[HOMEMADE BOARD GAMES] [MONOPOLY] Homemade group of "Monopoly" pieces, including title deeds, money, and "Chance" and "Community Chest" cards by [ARTIST UNKNOWN] - 1930

[no place], 1930. Very good. A wonderful group of Depression-era homemade Monopoly pieces (well over 100 in all). Included is an original pamphlet containing the official rules, from an actual official Monopoly set. This is copyrighted 1936, the first year of production, and we presume it to be near-contemporary, and an indicator of the approximate date that the pieces were created. There are no character tokens, houses, hotels, or dice, and there is no board, however all of the other elements are represented. All of the title deeds were typed on paper, which was cut out and pasted to a cut-up thick cardstock/chipboard backing. Some of the backing material was repurposed from what appears to be a railroad schedule advertisement. The paper money is represented in several different colors of cheap, thin paper, each of which was hand-stamped with a purple stamp. The "Community Chest" and "Chance" cards were stamped on one side with those respective monikers, and the content on the verso was written by hand. Condition varies; the paper used for all of the money and the cards is very brittle, and chips easily. Many of them are still in fine condition, but others have large chips and tears, naturally with some loss to content. The title deeds are generally in very good condition, with some smudging and soiling, but all legible. The "Monopoly" game was a phenomenon from the start; a tongue-in-cheek pastime released at the height of the Depression, which gave families and children the thrill of being a big-shot capitalist at a time of widespread privation. No doubt there were countless efforts by enterprising families to make these bootleg versions, but we have never encountered one. A charming piece of Americana.