Charles Brace Darrow was an American best known as the claimed inventor of the Monopoly board game. He became the first millionaire game-designer in history
Charles Darrow is best known for his work on Monopoly, the classic real estate trading game, published by Parker Brothers in 1935. It was heavily based on an earlier game known as The Landlord's Game. Charles Darrow was born on August 10, 1879. He died on August 29, 1967. Darrow lost his job as a heater salesman after the stock market crash of 1929. He became familiar with a game in which the object was to buy and trade property. (The direct ancestor of this game, The Landlord's Game, had been designed by Elizabeth Magie.) He worked with his family to produce copies of the game, originally …show more content…
It was initially rejected by both companies, but Parker Brothers later reconsidered. In 1935, Darrow acquired a patent for Monopoly (U.S. Patent 2,026,082), which included nearly all of the graphics still in use today. Parker Brothers subsequently acquired the patent and began to publish and sell Monopoly. At some point in 1936, Parker Brothers were selling 20,000 copies of the game every week. He was the first millionaire game designer. Brady's book describes Charles Darrow as an unemployed salesman and inventor living in Germantown, Pennsylvania. He was struggling with odd jobs to support his family in the years following the great stock market crash of 1929. Darrow began selling copies of his board game for $4 each. Orders increased to the point where Charles Darrow decided to try to sell the game to a game manufacturer rather than go into full-scale manufacturing. The game he patented quickly became a best seller for Parker Brothers. Within a month of signing an agreement with Darrow in 1935, Parker Brothers began producing over 20,000 copies of the game each week – a game that Charles Darrow claimed was his
Charles Darrow is best known for his work on Monopoly, the classic real estate trading game, published by Parker Brothers in 1935. It was heavily based on an earlier game known as The Landlord's Game. Charles Darrow was born on August 10, 1879. He died on August 29, 1967. Darrow lost his job as a heater salesman after the stock market crash of 1929. He became familiar with a game in which the object was to buy and trade property. (The direct ancestor of this game, The Landlord's Game, had been designed by Elizabeth Magie.) He worked with his family to produce copies of the game, originally …show more content…
It was initially rejected by both companies, but Parker Brothers later reconsidered. In 1935, Darrow acquired a patent for Monopoly (U.S. Patent 2,026,082), which included nearly all of the graphics still in use today. Parker Brothers subsequently acquired the patent and began to publish and sell Monopoly. At some point in 1936, Parker Brothers were selling 20,000 copies of the game every week. He was the first millionaire game designer. Brady's book describes Charles Darrow as an unemployed salesman and inventor living in Germantown, Pennsylvania. He was struggling with odd jobs to support his family in the years following the great stock market crash of 1929. Darrow began selling copies of his board game for $4 each. Orders increased to the point where Charles Darrow decided to try to sell the game to a game manufacturer rather than go into full-scale manufacturing. The game he patented quickly became a best seller for Parker Brothers. Within a month of signing an agreement with Darrow in 1935, Parker Brothers began producing over 20,000 copies of the game each week – a game that Charles Darrow claimed was his