The locations on the standard British version of the board game Monopoly are set in London and were selected in 1935 by Victor Watson, managing director of John Waddington Limited. Watson became interested in the board game after his son Norman had tried the Parker Brothers original US version and recommended the company produce a board for the domestic market.[1][2] He took his secretary Marjory Phillips on a day-trip from the head offices in Leeds to London and the pair looked for suitable locations to use.[3]
The London version of the game was successful, and in 1936 it was exported to Continental Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa,[4] becoming the de facto standard board in the British Commonwealth.[5] It became such a success in the UK that Waddingtons ran Monopoly competitions in locations depicted on the board; one such contest was held on platforms 3 and 4 of Fenchurch Street station.[6] The resulting board has been perennially popular around the world, with the chosen locations becoming familiar to millions.[7] Tourists from as far as Canada, Singapore and Saudi Arabia have been known to visit specific locations in London because of their presence on the Monopoly board.[5] In 2003, Watson's grandson (also called Victor Watson) unveiled a plaque at what is now a branch of The Co-operative Bank, the original location of the Angel, Islington, to commemorate the elder Watson's contribution to British popular culture.[8][9]
The set has been celebrated by the Monopoly pub crawl, which attempts to visit all the locations on the board and have a drink at a pub in each one.[10][11] The relative wealth of the various places has changed slightly. Whitechapel Road is now the cheapest (as opposed to Old Kent Road) but Mayfair remains the most expensive; in 2016 an estimate by loan provider West One showed the average house price on each was £590,000 and £3,150,000 respectively.[12]
- ^ Moore 2003, pp. 24–25.
- ^ Orbanes 2007, p. 85.
- ^ Humphreys 2010, p. 90.
- ^ Orbanes 2007, pp. 85–86.
- ^ a b Moore 2003, pp. 9–10.
- ^ Moore 2003, p. 7.
- ^ Brown, Matt (9 December 2016). "The Real Life Monopoly Board". Londonist. Archived from the original on 12 August 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
- ^ "Victor Watson". The Times. 2 March 2015. Archived from the original on 12 August 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
- ^ "Victor Watson, businessman – obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 8 March 2015. Archived from the original on 12 August 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
- ^ "The Ultimate Monopoly Pub Crawl". The Daily Telegraph. 5 November 2015. Archived from the original on 7 June 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
- ^ Noble, Will (30 June 2016). "7 Awesome London Pub Crawls". Londonist. Archived from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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