History Daily – “Winning Monopoly” (Episode 1282, December 31, 2025)

Host: Lindsey Graham

Episode Overview

This episode of History Daily tells the surprisingly contentious history behind the board game Monopoly, revealing how its credited inventor, Charles Darrow, capitalized on an earlier creation called “The Landlord’s Game” by Lizzie McGee. Tracing events from the early 1900s to a legal battle in the 1970s, the show unpacks issues of invention, intellectual property, and the irony at the heart of Monopoly itself: a game designed as a lesson against the dangers of unchecked capitalism became a capitalist icon.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Landlord’s Game: Lizzie McGee’s Political Invention (04:58–08:56)

• Lizzie McGee, a “campaigning feminist and a passionate advocate for Georgism,” designed The Landlord’s Game in 1903 as a practical critique of economic inequality.
  • The game’s mechanics: buying properties, collecting rent, and sending unlucky players to jail, were intended to highlight “the inherent inequality in America’s economic system.” (05:47)
• The Landlord’s Game gained grassroots popularity through “word of mouth,” especially in colleges and Quaker circles, but remained a niche pursuit in McGee’s lifetime.

“Lizzie intends her game to be a practical demonstration of the inherent inequality in America’s economic system, where the rich become richer by doing little more than holding onto land while the working class are pulled deeper into poverty just by trying to go about their lives.”
— Lindsey Graham (06:09)

2. Charles Darrow and the Commercialization of Monopoly (08:57–11:57)

• During the Great Depression, out-of-work salesman Charles Darrow first encountered The Landlord’s Game at a dinner party (00:39–03:11, 08:57). Inspired, he created his own version, renamed it Monopoly, and sold it as his original invention, stripping away its explicit critique of capitalism.
  • Darrow’s main innovations included new property names and a focus on profit rather than social critique.
• After being rejected by both Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers, Darrow sold homemade copies to a department store, achieving significant local success and eventually convincing Parker Brothers to produce Monopoly.
  • The game became an instant national hit in 1935.

“Even though he’s stolen the idea... Charles offers the rights to Monopoly to board game manufacturer Milton Bradley. They turn him down. Charles is also rejected by game company Parker Brothers, who dismiss Monopoly as too complicated, too technical, and too time consuming to play. But Charles won’t be put off by the lack of interest from the board game experts.”
— Lindsey Graham (08:19)

3. Intellectual Property Conflict and Erasure of Lizzie McGee (12:57–16:30)

• Parker Brothers’ due diligence revealed the uncanny similarities between Monopoly and The Landlord’s Game, forcing them to secure legal rights from Lizzie McGee for $500 and a promise (never kept) to credit her.
  • Despite this, “Her name is omitted from the box and documentation... She’s furious, but soon realizes the contract gives her no legal avenue.”
• Lizzie McGee’s contribution faded from popular memory, while Darrow was celebrated and became wealthy.

“Americans have fallen in love with Monopoly, and they seem to have little interest in who really invented it. Lizzie McGee will die fourteen years later in 1948. And by then her role in creating one of the world’s best known games will have been erased from the history books.”
— Lindsey Graham (16:32)

4. Rediscovery and Legal Reckoning: Ralph Anspach’s Anti-Monopoly Case (21:02–24:17)

• In the 1970s, economics professor Ralph Anspach, while fighting a lawsuit from Parker Brothers over his game “Anti-Monopoly,” unearthed Lizzie McGee’s original patent.
• Anspach successfully defended himself by showing that Monopoly was derived from a public domain idea, helping to restore some credit to McGee’s legacy.

“The legal case will have another unintended effect. It’ll resurrect the memory of Lizzie McGee and her part in creating the most iconic board game of all time.”
— Lindsey Graham (23:54)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the irony at Monopoly’s heart:
  “The Landlord’s Game was invented as a critique of greed and the excess of capitalism, but its original inventor will fall victim to those very same forces after Charles Darrow patents the game as his own under the name Monopoly.”
  — Lindsey Graham (01:55)

• On Lizzie McGee’s erasure:
  “Her name is omitted from the box and documentation. She’s furious... but soon realizes that George has drawn up their contract in such a way that there’s no legal avenue by which she can stop him.”
  — Lindsey Graham (15:55)

• On the rediscovery of the truth:
  “Time will no longer languish in the shadows, despite Charles Darrow taking all the credit and becoming a millionaire on the back of the patent he was awarded on December 31, 1935.”
  — Lindsey Graham (23:56)

Timeline & Timestamps for Major Segments

• 00:39: Charles Darrow discovers The Landlord’s Game at a dinner party in 1932.
• 04:58: Background on Lizzie McGee and her invention of The Landlord’s Game in 1903.
• 08:57: Charles Darrow begins making and selling Monopoly.
• 12:57: Monopoly’s commercial breakthrough—and Parker Brothers’ legal scramble.
• 15:52: Parker Brothers secures rights from McGee, omitting her name from the product.
• 21:02: Ralph Anspach discovers McGee’s patent, leading to the Anti-Monopoly legal battle and McGee’s partial redemption.

Conclusion

“Winning Monopoly” masterfully recounts how a game invented as a critique of monopoly and greed became a vehicle for both. It shines overdue light on Lizzie McGee, whose progressive ideals and intellectual creativity were overshadowed for decades, only to resurface through a fight for intellectual honesty years later. The story remains a modern parable about the fickleness of credit, capitalism, and how the meaning of a creation can be bent by those with more power—precisely the lesson McGee wanted to teach.

Written and researched by Scott Reeves. Hosted, edited, and executive produced by Lindsey Graham.