Patent L Magie Landlord Game 1900's Monopoly Art Print
The Landlord's Game is a board game patented in the 1900's by Elizabeth Magie. It is a realty and taxation game, similar to Monopoly. Though many similar home-made games were played at the beginning of the 20th Century and some predate The Landlord's Game, it is the first of its kind to have an attested patent. Magie re-patented a revised edition of the game in 1924.
Magie based the game on the economic principles of Georgism, a system proposed by Henry George, with the object of demonstrating how rents enrich property owners and impoverish tenants. She knew that some people could find it hard to understand why this happened and what might be done about it, and she thought that if Georgist ideas were put into the concrete form of a game, they might be easier to demonstrate.
Although The Landlord's Game was patented, it was not taken up by a manufacturer until 1910, when it was published in the U.S. by the Economic Game Company of New York. In the UK it was published in 1913 by the Newbie Game Company of London under the title Brer Fox an' Brer Rabbit. Despite the title change, it was recognizably the same game.
Magie moved back to Illinois, where she was born, was married in 1910, moved with her husband to the Washington D.C area, and eventually patented a new version of The Landlord's Game in the 1920's (under her married name, Elizabeth Magie Phillips). This version, unlike the illustration depicted in her first patent, included named streets, some named after locations in Chicago. Apart from commercial distribution, it spread by word of mouth and was played in slightly variant homemade versions over the years by Quakers, Georgists, university students and others who became aware of it.
Magie held the copyright for The Landlord's Game until 1935, when she sold it to Parker Brothers for $500. The company had recently started distributing Charles Darrow's Monopoly, and was buying up the copyrights of various commercial forms of the game in order to claim undisputed rights to selling it. As part of the purchase agreement, which Magie insisted upon, Parker Brothers manufactured and marketed three of her games, one of which was an un-altered version of The Landlord's Game which sold several hundred copies until it was discontinued.
This set contains 2 documents as shown in the photos. Please note that resoloution of these pictures has been optimized for fast picture loading here on Shopify. The actual files are as sharp as the original document permits. This is an excellent quality reproduction of an original patent in high resolution taken directly from US Patent Office archives. This reproduction was digitally restored and in some cases altered to remove defects or unwanted artifacts present in the original patent document. The artwork is printed in black and white on premium acid free, lignin-free archival 24lb/90g/m 8 1/2" by 11" Magna Carta parchment paper for that historical look and is ready to frame. This replicates the authentic and original feel of the patent document. Please note that the images shown are displayed on a white background for clarity instead of the natural color of the parchment paper. These patents make great conversational pieces and look fabulous framed in lobbies or waiting rooms as decorative wall art. Other great uses for these patents are: game rooms, dorm rooms, restaurants, bars, or cottages. They also make great gifts for those people who are difficult to buy for. Most people have an interest or hobby that can relate to a specific patent. Check out our other patents in our Shopify Store.
Disclaimer : Please note game shown below is not for sale and not offered with this patent purchase.
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