This is where the story takes an unexpected turn. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.ĭuring the 1920s and early 1930s, versions of her board game were circulating among colleges and communities in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. 'The Landlords Game,' based on the 1924 patent. And the fourth corner was a property owned by “Lord Blueblood” of London, England where, if you landed on it, you had to follow these instructions: “No Trespassing Go to Jail.” The third corner had both a Poor House and Public Park. Water Franchise), and taxes, including the second corner where you paid “absolute necessity” coal taxes. Players rolled dice to advance along spaces where they paid for properties, railroads, utilities (e.g. “The Landlord’s Game” had a square pathway where players started on a corner featuring a map of the world with the phrase “Labor Upon Mother Earth Produces Wages” (see upper right corner of the 1904 patent figure 1). While living in Brentwood, MD, Magie patented the original version of her board game ( US patent #748,626). This inspired her to design a board game to teach his economic theories to friends and colleagues. Magie became interested in the anti-monopolist theories of Henry George, a politician and economist who believed that a single “land value tax” would shift the tax burden to wealthy landlords.

Her first patent was for a “type writing machine” in 1893 that essentially helped paper move through typewriter rollers more easily.

I think this story is a great example of how the invention process is often far more complicated and interesting than the cliché of an individual inventor who has a “Eureka!” moment and comes up with a marketable product.īorn in Illinois in 1866, Lizzie Magie moved to the Washington, DC area in the 1880s as a single woman and worked as a stenographer and typist at the Dead Letter Office. Magie Phillips (1866-1948) is finally receiving due attention as the inventor of the game that eventually became “Monopoly.” A new book by journalist Mary Pilon, The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal Behind the World's Favorite Board Game, has received a lot of media coverage recently for shining light on the game’s disputed history. In honor of Women’s History Month, I’m happy to report that Elizabeth “Lizzie” J.

First monopoly board game original