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The 1930's
 Monopoly

Monopoly
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 5 to 7
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   5.51

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    biplane, deter, oilcloth, punching, finance, billion, successful, outer, depression, based, wealthy, mustache, version, saying, public, record
     content words:    Lizzie Magie, Great Britain, Brer Fox, Brer Rabbit, Daniel Laymon, Knapp Electric, Parker Brothers, Charles Darrow, Atlantic City, New Jersey

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Monopoly
By Jane Runyon 		  
1     People have been playing some version of the game Monopoly for over one hundred years. It has been estimated that the number of people is somewhere between 500 million and 750 million. Over 200 million games have been sold. Somewhere around five billion little green houses have been built on Monopoly boards. That's a lot of business taking place. How did this game get started anyway?
 
2     One of the first versions of a business game was invented by Lizzie Magie in the early 1900's. It was her goal to produce a game to show people just how poor renters were being mistreated by wealthy land owners. She called her game "The Landlord's Game." Game makers didn't seem interested in producing the game for sale to the public. It wasn't until 1910 that any company took the chance. The game was produced in Great Britain in 1913 under the name "Brer Fox an' Brer Rabbit."
 
3     Lizzie Magie married and moved to Chicago. In 1924, she took another shot at selling her game. She made a few changes at that time. She decided to name some of the streets and locations on the board after places in Chicago. Her efforts produced just modest success.
 
4     Daniel Laymon created another version of the game in the 1920's. His board focused on landmarks in his hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana. Laymon sold the rights to his game to Knapp Electric. His game was called "Finance." Knapp Electric sold the rights to the game to Parker Brothers in 1935.

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