The popular money-making game: Monopoly

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Image by ErikaWittlieb from Pixabay

While the original game came about around 1935, it’s still played among families, even with a few versions to mix things up!

The Parker Brothers game Monopoly first came out in 1935, but it had a 30 year history before that, which you can read about here: https://tinyurl.com/MonopolyStory.

There are many different versions to this game, but the original six game pieces were a thimble, a boot, an iron, a top hat, a battleship, and a cannon. In 1936 they added a racecar, a purse, a rocking horse, and a lantern.

It wasn’t until the 1950s that they added the Scottish terrier, a wheelbarrow, and a guy riding a horse.
From 1999 to 2016, they added and retired several pieces. The moneybag came and went, but the cat has remained. So why were these symbols chosen? Author and game expert John Chaneski revealed in https://tinyurl.com/MonopolyPieces said, “The car, top hat, and dog were all possessions of the wealthy. The thimble, wheelbarrow, old shoe, and iron were possessions or tools of the poor.”
Since monopoly is a money-making game, wealth and work are at odds with the pieces.
Of the more modern pieces, the racecar again represents wealth while the wheelbarrow represents work. It is the true story of class divisions.

Versions of Monopoly are available for everywhere. Some are based on locations (the original Monopoly is based on Atlantic City), including a Fairfield version. Some are based on animals. Others are based on popular culture, like those that feature characters from The Simpsons or Shrek. Monopoly games for travel, or for children, or for educational purposes are also available. A list of the variety of board games can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/TheBoardGames. There are, however, also card games, video games and more.
While these games are generally available at Target, Walmart, and more, it is easier to find just the right version online. But you might be surprised to see the pieces that are represented for the different versions of the game.