Monopoly: The Story Behind the World's Best-Selling Game
- Book Review,
by Rod, Jr. Kennedy, Jim Waltzer
From Publishers Weekly
For many people, the properties on a Monopoly board seem as fake as Monopoly money. Kennedy (Atlantic City: 125 Years of Ocean Madness) and Waltzer dispel that notion by revealing the lively history behind their real-life counterparts in Atlantic City and exposing the early origins of the game. Two opening chapters cover the history of the game and of the city while the remainder of the book examines each set of properties in turn—from their statistical value to how well their role in the game corresponds with the character of the streets on which they are based. Readers will be surprised to learn that Elizabeth J. Magie, a Quaker, created the original version of the game in 1904 (called "The Landlord’s Game") and that it reflected her economic views, as its goal was to keep players out of the poor house, rather than to bankrupt them. The brief overview of Atlantic City’s heyday also contains some interesting facts, but after these first few chapters, the book contains very little straight text; indeed, the remainder consists largely of historical photos, posters and other images. The captions for these visuals become the book’s primary source of information, conveying such tidbits as the fact that the owner of the Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to New York when his production of a musical in Atlantic City proved too costly. On the whole, this book will give Monopoly players some context for their game, but it won’t leave a lasting impression. 130 color photos, 20 halftones, 20 line drawings.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Book Description
Most people probably don’t think about the fact that the colored properties on the Monopoly board are based on real places in a real city, they just know that Monopoly was the best way to pass a rainy Saturday afternoon with family and friends. Now, the whole story of game and the place it is based on is revealed in Monopoly: The Story Behind the World's Best-Selling Game by Rod Kennedy, Jr. Take a virtual walk down Boardwalk and advance to St. Charles Place through this fascinating visualization of the classic Monopoly game board illustrated with Atlantic City images that brings to life, for the very first time, the very real place upon which this game is based. Celebrate the best-selling board game in history with a copy of the book, and learn fun facts like these: -2004 marks both the centennial of Elizabeth Magie’s patent for "The Landlord’s Game," a precursor to Monopoly -2004 also marks the sesquicentennial anniversary of Atlantic City. -Monopoly was patented in 1935 by Charles Darrow, though he was not truly inventor of the game. Rod Kennedy, Jr.’s books include The Brooklyn Cookbook, Lost New York in Old Postcards, Hollywood in Old Postcards, and Atlantic City: 125 Years of Ocean Madness with Lee Eisenberg and Vicki Levi. He is the founder and president of Stadia Tins Ltd., which produces decorative tins that are replicas of major league baseball stadiums. He also produced the "Star Spangled Banner" poster for the Smithsonian Institution. He lives in New York City, but was most probably concieved in Atlantic City
From the Inside Flap
It's the best-selling board game in the world, sold in 80 countries and produced in 26 languages-but how did this favorite pastime get its start? Take a visual tour down Boardwalk and advance to the St. Charles Place through this fascinating visualization of the Monopoly game board and discover that these places really do exist in a place called Atlantic City. Illustrated with collectible imagery and paired with informative text, Monopoly captures the ornate and elegant hotels built along a Boardwalk lined with shops, restaurants, and giant amusement piers jutting out into the sea and brings to life the places that have captivated over 500 million people for over 65 years. Rod Kennedy, Jr.'s books include The Brooklyn Cookbook, Lost New York in Old Postcards, Hollywood in Old Postcards, and Atlantic City: 125 Years of Ocean Madness with Lee Eisenberg and Vicki Levi. He is the founder and president of Stadia Tins Ltd., which produces decorative tins that are replicas of major league baseball stadiums. He also produced the "Star Spangled Banner" poster for the Smithsonian Institution. He lives in New York City. Jim Waltzer is a freelance writer who has written more than 600 feature articles for regional and national magazines and several short stories in fiction journals. He is the author of Tales of South Jersey (Rutgers University Press) and resides in Philadelphia. The Atlantic City Historical Museum strives to serve and present the culturally diverse history of Atlantic City in an informative and entertaining time line for the visiting public. The museum is home to the award-winning exhibit, Atlantic City, Playground of the Nation, which depicts the madcap history of Atlantic City through Miss America memorabilia, postcards, song sheets, costumes, artifacts, and other ephemera. It is located in the historic Garden Pier (at New Jersey Avenue and the Boardwalk) and overlooks the famous beach, Boardwalk, and majestic Atlantic Ocean.
Excerpted from Monoply: The Story Behind the World's Best-Selling Game by Rod Kennedy. Copyright © 2004. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
INTRODUCTION Monopoly: The Story Behind the World's Best-Selling Game combines two of my favorite things-Monopoly and Atlantic City. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of long, drawn out Monopoly games on rainy Saturday or Sunday afternoons with family and friends, and it is more than just a childhood memory. Monopoly is a game I have enjoyed playing throughout my life and it was even the basis of a relationship that started out as a Monopoly challenge in a bar one night. In fact, I love the game so much that my home would not be complete without a Monopoly set in the closet. Like most people, I once thought that the colored properties on the classic Monopoly game board were fictional places that existed only as I imagined them, so it was one of the great discoveries and in my life to learn that they really do exist in a place called Atlantic City. My first trip to Atlantic City was in the summer of 1973 and I was thrilled to be really taking a walk on the Boardwalk and advancing to St. Charles Place. I was captivated by the ornate and elegant hotels looking like giant sandcastles built along a Boardwalk lined with shops, restaurants, and giant amusement piers jutting out into the sea. And even though this once thriving and fashionable resort, known as the "Queen of Resorts" and "America's Playground" was in decline, I still sensed the ghosts of years gone by and was possessed. The deal was further sealed when I learned that my parents had honeymooned in Atlantic City, and that I was most probably conceived in the Shelbourne Hotel. Several years later, I was invited by "America's Best Loved Photographer," Bud Lee and Susan Dintenfass Subtle to join them in a photo shoot of the diving horse lady on Steel Pier. It was from this experience that Susan and I conceived of the idea to do a nostalgic book about Atlantic City, which eventually was so wonderfully bought to fruition by Vicki Gold Levi and Lee Eisenberg, and called Atlantic City . . . 125 years of Ocean Madness. The book, which takes a long and loving look at Atlantic City as The Capitol of Americana, was published in 1979, has gone through many subsequent printings and is still in print today. While Atlantic City . . . 125 Years of Ocean Madness touched briefly upon the connection between Atlantic City and Monopoly, I still had always wanted to do a book that would be a visualization of the classic Monopoly game board illustrated with Atlantic City images, that would bring to life for the very first time, the very real place upon which this game, enjoyed for generations by millions of people around the world, was based. Now, thanks to Gibbs Smith Publisher and Hasbro, I am able to do this in this volume. -Rod Kennedy, New York City Dark Purple Mediterranean Avenue was largely a commercial, light-industrial stretch that featured the likes of Abbott's Dairies and Wrigley's Chewing Gum, and ended with Hackney's seafood restaurant on Absecon Inlet. Hackney's and nearby Captain Starn's made the inlet synonymous with hearty seafood, but the area was also known for its recreational and commercial activities on the water. Starn's maintained a fleet of sailboats and motorboats that gave sightseers a tour of the island, and a fresh fish market and packing house for anglers' daily harvests. Back on the avenue, however, there was only the drabness of pavement and wooden boarding houses. The other dark purple property, Baltic Avenue, was known for offering accommodations to African-American visitors, and many of the kitchen and housekeeping workers who staffed the hotels near and on the Boardwalk. Accordingly, Mediterranean and Baltic are the least expensive properties on the Monopoly board, and give players a chance to buy on the cheap. Investors must consider, however, that the two properties receive fewer "stops" over the course of a game than any other property group, just as the real-life streets get less traffic than do those closer to the ocean. A statistical ranking based on cost, rents, and frequency of stops by other players places them next to last among the 10 property groups. (An opponent's trip around the board returns an average 13.6 cents on each investment dollar made by a landlord who has built a hotel on his dark purple property.) Still, the DPs show relative strength early in the game when the board is largely undeveloped. Captions: Hackney's-The familiar giant lobster symbolized Hackney's and its vaunted seafood cuisine, and sometimes the waitresses really dressed the part. Situated on Absecon Inlet at Maine and Mediterranean avenues, Hackney's sat at the confluence of trolleys, jitneys, and hungry seafood patrons. Founded by Harry Hackney in 1912, it fed some 800,000 diners annually in its heyday. One of them was Hackney friend and New York Governor Al Smith, who remarked that eating at the restaurant was like "fishing out the window," a phrase that stuck. Indeed, a pier in front of the restaurant offered the chance to fish for kingfish, weakfish, flounder, and other tasty species of the Atlantic. Hackney's canned its own brand of seafood products such as clam chowder right on the premises, and its "purified lobster pools" attracted spectators who watched a constant stream of ocean-pumped saltwater bathe the crustacean of their choice. Capt. Starn's-Captain Starn's was a sprawling complex that served up boat excursions and yapping sea lions along with seafood platters. The Starn's roster of sailing sloops and Miss Atlantic City speedboats ushered an estimated one million people on sightseeing tours each year. For those seeking greater thrills, a "diving seaplane" with a reversible-pitch propeller descended from the sky and hit the water with a thud. The affectionate sea lions cavorted in their outdoor pens, playing to the crowd. Starn's grew from a one-story dining room to include an adjoining dining hall, the upstairs Captain's Bridge, the outdoor Captain's Mess, the Over-the-Sea Bar (upper left), and
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