I’m a cat lover as well, but the new token just doesn’t have the texture of that old iron: thankfully my Monopoly game is pretty vintage, and thus iron-clad.
Inside are wooden houses and hotels and the original dark-iron tokens: the iron, racing car, thimble, shoe, top hat and battleship (the Scottie dog and wheelbarrow were added in the early 1950s).ġ935 Patent Pending Monopoly Box: Source.Īnd that’s the other reason why I’m craving Monopoly pieces now: my favorite token was always the iron, and it has recently been cast out of the game, replaced by a cat.
It was apparently rushed into production even though Parker Brothers president George Parker had low expectations: a series of boxes from 1935 bear the inscriptions “patent applied for” and “patent pending”. Parker Brothers’ long residency in Salem (1883-1991) is no doubt due in large part to the success of this ultra-American game. There is a Salem source of this desire, and it is a timely one: Parker Brothers of Salem acquired one of the key patents they needed to produce their version of Monopoly on this day in 1935, and it was an immediate blockbuster, perhaps (or in spite of) the ongoing Depression.
many of the early customized version were produced in extremely limited quantities, and have become quite sought after - and valuable - today.I have quicksilver materialistic urges: what I want now are Monopoly pieces, or rather artistically-enhanced versions thereof. Star Wars collectors loved the highly detailed Pewter Tokens, Firefighters found a new theme game for the station, and kids loved to play with the Disney themed characters. This, in effect, created an immediate collectors market as these games were not only sought as games, but became a "Cross-Collectible". Hasbro also customized their own versions of the game. Most of these variations were offered with unique tokens relative to the theme of the game. In the 1990's Hasbro began producing licensing variations of Monopoly to other companies, including USAopoly and Late-For-The-Sky Productions, to allow games to be customized for specific regions, schools, events, companies, and movies. Today the Standard Edition sets include 8 tokens: The Dog, Battleship, Car, Top Hat, Thimble, Shoe, Wheelbarrow, and the Cat. Discontinued tokens include the Horse & Rider, The Cannon, the Money Bag (produced from 1998 to 2007), the Train, and in 2013 the Flat Iron was replaced with a Cat. Several pieces have been retired or replaced over the years within the standard Monopoly games. Shortly after World War II Parker Brothers began producing its own pewter versions of the tokens, based upon the Dowst originals. The Dowst Company invented die casting and also made the first die cast cars.
The tokens were the same charms as Cracker Jack used and were made by the same company, Dowst, out of Chicago. By the late 1930s these impurities were eliminated and used a metal token made of lead and tin, similar to those used today. This was a result of impurities in the manufacturing process. These were made from 1935 to 1938, and had a tendency to oxidize very quickly, why many of the original tokens have a poor appearance. The early metal die cast tokens were made by the Dowst Manufacturing Company with a Zinc alloy called Zamak, also referred to as Pot Metal or White Metal. These were also included in the Patent Description, and originally included the Thimble, Cannon, Iron, Top Hat, Shoe and Battleship. Parker Brothers, after acquiring the rights in 1935, provided the first metal tokens as we know them today. Players were responsible for providing whatever they had available for markers. When Charles Darrow produced his first games in 1934 there were no tokens included. The very first Monopoly tokens weren't even tokens, they were buttons, or coins, or whatever was available. Millionaires of the day found the Monopoly concept irresistible, and were willing to pay a considerable amount more for a game that would set itself apart from the standard games. As the game became more popular, Parker Brothers realized that producing different versions of each game would be attractive to different markets. Earlier this week we discussed the origins of Monopoly back in the first part of the 20th century. The designs are so classic, and so ageless, that when one sees the typical Monopoly token it is immediately identified with the game.