The secret history of Monopoly

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 31 December 2021

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In 1904, a left-wing American feminist called Lizzy Magie patented a board game that evolved into what we now know as Monopoly. But 30 years later, when Monopoly was first marketed in the United States during the Great Depression, it was an out-of-work salesman from Pennsylvania who was credited with inventing it. Louise Hidalgo has been talking to American journalist Mary Pilon about the hidden history of one of the world's most popular board games, and to the economics professor Ralph Anspach who unearthed the story.

Picture: A family playing a game of Monopoly in the 1930s (Credit: SSPL/Getty Images)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.
0:04.7	My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:08.5	As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.
0:18.0	What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,
0:24.6	poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.
0:29.7	If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC
0:35.4	Sounds.
0:36.4	Hello and thank you for downloading the podcast of Witness History from the BBC World Service.
0:47.0	All this week we're taking a festive look at the history of Toys and Games.
0:52.0	In the final episode, Louise Hidalgo unravels the secret history of monopoly.
0:58.1	The board game was first marketed in 1935 by the American company Parker Brothers, but the true story of where it was
1:06.4	invented by whom and why is far from straightforward.
1:10.8	I've got a hotel on Park Lane. straightforward. It's been played by
1:14.0	Park Lane, the Blue Wall.
1:16.0	A hot little fan.
1:18.0	You've got three stations.
1:20.0	It's been played by generations of children, parents and grandparents in more than a hundred
1:28.8	countries around the world.
1:31.0	But it wasn't until the 1970s, 40 years after Parker Brothers first began marketing it,
1:37.0	that an economics professor from San Francisco called Ralph Anspack uncovered the story of Monopoly and where it had come from.
1:44.5	Do not post-go, do not collect 200 pounds.
1:48.6	To me it's indisputable that we would not know about the history of monopoly without Ralph Ansbach.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.