Monopoly Jailhouse Blues Trivia Quiz

Answer:

The origins of the board game Monopoly lie in another called "The Landlords Game" which was created in 1903 by Elizabeth Magie to help explain real estate and taxes, but it never caught on until Charles Darrow made his version 30 years later and took it to Parker Brothers.

They originally turned it down citing that it had "52 fundamental errors" and that it was too long and complicated but changed their minds in 1935 when it was proved successful in local Philadelphia stores. They also sent a copy of the game to an English firm named Waddingtons who bought the license to produce the game outside of the US.

The British Secret Service actually contacted Waddingtons during WWII and Monopoly sets were especially made for POW charities to distribute to German camps. The sets had real money and escape maps and also included a compass and file as part of the game.

Rumours abounded that 'Mr Monopoly' was based on American financier and investment banker J.P.Morgan but his actual name is Rich Uncle Pennybags. The man in jail and the policeman on the board also have names - Jake the Jailbird and Officer Edgar Mallory respectively.

Over 275 million games have been sold in at least 47 languages and 111 countries with over 300 licensed versions, including one in braille.

The longest game ever played lasted for 70 days straight but the official rules actually have five different changes to shorten the game to 1 - 2 hours and then, of course, is the dreaded 'House Rules' which purists detest although the most famous and widespread are now included in the official rule book.

The most common, and the only one that makes the game actually harder, is that you can't collect rent or conduct any business while you are in jail and it's also a common misconception that you don't have to pay rent if the owner doesn't notice before the next roll of the dice.

Another common house rule is to have a pool of cash in the centre of the board that you win if you land on Free Parking. This is most often made up of all fines and taxes going there instead of to the bank but there are many variations including some where cards and properties end up there too.

Some versions allow for people doubling their salary if they land on Go directly and not just pass it and others won't let you buy property on the first round of the board.

Many people's home rules don't allow for property trading until all the properties are owned and then play is stopped and trades are made back and forth until everyone is satisfied.

Then there are those that slip into what I call the 'this is no longer Monopoly' zone like letting people put houses on a property without owning the set, pretending that there are unlimited houses and hotels, being allowed to double houses or hotels and people lending money to others to 'help them stay in the game'.