The Monopolists by Mary Pilon

Author:Mary Pilon
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781620405710
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2014-12-15T16:00:00+00:00

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Sometime later, Ralph sat in his study, surrounded by documents and Anti-Monopoly boxes, unsure of where his case was going. Then his son Mark, always the avid reader, burst into the room.

“I found something!” he shouted excitedly.

In Mark’s small hands was a red book with drawings of a doll, a teddy bear, and a Monopoly board on its cover. The book was titled A Toy Is Born and had been written by Marvin Kaye. Published in 1973, it must have made its way into the Anspach house when Ralph was collecting research material on the toy and game industry.

“Dad!” Mark said, “Charles Darrow didn’t invent Monopoly. A woman did!”

Ralph sat up.

Mark handed the book to Ralph and pointed to a passage in the third chapter, “Over the Rainbow Without Passing Go.” It read: “The creation of Monopoly is generally attributed to Charles B. Darrow, but game historians point to the Landlord’s Game, patented in 1904 by Lizzie J. Magie and featuring purchasable properties, including utilities, a ‘public park’ corner corresponding to Monopoly’s ‘Free Parking,’ and a ‘Go to Jail’ space. Darrow evidently added several new elements to the pattern of the Magie game.”

From there, the book went on to tell the well-known story of Charles Darrow. There was no further mention of Lizzie Magie.

Ralph couldn’t believe it. Who was Lizzie J. Magie? And 1904? That wound the clock back much further than Darrow’s 1935 patent.

Then, Ralph’s phone rang with tragic news. His forty-three-year-old lawyer, Herb Rubin, had just died of a massive stroke.

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