Think of it as Donald Trump Fantasy Camp in a box. For decades, the game of Monopoly has been helping people discover their inner capitalist.
It has been played underwater, aboard moving elevators, even by train robbers during a heist. Custom versions of the game have been built from chocolate, gold and granite. Monopoly has also spawned scores of imitators and spoofs, from Bible-opoly to Welfare Monopoly.
This spring, to mark the game's 70th birthday, toymaker Hasbro issued a special Art Deco edition of Monopoly, along with a compilation of oddball trivia (sample tidbit: The cop on the "Go to Jail" square is named Edgar Mallory).
Hasbro has also been propagating a few myths about the game's history, starting with Monopoly's age.
The world's bestselling board game was actually born 101 years ago. Originally dubbed the Landlord's Game, it was invented by a Quaker woman, Elizabeth Magie, as a way to promote the single-tax movement, which advocated a levy on land to replace all other taxes.
Magie presented the game to Parker Bros. in 1924, but the company declined, deeming it too dry and educational. "You would rather have a root canal than play it," says Monopoly historian Phil Orbanes.
But bootleg versions of Magie's creation started spreading, with tweaked rules and boards tailored to each town where the game appeared. In the early 1930s, a steam-radiator repairman named Charles Darrow was introduced to an Atlantic City mutation of the game, which had been renamed Monopoly.
Darrow, like Magie, approached Parker Bros., which again nixed the idea. Legend has it that Darrow's version was rejected because of 52 design flaws. That's a myth, says Orbanes. Parker Bros., which was later bought by Hasbro, cited only three "concerns": The game took too long to play, it was too complex for children and the board had no end space. "You just kept going 'round and 'round -- a novel idea back in 1935," Orbanes says.
Undeterred, Darrow hand-painted his circular game board on oilcloth and sold them through a Philadelphia department store. After Monopoly caught on, Parker Bros. reversed course.
Monopoly quickly became part of the social fabric, with such phrases as "Get out of jail free" and "Do not pass Go, do not collect $200" seeping into everyday language.
The game has inspired unusual devotion at times. Marathon sessions have been played underwater (45 days), in a treehouse (12 days) and in an elevator (16 days), Hasbro reports. And, according to Monopoly lore, British thieves played Monopoly with stolen loot during a 1967 train robbery.
