Do not pass Go, do not collect $200
Feb. 22nd, 2005 10:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vovatI've just (as of writing this entry, not posting it) finished reading Monopoly: The Story Behind the World's Best-Selling Game, which was a Valentine's Day gift from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bethje. The book gives a brief history of the game, and then provides information on what the various properties were like at the time the game was created. I remember going to Atlantic City when I was eight years old, and being excited about seeing all the Monopoly streets. I do wish there had been more maps in the book. There's a small reproduction of an 1877 map near the beginning, but you can't really make out the writing on it. Maps showing each particular street might have been nice. Most of them are pretty easy to find on a map of Atlantic City, but I had a little trouble locating Marvin Gardens, which is actually "MARVEN Gardens." I knew about the spelling mistake before, but not that it had the name because it was located close to the border between MARgate and VENtnor Cities. While I'm on the subject of inaccurate names, I remember reading elsewhere that "Short Line" was actually a bus company, but this book says the actual name was the Shore Fast Line, and was a trolley line before switching over to buses in 1948. The B&O (Baltimore and Ohio) Railroad never actually stopped in Atlantic City, by the way.
One of the most amusing visual aids is an old advertisement for salt water taffy, which includes instructions for unwrapping and eating the product, as well as the claim that the taffy "stimulates digestion, and does not affect the complexion." Not exactly the first things I would be concerned about when deciding to buy candy, but, when you get right down to it, I guess it isn't that much odder than advertising things as "low-carb" or whatever.
I do wish I could have seen the sand sculptures mentioned in the book, as well as the giant typewriter that used to be housed at the Garden Pier. I also wish the book had said something about the origin of Rich Uncle Pennybags (apparently now officially renamed "Mr. Monopoly"). When searching for information on him on Google, I came across this page, which makes the argument that, despite his name, it's likely that he's not really that rich.
I think I've mentioned it before, but I'm kind of puzzled by some of the Monopoly sets that have been popping up as of late. I don't mean the ones that take place in towns other than Atlantic City, which I'm fine with. I've played the London version (Boardwalk is Mayfair!), and, when I was a kid, tried to work out a board for my own hometown. The ones I think are weird are the ones where the "properties" aren't really actual properties, but rather animals, movies, movie plot points, etc. Admittedly, I haven't actually played any of those games, but I have to wonder how they work out having someone pay rent on some of those things.
bethje. The book gives a brief history of the game, and then provides information on what the various properties were like at the time the game was created. I remember going to Atlantic City when I was eight years old, and being excited about seeing all the Monopoly streets. I do wish there had been more maps in the book. There's a small reproduction of an 1877 map near the beginning, but you can't really make out the writing on it. Maps showing each particular street might have been nice. Most of them are pretty easy to find on a map of Atlantic City, but I had a little trouble locating Marvin Gardens, which is actually "MARVEN Gardens." I knew about the spelling mistake before, but not that it had the name because it was located close to the border between MARgate and VENtnor Cities. While I'm on the subject of inaccurate names, I remember reading elsewhere that "Short Line" was actually a bus company, but this book says the actual name was the Shore Fast Line, and was a trolley line before switching over to buses in 1948. The B&O (Baltimore and Ohio) Railroad never actually stopped in Atlantic City, by the way.One of the most amusing visual aids is an old advertisement for salt water taffy, which includes instructions for unwrapping and eating the product, as well as the claim that the taffy "stimulates digestion, and does not affect the complexion." Not exactly the first things I would be concerned about when deciding to buy candy, but, when you get right down to it, I guess it isn't that much odder than advertising things as "low-carb" or whatever.
I do wish I could have seen the sand sculptures mentioned in the book, as well as the giant typewriter that used to be housed at the Garden Pier. I also wish the book had said something about the origin of Rich Uncle Pennybags (apparently now officially renamed "Mr. Monopoly"). When searching for information on him on Google, I came across this page, which makes the argument that, despite his name, it's likely that he's not really that rich.
I think I've mentioned it before, but I'm kind of puzzled by some of the Monopoly sets that have been popping up as of late. I don't mean the ones that take place in towns other than Atlantic City, which I'm fine with. I've played the London version (Boardwalk is Mayfair!), and, when I was a kid, tried to work out a board for my own hometown. The ones I think are weird are the ones where the "properties" aren't really actual properties, but rather animals, movies, movie plot points, etc. Admittedly, I haven't actually played any of those games, but I have to wonder how they work out having someone pay rent on some of those things.
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Date: 2005-02-22 04:01 pm (UTC)There's a special Adelaide edition, which was sold for Charity. Only something like 3000 of them. That, I think, is very cool.
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Date: 2005-02-22 04:20 pm (UTC)Do you really think anyone other than Americans would have come up with a game where the object to bankrupt everyone else and take all the money for yourself? :P
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Date: 2005-02-22 04:47 pm (UTC)I say this as one myself, remember.
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Date: 2005-02-22 07:29 pm (UTC)I hurt just trying to wrap my head around it.
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Date: 2005-02-23 03:21 pm (UTC)When looking through lists of Monopoly spin-offs, I came across something called "Bibleopoly," where the goal is apparently to build churches, and you have to help the other players instead of bankrupting them. I'm not sure how it works.
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Date: 2005-02-22 07:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-23 03:22 pm (UTC)