Top 5 Facts about Monopoly

Mr. Monopoly, known as Rich Uncle Pennybags, or Millburn Pennybags, until Hasbro renamed him in 1999, has been the popular mascot for Monopoly since his introduction in 1936, and has become a character synonymous with tycoondom–tycoonery? Being rich. In any event, he’s an enduring figure in pop culture to this today. Gamers will recognize his influence in Vault Boy, Fallout’s smiling, blonde haired retro-futuristic mascot. Vault Boy’s original creator, game designer Leonard Boyarsky has said explicitly that Uncle Pennybags was the inspiration for Vault Boy. It’s a great choice since Uncle Pennybags represents so clearly that golden-age-American-dream-capitalism feeling that Fallout’s retro elements evoke.

Since the game's introduction in 1935, Monopoly has printed more than $3 trillion in their classic fake paper money thanks to the game selling more than 275 million copies in 47 languages. Hasbro, the publishers of the game, print around $30 billion in Monopoly money every year due to the insane demand for the original and about 300 licensed versions. Speaking of big money numbers, the Guinness Book of World Records has officially verified a $2 million version of Monopoly as being the most expensive in the world. The art piece has solid gold houses, ruby and sapphire chimneys, and dice with diamond dots.

I pretty much just hate everyone I’m playing with after an hour, but some saints or zen masters or something played the game 1,680 hours, or 70 days, which is a world record. This was a match played at a professional tournament, mind you, and not just in some guy’s living room. Actually, “living room” might not be a fair assumption. A game in a bathtub lasted 99 hours, 350 scuba divers played a tournament for 1080 hours, and some people were even insane enough to play the game upside down for 36 hours! I’m not sure how that worked, but that’s some serious dedication to bankrupting your friends.

The story of Monopoly has always been that Charles Darrow created Monopoly and sold it to the Parker Brothers, both parties laughing all the way past Go. But, originally, “The Landlord's Game” was created by and patented in 1904 by Lizzie Magie. It was apparently intended as an educational condemnation of capitalism. Darrow was just a fan of the game who added some visual elements, cut out its anti-monopolist features, and renamed it Monopoly. Parker Brothers bought the rights to both games, but it was ultimately Monopoly that they went forward with. So Magie’s game about the evils of capitalism has been a wondrous celebration of capitalism for over 80 years now. Womp womp.

Forget dramatically building a tunnel underneath prisoner of war camps with daring escapes and confrontations; Monopoly is all you need. During World War II, British Secret Service created fake charity groups to distribute care packages to Allied POWs, and among the packages were Monopoly sets. While the Germans saw this as harmless fun, the games were only a cover. Hidden in the boards and game pieces were small compasses, metal tools, and a silk map to help guide the escape. There was even real currency among the Monopoly money! It’s estimated that 35,000 Allied POWs escaped German prisons during WWII, and that nearly a third of them used the Monopoly maps.

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