Charles Darrow
Charles Brace Darrow (born August 10, 1889 , † August 29, 1967 ) was an American game designer and game publisher who was known as the supposed inventor of the popular board game Monopoly .
Darrow produced the game in 1934 before Parker Brothers acquired US patent 2026 082 , issued to Darrow in 1935 .
However, it could be proven that Darrow was not the inventor and that the invention of Monopoly had been artificially built as a marketing legend: In 1973 Ralph Anspach , economics professor at San Francisco State University, invented the game Anti-Monopoly . For this he was sued by Parker Brothers . The court process went through all instances up to the Supreme Court , where it was found that Darrow had indeed stolen the game idea. He had the rules of 1904 by Elizabeth magic published The Landlord's Game ( English for the owner's copy) directly, and he even took misspellings.
However, since Darrow had been dead for over six years by then, this trial had no effect on his popularity. Today Charles Darrow is still quoted in many different media - and by Parker himself - as the named inventor of Monopoly.
In 2015, Hasbro celebrated the date of sale of US Patent 748626 from Elizabeth Magie to Parker Brothers on March 19, 1935 as the game's "birthday".
Individual evidence
- ↑ Patent US2026082 : Board game apparatus. Published December 31, 1935 .
- ↑ Chris Melzer ( dpa ): The richest wins. Board game Monopoly turns 80 online at badische-zeitung.de , 19 March 2015
Web links
- Charles Darrow in the Luding games database
- Charles Darrow in the board game database BoardGameGeek (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Darrow, Charles |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Darrow, Charles Brace (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American game writer, alleged inventor of the board game Monopoly |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 10, 1889 |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 29, 1967 |