by Mary Pilon
Cyril’s wife, Ruth Cyril Harvey, deposition, Anti-Monopoly Inc. vs. General Mills Fun Group Inc., February 4, 1975. John Droeger, author phone interview, October 27, 2011. Ralph Anspach, author interview, February 20, 2012.
“Now tell me,” Ralph Anspach, author interview, San Francisco, February 21, 2012.
Ralph asked Todd if Darrow Charles E. Todd, deposition, Anti-Monopoly Inc. vs. General Mills Fun Group Inc., February 6, 1975. A deposition of his wife, Olive, in which she affirmed his claims, was taken the same day.
Meanwhile, Ruth Anspach’s Ruth Anspach, author interviews, New York City, November 4 and 10, 2011.
Ralph’s focus on the trial R. Ted Compton told Ralph that he had played the game in New York City in 1929 in Greenwich Village, among Yale and Columbia alumni and professors living there. It was a square oilcloth version, Compton said. From 1929 to 1932, Professor Sam Bass Warner of Harvard Law School brought the game into his office. The towns mentioned on that board were mostly Boston suburbs. R. Ted Compton to Ralph Anspach, September 11, 1975, Anspach archives. Play at Haverford College was confirmed by a letter from Howard Comfort. Howard Comfort to Ralph Anspach, July 6, 1977. Mentions of monopoly appear in that year’s Haverford yearbook as well.
The board that Ralph saw Decades later, in 2014, one would surface in an eBay auction. Malcomb G. Holcombe purchased it and was kind enough to share some information with me leading both of us to conclude it long predates the Darrow board and fits with the folk game path.
After his rejection John Saltmarsh, Scott Nearing: The Making of a Homesteader (White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing, 1998). Scott Nearing to Ralph Anspach, November 1974, Anspach archives.
One day while at his office William D. Boutwell to Ralph Anspach, October 26, 1974.
Ralph found an old photograph Patent assignment document, signed by Elizabeth Magie Phillips, November 6, 1935, discovery documents, Anti-Monopoly Inc. vs. General Mills Fun Group Inc. The lack of royalties was also reported in the Washington Post. Washington Post, January 28, 1936.
12. Barton Under Oath
“Because the game was completely worthless” Robert B. M. Barton, deposition, Anti-Monopoly Inc. vs. General Mills Fun Group Inc., May 8, 1975.
At seventy-one years old Ibid.
“Now, sir,” Ibid. The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York, acquired the Playthings archives.
On June 12, 1975 Ralph Anspach, deposition, Anti-Monopoly Inc. vs. General Mills Fun Group Inc., June 12, 1975.
Charles Darrow never had Roy Bongartz, “Pass and Go and Retire,” Saturday Evening Post, April 11, 1964, 26–27.
On a warm day Charles Darrow, SSN 188–36–8673, U.S. Social Security Death Index. This resource was made available to me by the Family Search Library in Salt Lake City and Ancestry.com. “Charles B. Darrow Dies at 78; Inventor of Game of Monopoly,” New York Times, August 29, 1967. Darrow’s grandson said it was a cerebral aneurysm, while the New York Times obituary says the cause of death was a heart attack.
Ralph flew east Esther J. Darrow, deposition, Anti-Monopoly Inc. vs. General Mills Fun Group Inc., April 23, 1975.
Not everyone was eager William Anspach, author interview, November 2, 2011. Ruth Anspach, author interview, November 4, 2011.
Meanwhile, on a college campus Jeff Lehman, e-mail to author, June 13, 2013. Jay Walker, deposition audio file, Anti-Monopoly Inc. vs. General Mills Fun Group Inc., date unknown
Walker, Lehman, and their friends Jay Walker, author phone interview, June 20, 2013.
As word of the Ivy League Jeff Lehman, e-mail to author, June 13, 2013. Jim Bouton’s book is considered a classic in the sports memoir genre and generated a flurry of controversy when it was published. Bouton confirmed the encounter via e-mail on July 16, 2014.
During Christmas vacation Jay Walker, author phone interview, June 20, 2013.
The two students Jay Walker and Jeff Lehman, 1000 Ways to Win Monopoly Games (New York: Dell, 1975). Another thing that makes games go on forever: squatting in jail to avoid paying rent. Eric J. Friedman of Cornell University rightfully points out that if you’re hanging out there to avoid paying rent, you’ve probably already lost. It’s almost always worth paying to break free. And that assumption that a game can go on forever? Friedman and his colleagues found that “while many have cursed the length of Monopoly games, we have not found any detailed analyses of the game’s length, nor any studies that compute the probability that the game goes on forever.” Their abstract: “We estimate the probability that the game of Monopoly between two players playing very simple strategies never ends. Four different estimators, based respectively on straightforward simulation, a Brownian motion approximation, asymptotics for Markov chains, and importance sampling all yield an estimate of approximately twelve percent.” Eric J. Friedman et al., “Estimating the Probability That the Game of Monopoly Never Ends,” Proceedings of the 2009 Winter Simulation Conference, 380–391, available at http://www.informs-sim.org/wsc09papers/036.pdf.
To Walker and his friends Yes, most people play the game wrong. You can read more about the folly of house rules here: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/26/business/monopoly-fans-invited-to-rethink-rulebook.html?ref=business&_r=0. I know. I just changed your life.
On April 28, 1975 Janice C. Simpson, Wall Street Journal, April 28, 1975.
13. A Matter of Principle
“All for ourselves” Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations. orig. 1776, Bantam Classics, reprint edition (New York: Bantam, 2003).
In June 1975 Ralph Anspach, diary entry, undated. Ralph Anspach, author phone interview. John Droeger, author phone interview.
Ralph asked Droeger Edward V. Pollack to Charles R. Garry and Benjamin Dreyfus, September 1, 1976, Anspach archives.
That turned out to be Joseph C. Goulden, The Benchwarmers (New York: Weybright and Talley, 1974). Goulden refers to Williams as a “bosom political ally of Governor Ronald Reagan who was clobbered when he ran for state attorney general.” He adds, “Williams thinks prison authorities should have carte blanche to run their institutions pretty much as they wish” and criticizes how Williams handled cases involving violence at San Quentin prison.
“I started crying” William Anspach, author interview, New York City, November 2, 2011.
The phone rang Ralph names the whistle-blower in his files, and I researched his background. But because I was unable to get in touch with him and his notes weren’t submitted as part of the court documents, I chose not to name him here.
First, lawyer Carl Person Carl Person, author interviews, 2009 to 2014.
Five days later “Toy Designer Kills Three Co-Workers, Then Himself,” UPI, July 27, 1976, Amarillo Globe, via Google News Associated Press, “Toy Designer Kills Three, Himself, Notes Tell His Tale,” Associated Press, July 28, 1976, Ocala Star-Banner, via Google News. A similar account ran in the Chicago Tribune the same day.
By November 1976 William R. Johnston and Roberta L. Rogers, Reporters’ Daily Transcript, November 17, 1976, U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, Anti-Monopoly Inc. vs. General Mills Fun Group Inc., Anspach archives.
The attorneys launched Johnston and Rogers, Reporters’ Daily Transcript. I have consolidated much of Dreyfus’s and Daggett’s comments for space.
14. The Burial
“It may be that all games are silly” Robert Lynd, Solomon in All His Glory (London: Grant Richards, 1922).
On July 5, 1977 Ralph Anspach, author interview, February 20, 2013. The Associated Press reported forty thousand games in its photo caption accompanying a shot of Russ Foster. Other accounts say that it was thirty-seven thousand games and parts to make three thousand more. Regardless, we’re talking about a lot of Anti-Monopoly cardboard.
In a small, cluttered office Carl Person, author phone interviews, fall 2009 and October 27, 2011. Christian Thee, author phone interview, November 9, 2011. Jim Esposito, author phone interview, January 31, 2010.
Ralph had become aw
are Some of his thinking is outlined in Robert B. Chickering to Ralph Anspach, October 20, 1977, Anspach archives.
In January 1980 Ralph Vartabedian, “Inventor Passes Go, Collects Garbage,” Minneapolis Star, January 23, 1980. “Return to ‘Go,’ Collect No Games,” Free Press, January 24, 1980. “Monopoly Still Has One,” San Francisco Examiner, July 12, 1980.
Edward Canapary Court documents, Anti-Monopoly Inc. vs. General Mills Fun Group Inc., Anspach archives. “Anti-Monopoly Loses Again,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 12, 1981. Opinion here: http://openjurist.org/684/f2d/1316/anti-monopoly-inc-v-general-mills-fun-group-inc. Anspach’s timeline also dates this as August 1982. The Wall Street Journal reported on the ruling in a brief that ran on August 27, 1982.
Parker Brothers was also facing Richard Stearns (former president of Parker Brothers), author phone interview, May 10, 2012. Randolph Barton, author phone interview, October 27, 2011. Supposedly, the name Atari derives from a Japanese verb that means “to hit the target.”
You are in the bowels of my endnotes. Bless you, you maniac. But one after my own heart. E-mail [email protected] an anagram of your choice from the words in this book. Get a digital hug in response. It ain’t two hundred dollars, but it has spirit.
Bushnell, perhaps even more This aphorism is known by some in the game world as “Bushnell’s law.” For further illustration of the principle, watch the stellar documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters.
Others who joined Parker Brothers A note on the Crest quote in the New York Times story. It was somewhat misleading to tell the reader that the identification of the producer by name was the standard when actually the standard only required that the producer’s name must be the primary significance of the mark rather than the product itself.
Parker Brothers hired Nathan Lewin to Hon. Alexander L. Stevas, January 27, 1983, court documents, Anspach archives. Carl Person to Hon. Alexander L. Stevas, January 31, 1983.
Peculiarly enough, Jeff Lehman Jeff Lehman, e-mail to author, June 13, 2013.
15. Redemption
“They monopolized Monopoly” Ralph Anspach, author interview, February 20, 2012.
Almost a decade to the day Reginald Smith, “ ‘Anti-Monopoly’ Wins Its Game,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 23, 1983.
During the Reagan era Michael Pritchard, “Monopoly Creators Pass Go, Collect Credit,” (undated), unknown New Jersey newspaper.
After years of decay Bryant Simon, Boardwalk of Dreams: Atlantic City and the Fate of Urban America (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004). “Atlantic City, New Jersey Boardwalk of Broken Dreams,” Time, September 25, 1989.
In the year following Congressional testimony regarding the hearing can be found here: http://www.ipmall.info/hosted_resources/lipa/trademarks/S.%20Hrg.%2098-901,%20The%20Trademark%20Clarification%20Act%20of%201983,%20Subcomm.%20(Feb.%201,%201984).pdf. Carl Person, author phone interview, April 18, 2014. Paul Hemp, “A Lot Rides on a Good Name,” New York Times, September 7, 1983.
It only makes sense Calvin Trillin, “Monopoly and History,” U.S. Journal: Berkeley, CA, New Yorker, February 13, 1978. Calvin Trillin, author phone interview, March 22, 2013.
A 1985 version 1985 Monopoly rulebook, Parker Brothers, Anspach archives. Rich Uncle Pennybags as told to Philip Orbanes, The Monopoly Companion by Bob Adams (Adams Avon, MA: Media Corporation, 1999). Printout of Hasbro’s official Monopoly page, March 20, 1997, Anspach archives.
His silence Ralph Anspach, author interview, October 2, 2009.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Anspach, Ralph. The Billion Dollar Monopoly Swindle. Rev. ed. XLibris, 2011. (Later renamed The Monopoly Detective.)
Bell, Robert Charles. Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations. London: Oxford University Press, 1969.
Bordewich, Fergus M. Washington: The Making of the American Capital. New York: Amistad, 2008.
Darwin, Clarence D., as told to David Sadowski. Passing Go: Early Monopoly 1933–37. River Forest, IL: Folkopoly, 2009. Those interested in obtaining a copy can contact Sadowski at [email protected].
Dickstein, Morris. Dancing in the Dark: A Cultural History of the Great Depression. New York: W. W. Norton, 2010.
Fatsis, Stefan. Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble Players. New York: Penguin Books, 2002.
George, Henry. Progress and Poverty. New York: Robert Schalkenbach Foundation, 2006. (Originally published in 1879). There are several ways to read Progress online for free: http://www.henrygeorge.org/pcontents.htm.
Johnson, Nelson. Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City. Medford, NJ: Plexus Publishing, 2002.
Kent, Steven L. The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokémon and Beyond—The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2001.
Kyvig, David E. Daily Life in the United States, 1920–1940: How Americans Lived Through the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2004.
Lind, Michael. Land of Promise: An Economic History of the United States. New York: HarperCollins, 2013.
Macdonald, Anne L. Feminine Ingenuity: Women and Invention in America. New York: Ballantine Books, 1994.
Orbanes, Philip E. Monopoly: The World’s Most Famous Game & How It Got That Way. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo, 2006.
——. The Game Makers: The Story of Parker Brothers from Tiddledy Winks to Trivial Pursuit. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing, 2004.
Parlett, David. The Oxford History of Board Games. New York: Oxford Press, 1999.
Simon, Bryant. Boardwalk of Dreams: Atlantic City and the Fate of Urban America. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Stern, Sydney Ladensohn, and Ted Schoenhaus. Toyland: The High-Stakes Game of the Toy Industry. Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1990.
Van Meter, Jonathan. The Last Good Time: Skinny D’Amato, the Notorious 500 Club & the Rise and Fall of Atlantic City. New York: Crown, 2003.
Walker, Jay, and Jeff Lehman. 1000 Ways to Win Monopoly Games. New York: Dell Publishing, 1975.
Walsh, Tim. The Playmakers: Amazing Origins of Timeless Toys. Sarasota, FL: Keys Publishing, 2004.
Watson, Victor. The Waddingtons Story: From the Early Days to Monopoly, the Maxwell Bids and into the Next Millennium. London: Northern Heritage, 2008.
Wojahn, Ellen. The General Mills/Parker Brothers Merger: Playing by Different Rules. Washington, D.C.: Beard Books, 2003.
A NOTE ON THE AUTHOR
Mary Pilon is an award-winning reporter at the New York Times, where she currently covers sports. She previously worked as a staff reporter at the Wall Street Journal, where she wrote about various aspects of economics and the financial crisis. She has also worked at Gawker, USA Today, and New York magazine. She is an honors graduate of New York University and made Forbes’ first-ever 30 Under 30 list for media. Her work has been featured in The Best American Sports Writing and has garnered Associated Press Sports Editors, Gerald Loeb, and Freedom Forum awards. A native Oregonian and fledgling marathoner, she lives in New York City, where she enjoys the occasional board game night. Visit her website at marypilon.com and find her on Twitter @marypilon.
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First published 2015
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Pilon, Mary.
The monopolists: obsession, fury, and the scandal behind the world’s favorite board game / Mary Pilon.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN: HB: 978-1-60819-963-1
PB: 978-1-60819-965-5
Trade PB: 978-1-62040-838-4
ePub: 978-1-62040-571-0
1. Monopoly (Game)—History I. Title.
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