"There are those who argue that it may be a dangerous thing to teach children how they may thus get the advantage of their fellows, but let me tell you there are no fairer-minded beings in the world than our own little American children."

A 1939 edition of Lizzie's game. Today, The Landlord's Game is widely recognized as the prototype for Monopoly. But, Parker Brothers' popularized version left out much of the educational content from the original. Lizzie's version could be played 2 ways ~ one set of rules led to a single monopolist winner; in the other, all players worked together to find a way that everyone could win...

Parker Brothers | © all rights reserved

Lizzie was interviewed by the Evening Star soon after Parker Bros put out their first edition of Monopoly. In the article, she explains the game's origin as a teaching tool...one that she lost money on in order to see it into production. The popularized version of her Landlord's Game is Parker Brothers' best-selling product of all time.

Washington Evening Star | Anspach Archives | Public domain