NOTEWORTHY INVENTORS:
CHARLES DARROW
• Charles Darrow is remembered as the inventor of the game Monopoly, though that's not quite the truth. In fact, Charles Darrow took a game that already existed, modified it, patented it, and marketed it. Because of his efforts, it eventually became the #1 selling game of all time. • Charles Darrow was a salesman in Philadelphia who sold heaters. After the stock market crash of 1929, he lost his job and supported himself with a number of odd jobs. • At the time, there were a number of board games making the rounds. One was called The Landlord's Game, and another one was called The Fascinating Game of Finance. • Charles' wife Esther was friends with a man named Charles Todd, who was a big fan of a similar sort of game, which used the streets of Atlantic City (where he vacationed) as the property titles. Todd taught the game to Esther, and Esther taught the game to her husband. • Charles Darrow thought there might be a way to make money off the game, so he and his wife and his son William set up a cottage industry manufacturing and selling the game. Charles carved tiny houses and hotels out of scrap wood, Esther hand-painted the property titles and the Chance and Community Chest cards, and William made the game boards out of circular pieces of oilcloth. Charles originally used charms from Esther's charm bracelet as the game pieces. They called their version of the game Monopoly. • In 1933, Charles copyrighted the game in spite of the fact that he was not technically the inventor. Still, he sold plenty of copies to Wanamaker's Department Store in Philadelphia, at $2.50 each.
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