eBay

1950's MONOPOLY GAME PIECES, DEEDS, PROPERTY, MONEY & COMPLETE CARD SETS

This week on Ebay we are offering up this nice group of vintage, early Monopoly game pieces.

I was cleaning out my closet of old board games that I've been collecting for decades and ran across a box full of 'extra' Monopoly pieces.

At Flea Markets, whenever I stumbled upon loose Monopoly game pieces, I would grab them up and toss them in the box.

Going thru them this past weekend, I upgraded and completed some of my games, but I realized I had some extra old vintage 'complete' sets and thought that I'd list some on EBay.

These are great for completing old sets, replacing worn & damaged cards, and also great for making hip retro jewelry. I've seen some very cool jewelry, bracelets and necklaces, made from vintage Monopoly pieces.

The colorful old money also can be used for cool, retro art. I have a cool collage, made out of old colorful board game money, hanging in my 'game' room.

I thought that there might be a Monopoly or Board game collector that could use these items, or an Artist out there that can re-purpose them.

This group of Monopoly "pieces" are some of the older ones I've found.

There is a complete set of 28 Property Title Deeds. The 28 Title Deeds are the early Parker style with black borders around the color strip. These early deeds are also unusually 2-sided and have the Mortgage information printed on the back. A nice complete early set of double-sided Deeds.

There is some mild 'creasing' and evidence of use, but no torn or badly damaged cards.

There's a complete set of 'Chance' and 'Community Chest' cards. The 'Chance' & 'Community Chest' cards are the early, much softer colored ones. Since the mid-60's they have become bright orange and bright yellow. These are early style cards.

There are complete sets of 12 early Plastic red Hotels and 32 early Plastic green Houses. The green Houses and red Hotels are all the early Plastic type with more detail than later 60's and 70's ones. Plastic versions were introduced in 1954. The colors are bright, with minimal fading. A beautiful full set of each.

There's a nice large stack of colorful Money in this lot as well. The size and colors of the bills changed several times, starting in 1936, again in the 40's, and again much later.

This money is the much rarer, small size, only used for a few years. I showed the size of these 'small' bills next to standard sized bills in my photos.

This Money is also the early color scheme of $50 Grey, $100 Salmon, $500 Goldenrod. By the early 50's, the 'Standard' colors were established: $50 Blue, $100 Tan and $500 Goldenrod.

Again, this is the rare 'small' war years money in the original color scheme.

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In 1954, Parker completely re-designed their Monopoly boxes, making them larger, and adding San Francisco to the list of cities. Their next factory in Atlanta was added to boxes in 1956.

In 1957 Parker Brothers completely streamlined all their versions into just 2 editions, a #9 and #12, both packaged in long 'white', actually 'cream' colored boxes. The true 'white' boxes would start in 1961. The 1957 'Cream' boxes were the first versions of Monopoly to have the game boards included inside the box.

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By this point, 1957, the rent on Marvin Gardens was 'corrected' to $24, the Money was updated to the modern colors & size, the tokens were standardized to 7 classics, and plastic houses and hotels found their way into the sets.

This group of Monopoly "pieces" are from the early games, when they still used early style Money and cards.

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This group of 'pieces' are 'complete, with all 24 Title Deeds, 16 'Chance' & 16 'Community Chest' cards, lots of 'small' 1935 'dated' Money, 32 early Plastic Houses, and 12 early Plastic Hotels.

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The condition of the pieces is still quite nice. They've seen some mild game-play, but they are mostly square, clean, and bright.

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This is a very cool, old, vintage, group of 'pieces'. Very 'Old School'. You don't find many old original parts, pieces, and cards like these anymore.

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These cards are the one thing that changed more than any other aspect about the game over time, and there were many different cards and different dollar amounts printed on them over the years. Some of the very early cards, like the Opera card, Gold Standard card, and early 'Jail' cards are quite collectible just on their own. There are complete sets of late-50's style cards in this lot.

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So, there you have it. A nice group of original vintage components and game pieces. Likely dating from the mid 1950's, possibly a little earlier.

They would be a great addition to any vintage Board Game collection. You can complete an old game, replace missing or worn pieces, or use the older cards in a more modern version of the game, which adds a nice retro feel to game night.

As mentioned, they also make great pieces for Art or Jewelry.

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** NOTE: I'm selling these rare old Monopoly game pieces "AS IS" and "NO RETURN".

They are rare, the card sets are complete, and they are cool, retro, and as described. I'm sure you'll be very happy with them.

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If you've read this far and are interested in the strange fascinating history of Monopoly, I put my 'History of Monopoly' write up at the bottom of this page. It's a very interesting history and not what most people think they know about the game.

Monopoly was actually 'invented' by a politically active feminist Lizzie Magie in New York at the turn of the century, and has a long history before Parker Brothers got involved. If interested, check it out.

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Shipping cost within the lower 48 states is $4.00 for these items.

If you would like insurance, or anything faster than Economy Mail, please let me know and I can arrange it for you. I’ll work with you to make sure you’re happy!

I'm a 0ne-man operation, this is a hobby, not my job. I do this for fun. I do this because I love collecting and want others to share in that same experience. I take my time researching, grading, listing and packaging. I will NOT sell any items that I personally would not want in my collection.

My descriptions and grading are fair and honest. I have had over 3,500 happy and satisfied EBay customers, with 100% positive feedback, over the years and I have been buying/selling on ebay for over 25 years, so please bid with confidence!

All orders are processed and shipped within 2 business days of receipt. We package and ship our items with the greatest care, using the proper packaging to ensure that your rare and collectible treasures arrive in pristine condition.

Payments can be made by any of the options EBay offers.

I will be happy to exchange feedback with anyone I complete a transaction with.

THANK YOU for looking and reading if you got this far. -- JOHN

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THE HISTORY OF THE 'MONOPOLY' GAME

Most people who collect Monopoly games know the story of Clarence Darrow and his deal with Parker Brothers to market 'Monopoly' in 1936, but the true story goes back decades earlier and involves two other 'Key' people, Lizzy Magie and Dan Layman.

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Few people know that 'Monopoly' was invented by a Woman.

The Game that eventually would morph into 'Monopoly' was actually invented in 1903 by a remarkable, bold, progressive, politically active, Scottish woman named Elizabeth 'Lizzie' Magie.

Lizzie was from right here in Maryland. She lived in Prince George's County, just outside Washington, DC and was very aware of the many social issues and problems that were affecting Americans at the turn of the Century.

She had her eyes and ears on what was happening in nearby Washington, but also observed and understood how the current Laws and Government Economics were affecting the local people.

There were severe income inequalities among people back then and there were also several large powerful Monopolies and Millionaires that controlled most of the businesses and industries that everyday people depended on.

She saw that America, at the turn of the Century, was quickly becoming a land of 'Have' and 'Have Not'. She was determined to change that.

Lizzie Magie was a big believer in the Socio-political theories of Economist Henry George, particularly his ideas about Taxation and Women's rights. They were both against large Monopolies and Trusts.

George and Lizzie both felt that an economy that rewards individuals is better than one where the Monopolies hold all the wealth and power. They felt that property ownership by individuals was inherently unfair to the good of the general public.

Lizzie was strong, determined and very politically active. She talked about her progressive ideas to anyone who would listen, and she taught night-school classes discussing her political and economic beliefs. Despite her best efforts, she felt she wasn't getting her message out to enough people.

At the turn of the 20th century, way before Radio and TV, board games were gaining in popularity for entertainment and were common in most middle-class homes.

Lizzie felt that trying to demonstrate her socio-political ideas thru a fun, interesting, interactive board game would be a better way to spread her progressive political views to more people.

She set about designing a game she called "The Landlord's Game" as a fun learning tool to demonstrate Henry George's 'single-tax' theory and the negative aspects & evils of concentrating land in private Monopolies. The game was meant to demonstrate how paying 'rent' enriched the property owners and impoverished the tenants.

It's interesting to me how the game that would evolve into 'Monopoly' started out as a game against owning all the property and money, the basic goal of today's modern 'Monopoly' game.

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After years of tweaking and tinkering her creation, Lizzie patented it in 1903 but didn't produce any commercial games until she had some made by the 'Economic Game Company' of New York.

Lizzie continued to lecture and speak about her Progressive ideas, but now also promoted her new Boardgame. Sales slowly took off.

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Lizzie’s game featured play money and property deeds that could be bought and sold. Players borrowed money, which they had to pay back at high rates, and they had to pay high taxes on their assets, something that was central to Henry George's 'Single Tax' economic theories.

Her game was unusual in that it featured a game-board with a continuous path, something very different to most games that had some sort of a 'goal' to race towards. Her game ran continuously until somebody controlled all the property, wealth and power, forcing the other players out of the game. That was something she felt reflected the unscrupulous 'goal' of real life Monopolies in America.

She claimed that her game demonstrated the "present system of land-grabbing with all its usual outcomes and consequences”

Her gameboard had 40 spaces, 10 to a side, with a Railroad in the center spot. Just like the 'real' Monopolies of the day, she purposely included Railways, Utilities and Property. Properties and utilities were scattered around the board. The rest of the spaces were various 'chances', 'fines', and 'go to' marked spaces.

The property names in Magie's game had names from New York, where the first games were made. New York City’s Fifth Avenue, and Wall Street were the top properties in price and rent.

There were spaces called 'Absolute Necessity' where you could earn basic goods like bread and shelter. There were spaces called 'Franchise' which offered basic services like light and water.

Lizzie had a special space she called 'Mother Earth.' When you landed there you were rewarded for your respect and work for 'the good of the planet' and you received $100 in wages. That was the 'best' space to land on.

As the players made their way around the board, they performed labor and earned wages.

Like 'modern' Monopoly, Magie's game included 'Chance' spaces, where you had to choose and act on a 'Chance' card. These often contained quotes attributed to famous people like Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Carnegie and English philosopher John Ruskin.

Also, like 'modern' Monopoly, the gameboard had 4 corners; the Poor House, the Public Park, the Jail, and the last corner had a picture of her hero, Economist Henry George.

Lizzie made sure there was a 'Go To Jail' space to land on, which was a very real possibility in those days. Anybody who ran out of money was, like in real life, sent to the 'Poor House'

Players who landed or 'trespassed' on a property owned by someone else got sent to Jail. There you had to either pay $50 to get out, or throw a 'Double' with the dice to earn your freedom.

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The game started to grow in popularity on College campuses, with intellectuals, and with various left-wing progressive thinkers. Magie's 'Landlord Game' developed a sort of 'underground' cult following in New York and around the Northeast and continued to grow in popularity.

As the popularity grew, many people created their own hand-made games, copies of the original, and the 'rules' were tweaked and amended to the player's individual liking.

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Her original game had 2 sets of rules that she thought would show the 'evils' of playing like a Monopolist and the 'benefit' of playing for the common good. Two sets of rules with 2 very different outcomes.

She included the original Anti-Monopolist rules, in which ALL were rewarded when wealth was created, and another Pro-Monopolist set of rules, in which the goal was to create a Real-Estate Monopoly and crush your opponents.

Magie called the original Anti-Monopoly rules, the 'Single Tax' version to promote her progressive ideas, but most people chose to play the 'Pro-Monopoly' rules version, what Magie called the 'Prosperity' version. The game started to be called "Monopoly" by its fans, rather than by it's real name, "Landlord's Game."

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When her original Patent was set to expire in 1921, she tweaked the board and rules a bit. With some minor changes, Magie re-Patented her new improved 'Landlord's Game' again in 1924.

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Lizzie Magie's game properties did not yet have the classic 'Atlantic City' names we recognize today. That would involve the other 'inventor' of Monopoly, Charles Darrow.

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Way before Parker Brother's involvement, Magie's "monopoly" game, as it was quickly being called, was spreading and gaining in popularity. Many fans of the game weren't appreciative of her 'Anti-Monopoly' Progressive political views and rules, so many started making their own hand-made versions of the game with their own, new, sets of rules.

The earliest hand-made versions of the game that were circulating around didn’t have an official name. It didn't come in a box, was often cobbled together, and was just passed around personally from fan to fan. Fans called it ‘the monopoly game’.

A man named Dan Layman had morphed the basic 'Landlord's Game' or "monopoly" game into something he called "Auction Monopoly." The game was basically a tweaked, 'stolen' version of Magie's original game.

In 1932, Layman sold the rights to 'his' game to an Indianapolis company who marketed it as "Finance". They then sold the game to Knapp Electric, who continued to produce and sell the popular "Finance" game.

One of Layman's Quaker friends learned his 'Auction Monopoly' game from him and took the basic game with her when she moved to Atlantic City, NJ. The Quakers played the game frequently down the shore, tweaked it a bit more, and changed the Property names to various Atlantic City street names to match their local surroundings.

One of their regular playing companions, Jesse Raiford, was a friend of Charles Todd from Philadelphia and taught him their 'Atlantic City' version of the "Auction Monopoly" game. Todd acquired a copy for himself.

Charles Todd had grown up with Charles Darrow´s wife, Esther Jones, in Philadelphia, and frequently invited the Darrow´s to his home for dinner. One night in 1932 he introduced them to his Atlantic City tweaked version of 'Auction Monopoly', basically Magie's "Landlord's Game"

The Todds and Darrows visited regularly and played the game often. Clarence Darrow loved it, and after a long enjoyable session one night, the Darrows asked Todd for their own copy.

Charles Todd made the Darrows a copy of his version of the game and taught them some of the deeper, more intricate rules.

Darrow asked Todd for a written copy of the rules, but that was hard to pull together. It's a complex game, and the rules were constantly 'modified' by fans for years. Eventually, Darrow got a typed copy of the rules from Todd.

Darrow, knowing nothing about Lizzie Magie and her original "Landlord's Game," knew he was in possession of a great game, with great potential. He now had the rules, and started making his own version of the game.

It was Darrow who kept the 'Atlantic City' property names, added the now familiar color stripes and the cartoonish images to the game board and cards, creating the basic Monopoly board we all know today.

He further tweaked the rules, had them copyrighted, and called 'his' game "Monopoly"

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Darrow originally made his games by hand, but as it's popularity caught on, in 1934, he hired Patterson and White to produce 500 games, then 500 more. Those 1000 games are what collectors call the 'Darrow White Box' edition.

Darrow tried to sell his game to both Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers, but was turned down. This was in early 1935.

Knowing he had a good marketable game, he had Patterson and White make nearly 6,000 more games. These were made in smaller black boxes, with a separate board. The smaller package was easier to display in shops and sales took off. These are what collectors call the 'Darrow Black Box' edition.

As sales of 'Monopoly' took off, suddenly Parker Brothers became interested again, after first rejecting him. Darrow made a deal with Parker for 'his' Monopoly game, but the problem was that it wasn't really his game to sell.

When Parker looked into their newly acquired game, and sought to Patent it, they were horrified to find that very similar games were already patented, Both Lizzie Magie's "Landlord Game", Knapp's "Finance" game, and several other similar Monopoly style games.

Parker easily purchased up many of the smaller patented games. Company President George Parker himself went to visit the Quakers and purchased their 'Atlantic City' game patent for $500, but Magie and Knapp were hesitant to sell their rights to Parker.

Eventually they convinced Lizzie Magie to sell them the rights to her patent for $500.

The biggest problem was Knapp Electric and their "Finance" game, which was based on 'Monopoly'. Knapp wasn't giving up easily and Parker ended up paying Knapp $10,000 (about $200,000 today), during the Depression, for the rights to "Finance"

Once all the Patent issued were cleared, Charles Darrow finalized the sale of 'his' version of the game to Parker Brothers under the name "Monopoly" and in 1935, a patent was finally granted giving Parker Brothers full rights to the game. A patent was also issued to Darrow, as "inventor", on December 31, 1935.

After all the legal dust settled, Charles Darrow became known as the 'Inventor' of Monopoly, and a Millionaire. Lizzie Magie, the true inventor, got $500 and was lost to history.

Parker Brothers began marketing the game on November 5, 1935.

Parker Brothers added the iconic metal tokens to their game and further tweaked the rules, removing Magie's 'Anti-Monopolist' rules, and taking out the 'taxation' rules, resulting in a much more aggressive game.

'Monopoly' became a phenomenal success right from the start.

The game Parker released had many similarities to Lizzie Magie's original "Landlord's Game" 30 years earlier.

The Monopoly game board consisted of forty spaces containing 28 properties—22 streets (grouped into 8 color groups), 4 railroads, and 2 utilities—3 'Chance' spaces, 3 'Community Chest' spaces, a Luxury Tax space, an Income Tax space, and the 4 corner squares: GO, Jail/Just Visiting, Free Parking, and Go to Jail.

Monopoly was first marketed in a Standard Edition, with a small black box and separate board, and in a larger Deluxe Edition, with a box large enough to hold the board.

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There have been some significant changes since Darrow's first 'Monopoly' game he sold to Parker.

By 1937, some of the 'Chance' and 'Community Chest' cards were changed or updated. From early on, the 'Community Chest' cards were yellow, and the 'Chance' cards were orange, with blank backs. Older cards are typeset and appear more nearly homemade.

Some of the original cards were outdated, such as the 'Grand Opera opening', 'Pay Poor Tax', and 'We're off the Gold Standard' cards, and they were switched for more modern topics.

Some of the cartoon illustrations with the 'Mr. Monopoly' character, then known as "Rich Uncle Pennybags", were changed or updated.

On the property deeds, early versions of Monopoly used the complete decimal notation of dollars and cents. The Dollar value of the cards also changed over time, reflecting more modern values.

The flat purchase prices of the properties was updated. You could buy them outright, not be forced to Mortgage them from the bank.

Although outdated, the 'Short Line' railroad card, which referred to the Shore Fast Line, a streetcar line in Atlantic City, was kept as a nod to the past.

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The cool, unusual, metal Tokens are one of the fun aspects of Monopoly and everybody seems to have their favorite.

The tokens have changed in different ways over the years and there are some Monopoly collectors that just collect the different Tokens.

The first Parker sets in 1936 had six metal tokens: iron, cannon, thimble, ship, shoe, and top hat. The classic six. Parker's 'Deluxe' editions had 10 tokens, adding the rare lantern, rocking horse, purse, and car.

In 1936, the Car was added to the Standard set, making 7 tokens.

By 1937, the purse was removed and replaced with the classic thimble. These basic 7 tokens remained until after the war.

As Wartime restrictions and other issues arose, wooden and composite tokens were substituted in some sets. Parker seemed to use whatever 'spare' tokens they had lying around during the War years.

When Parker wanted to start using Metal tokens again, their supplier, the Dowst/Tootsietoy company, was switching over to using plastics, so Parker started making their own metal tokens.

The style of these post-war tokens was slightly different. Their 'new' basic 7 tokens included: race car with driver, shoe, top hat, thimble, long cannon, battleship, and iron.

A 'Scottie dog' was added to the #8 popular edition, and a horse & rider, and a wheelbarrow were added to the Deluxe #9 edition. Some #9 sets included a rare Airplane token instead of the Shoe.

By the late 1940's there were 10 different tokens. Different sets had different numbers, but the basic 7 were in all sets.

By the early 50's the car's style changed. The car now had no driver and a sleeker look, and for a brief period, it had a #3 on the side.

Those basic tokens remained unchanged for many years.

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MONEY

The fun Monopoly "money" is what makes the game so interesting and 'hands on,' each player controlling big piles of cash.

Through the years the Money has had several major changes, both in the color of the bills to the text printed on them.

Darrow's earliest games used 'money' purchased at a local Dime store, but he soon started having his money printed for him in specific colors. The earliest bills were rather simple, with the denomination printed in the middle.

His $50 bills were Grey, his $100 bills were Goldenrod, and his $500 bills were Salmon colored.

When Parker Brothers took over production in 1935 the same type of money was used, but they switched the colors of the $100 and $500 bills. Now the $100s were Salmon and the $500s were Goldenrod. The denomination of each bill was added to each of the four corners, instead of just centered.

During the "Patent Pending" late 30s box period, the money was re-designed to the basic design we all know.

In the early 1940's the colors on the money changed once again to the familiar colors that are still in use today. The $50s were now Blue not Grey. $100s were now Tan, not Salmon, and the $500 stayed Goldenrod.

In 1952, Parker removed the writing on the bills. That basic money was used up until the 1980s when Parker changed ownership.

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TITLE DEED CARDS

The early 1935 Darrow Title Deeds were white cards, with the color stripe at the top but they also had a matching colored border.

Once Parker Brothers took over in 1935, the Title cards went thru many quick revisions and you really need to be an expert to figure out all those early sets. The first thing they did was change the borders from 'colored' to black and the backs were blank.

Then there were some text changes on the front and the term "TITLE DEED" was added at the top with the property name in black ink.

Then the next biggest change was adding the mortgage information on the back of the cards. The next change was making the property names White on some of the darker purple and dark blue colored cards.

This style of card was used up until around 1951/52, when the rent on Marvin Gardens was changed from $22 to $24.

In the mid 1950's a black border was added around the color stripe. This 'black box' is one of the easiest way to tell if an older Monopoly set is 'old' or 'modern'.

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Hasbro acquired Parker Brothers, and thus Monopoly, in 1991. Hasbro quickly started making all sorts of odd, specialized, and 'themed' sets. There are now hundreds of them.

Monopoly has become a part of international popular culture, having been licensed locally in more than 103 countries and printed in more than 37 languages.

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This is a rare chance to get some older game pieces for this fun, classic, historic game. I'm sure you'll love them.

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THANKS FOR LOOKING AND READING IF YOU GOT THIS FAR ~ JOHN