Lizzie McGee invented the landlord's game, which was the very first version of Monopoly, in 1904. The game was similar to what we know as Monopoly today, with railroads, properties, and the objective of obtaining as much wealth as possible. The major difference was that Lizzie created two rule sets: an anti-monopolist version that rewarded every player when wealth was created, and a monopolist version that rewarded individual players who created monopolies to crush opponents. The monopolist version gained popularity among progressives and was played by notable figures. The game started to change depending on where it was played, with localized boards featuring landmarks from different cities. Lizzie encouraged players to make the game their own by using tokens and personalizing the boards. Despite not making money from the patent, the game became widespread and was played and reinterpreted everywhere.
Monopoly is one of the best-selling board games in history.
The game's staying power may in part be because of strong American lore — the idea that anyone, with just a little bit of cash, can rise from rags to riches. Mary Pilon, author of
The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal Behind the World's Favorite Board Game.But there's another origin story – a very different one that promotes a very different image of capitalism. (And with two sets of starkly different
rules.) That story shows how a critique of capitalism grew from a seed of an idea in a rebellious young woman's mind into a game legendary for its celebration of wealth at all costs.
This episode was made in collaboration with NPR's
Throughline. For more about the origin story of Monopoly, listen to their original episode
Do Not Pass Go.
This episode was produced by Emma Peaslee, mastered by Natasha Branch, and edited by Jess Jiang.
The Throughline episode was produced by Rund Abdelfatah, Ramtin Arablouei, Lawrence Wu, Laine Kaplan-Levenson, Julie Caine, Victor Yvellez, Anya Steinberg, Yolanda Sangweni, Casey Miner, Cristina Kim, Devin Katayama, and Amiri Tulloch. It was fact-checked by Kevin Volkl and mixed by Josh Newell.
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