Isaac P. Frandsen .

B2 10/23/12

The Game of Monopoly

It was 1934, the height of the Depression, when Charles B. Darrow of
Germantown, Pennsylvania, showed what he called the MONOPOLY game to the
executives at Parker Brothers. Can you believe it, they rejected the game due to
"52 design errors"! But Mr. Darrow wasn't daunted. Like many other Americans,
he was unemployed at the time. And the game's exciting promise of fame and
fortune inspired him to produce it on his own. With help from a friend who was a
printer, Mr. Darrow sold 5,000 handmade sets of the game to a Philadelphia
department store. People loved it! But as demand grew, he couldn't keep up with
all the orders and came back to talk to Parker Brothers again. The rest, as they
say, is history! In its first year, 1935, the MONOPOLY game was the best-selling
game in America. And over its 65-year history, an estimated 500 million people
have played!

Over 200 million games have been sold "built" since 1935. A set made by people
at Alfred Dunhill, with gold worldwide. More than five in history lasted 70
straight days. The longest game in a bathtub lasted 99 hours! The MONOPOLY
game is so much a part of today's popular culture that my lawyers have
trademarked many of its graphic elements. The tokens, Railroad.