

Wikipedia states:

"The locations selected in 1935 by Victor Watson, managing director of John Waddington Limited.
He took his secretary Marjory Phillips on a day-trip from the head offices in Leeds to London and the pair looked for suitable locations to use."

They hired a black taxi, and took most of the day to drive round looking for locations.

Them not being Londoners and so lacking some context, explains the inclusion of:

1.) Some nice enough but not especially notable streets
"Vine Street" / "Coventry Street".

2.) Non-existent "Marlborough Street" (actually called Great Marlborough Street) and "Bond Street" (actually two sequential streets called Old Bond Street and New Bond Street, though Bond Street is the name of a tube station open since 1900).

3.) "The Angel, Islington" in the light blue set, which is not a street but an old pub, located on Islington High Street.

It was at this location that they went to a Lyons Corner House which had been built on the site of that pub, which in turn was built on the ground floor of a hotel called The Angel, and finished up their day, for tea, writing down a summary of their trip.
(Or in some versions of the story, had lunch there.)

The tube station opposite is called Angel, and was open at the time, so also possibly contributed to this naming.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_London_Monopoly_locations


There are now many versions of Monopoly with different locations and themes.

 

[sherbetbizarre]

"The locations selected in 1935 by Victor Watson, managing director of John Waddington Limited.
He took his secretary Marjory Phillips on a day-trip from the head offices in Leeds to London and the pair looked for suitable locations to use."

This reminded me of a video I saw recently on how the stations were chosen...