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Monopoly Games of the 1930s

"Monopoly" evolved from "The Landlord's Game," patented in the U.S. by Elizabeth Magie in 1904. An additional patent (No. 1,509,312) was granted in 1924. Early "Monopoly" players drew their own boards on oilcloth, naming the properties according to familiar localities. On Jan. 1, 1933, Charles Darrow, an unemployed engineer, was introduced to the game by a group of Quakers who knew his wife. He made a copy of the rules and Atlantic City-inspired board and started producing copies of the game in his garage, claiming it as his own invention.

Pre-Parker Brothers Monopoly Sets
- Darrow redesigned the "Monopoly" board and game components, even experimenting with a round board. He registered a copyright on his design in 1933 and sold his game locally. Collectors call this the Darrow white-box edition, named for its packaging. Needing to cut down on materials to reduce the shelf space his game was taking up at selected retailers, Darrow then produced the black-box edition, in which the board and components box were packaged separately. Unable to meet the growing demand for the game, Darrow struck a deal and sold his stock and rights to "Monopoly" to Parker Brothers Ltd. in 1935. Darrow himself died a millionaire in 1967, his wealth a result of "Monopoly" sales.
Parker Brothers Monopoly Sets Before 1936
- Parker Brothers redesigned some elements of Darrow's game, but early sets still contained other Darrow components. These sets are known by collectors as trademark, patent-pending and early-single-patent sets. The latter displayed the patent number granted to Magie in 1924, for which she received $500 from Parker Brothers. Parker Brothers copied Darrow's white-box design and redesigned the black box, adding its own logos. The classic Atlantic City board, however, was retained. On Dec. 31, 1935, Parker Brothers was granted a new patent for "Monopoly."
Rival Monopoly-Type Games
- In the 1930s "The Landlord's Game" spawned other games very similar to "Monopoly." Parker Brothers bought out the rights to "Inflation" for $10,000, produced "Finance and Fortune" under the pseudonym of another game company and negotiated a deal with game manufacturer Milton Bradley over the production of "Easy Money." A 1939 edition of "The Landlord's Game" was also published, satisfying an agreement made between Parker Brothers and Elizabeth Magie, although Parker Brothers redesigned the game to look nothing like "Monopoly."
Post-1935 Parker Brothers Monopoly
- From early 1936 Parker Brothers sets had the duel patent "1,509,312-2,062,082" printed on them. This practice continued until about 1941. Other minor alterations included changing the color of the 100 note, amending "Chance" and "Community Chest" cards and adding new tokens. The range of available game versions was expanded to include luxury sets.
Monopoly Worldwide
- Parker Brothers sold "Monopoly" only in the U.S., but licensed other companies to sell it worldwide. Copp Clark Company Ltd. produced the game in Canada in 1936 using the Atlantic City board. John Waddington Ltd. produced a London board in 1936 for the United Kingdom market. John Sands Pty. Ltd. distributed the game in Australia from 1936 using the London board. Several other countries started producing "Monopoly" sets by the end of the 1930s; while some were licensed from Parker Brothers or Waddington, many were unauthorized and produced by local "inland" manufacturers.

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