The board game Monopoly can trace its roots back to 1906, with the publication of The Landlord’s Game, an educational game meant to teach people about property ownership, rents, and taxes. When the game was re-imagined as Monopoly during the Great Depression, prevailing economic conditions were harsh, so early sets included only the board, money, and cards needed to play. Players had to provide their own tokens, such as bracelet charms and Cracker Jack prizes. Since the 1940s, the game has come with tokens in the shape of a battleship, boot, cannon, Scottish Terrier, horse and rider, iron, racecar, thimble, top hat, and wheelbarrow. However, some of these classic tokens will be disappearing from the newest version of Monopoly. The iron token was replaced by a cat token in 2013, and now, in an effort to appeal to a new generation, the boot, wheelbarrow and thimble will be eliminated, replaced by a Tyrannosaurus rex, a rubber duck, and a penguin.
An iconic game keeps on rolling:
- In an online vote, Hasbro asked players to choose their favorite tokens from 64 contenders. The winning pieces were announced on Monopoly's Twitter feed and on a special website earlier this year.
- More than 4.3 million Monopoly fans from 146 countries voted. The Scottish Terrier was the top vote-getter, and joins the racecar, top hat, cat, and battleship as existing tokens that will continue to "pass Go."
- In 1935, when Parker Brothers first marketed the game, it sold for about $2 USD. As of the board game's 80th birthday in 2015, the game was published in 47 languages and sold in 114 countries.