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View monopoly oilcloth - Charles Raiford - circa 1932


M O N O P O L Y
The Atlantic City Quaker 1932 monopoly rules as taught by
Jessie & Ruth Raiford to Charles Todd who taught
Charles Darrow in Germantown, Pennsylvania in 1933.

Currently, printed original rules have not been located.
The following rule set is based upon research by Ralph Anspach, to whom I would like to express thanks for their use.
"These rules are licensed to Thomas Fosyth by Ralph Anspach who created them for his Original Monopoly game."

PROCEDURE FOR BEGINNERS

Set up the monopoly board.

Shuffle the Chance and Community Chest cards and place them separately face down on the marked places on the board. Players pick their own personalized playing pieces and place them on the corner marked GO.

Appoint one player to be also the BANKER. This in no way changes his capacity as a player. The BANKER takes custody of the title cards and play money and issues each player $1,500 in monopoly money. The suggested distribution for up to four players is one $500; five $100s; five $50s; five $20s; 10 $10s; eight $5s; ten $1s. For more than four players, substitute more $500s or create your own extra monopoly money. The BANKER also makes all payments and collects all charges ordered by Chance and Community Chest cards, acts as tax collector for the government, handles purchases and sales of properties and houses, and also manages all mortgage transactions.

Roll the dice and high scorer moves first. He rolls the dice again and moves his playing piece a corresponding number of spaces from GO toward the corner marked JAIL. If he stops on the space marked COMMUNITY CHEST, he takes the top most Community Chest card, and does as his card directs. If he stops on CHANCE, he does the same thing as with Community Chest.

If he stops on INCOME TAX, he must pay to the Bank 10% of his wealth.  To calculate his wealth, he must add together all his cash plus the mortgage value of all his properties whether mortgaged or not plus the purchase price of his houses.

If any player stops on LUXURY TAX PAY $75 (farther around the board) he pays the Bank $75.

Landing on JAIL:   When the player lands on JAIL by a normal throw of the dice, the player is only visiting and leaves JAIL on his next turn without paying any penalty. YOU MAY COME OUT OF JAIL FREE NEXT TIME draw card: A player can always get out of Jail by giving his card to the BANKER who returns it to the bottom of the draw card deck. These cards can be traded between players at any price they can agree on.

Doubles and Other Jail Rules: When a player throws three doubles in a row or stops on the corner (or draws a card) which reads "Go to Jail," he moves his playing piece to the corner marked JAIL. On his next turn he may pay a fine of $50 and come out, or, if he rolls double dice he has to come out without paying a fine. He may stay in Jail for three turns, attempting to roll double dice. On the third turn he must pay his fine of $50 and come out whatever the number rolled after paying his fine of $50.

If a playing piece is moved onto any space with a property which can be bought, the BANKER selects the corresponding card from his stack of title cards and offers the space at the price listed on the title card. If the player declines to buy the property at that price, the BANKER sells it at auction to the highest bidder. The BANKER gives the title card to the purchaser. The owner may collect the amount of rent stipulated in the upper left corner of the title card from every player who stops on his property thereafter.

MORTGAGES: Each property has a definite mortgage value (printed on the title card). Any owner may borrow this amount from the Bank at any time but only after selling any houses and hotels erected on the property back to the bank at half price. The mortgage debtor then turns his title card face down with a corner under the game board to show that it has been mortgaged. No rents of any kind may be collected on a mortgaged property. By returning to the Bank the loan value plus 10% interest, the mortgage may be redeemed at any time.

The players move in rotation, the BANKER watching each new property space as it is stopped on and offering it for sale if it has not been sold. This continues until all the properties have been sold.

Each player collects from the bank an income of $200 every time his personal playing piece travels completely around the board.

LAND MONOPOLY. When a player owns all parcels of land in one color grouping, it is a land monopoly. For example, if a player owns ARCTIC AVENUE and then purchases BALTIC AVENUE, he becomes the owner of the green land monopoly.

MONOPOLY LAND RENT. When a player owns a land monopoly, he doubles the rent which players landing on any parcel of the monopoly must pay.

MORTGAGED PARCELS IN A LAND MONOPOLY. While no rent may be collected on a mortgaged parcel, the usual double rent still holds for the unmortgaged parcels since the owner still owns the land monopoly, whether parts of it are mortgaged or not.

HOUSES ARE BUILT ONLY ON A LAND MONOPOLY. Players only build houses if they have the power to charge killer housing rents, something which is only possible if the land is monopolized. Therefore, houses can only be erected on parcels which belong to a land monopoly. For example, if the player owns the BOARDWALK alone, he cannot build on it. But if he becomes the owner of the light blue monopoly by purchasing PARK PLACE, he may build both on BOARDWALK and on PARK PLACE.

HOUSES can be bought only from the BANKER with prices increasing by $50 on each side of the board: as we move into richer neighborhoods:

        Low-income side of the board between GO and JAIL: $50
        Middle-class side of the board between JAIL and FREE PARKING: $100
        Rich side of the board between FREE PARKING and GO TO Jail: $150
        Super-rich side of the board between GO TO JAIL and GO: $200

Houses once built may be "torn down" to raise money but such money can only be raised from the BANK and not from other players. The BANK pays only half price for "torn down" houses. Full price must be paid to the BANKER for each house re-purchased from the BANK.

Players may build during their turn or at any other time when another player is not taking his turn.

The houses are bought from the BANKER. The improvements may be made at any time except between the time another player rolls his dice and completes his turn.

RENTS FROM HOUSES ON LAND MONOPOLIES. As shown on the title cards, the land monopolist’s profiteering accelerates every time he places an additional house on his property. For example, on ARCTIC AVE., the second house jumps the rent from $10 to $30 just the first time someone lands on the property. The extra $20 income is earned by investing in one more $50 house. The immediate profit on the transaction is therefore $20 divided by $50 or 40%. When a third house is added, the rent increases to $90. The extra "first-landing" $60 is earned by investing in one more house at the same price of $50. The third house therefore earns the monopolist a profit of $60 divided by $50 or 120%. It can be shown that this profiteering at the expense of tenants, occurs every time that a monopolist adds another house to a parcel on his land monopoly.

When a player has four houses on a property and wants to add another one, he returns the four to the BANKER who sells him a hotel for the usual price of another house.

No player can build more than one hotel on one space.  Each owner can have but one house more on one space than on any other space in the same land monopoly.

Buildings may be placed in any pattern the owner wishes as long as street names are not covered up and space is left for the landing of playing pieces.

A player may buy, sell or trade property with another player at any time, whether mortgaged or not. The only exception is that houses and hotels must be "torn down" and sold back to the BANK before the land on which they stood can be traded with other players.

RAILROADS AND RAILROAD MONOPOLIES. Railroad fares double whenever the railroad baron adds another railroad line to his transportation monopoly. Thus, a player owning one railroad gets $25 per ride; two railroads bring $50 per ride; three railroads bring $100; and a complete monopoly with four railroads brings $200. (These amounts appear on each railroad title card.)

UTILITY MONOPOLIES. The utility rates of the ATLANTIC CITY WATER WORKS and ATLANTIC CITY ELECTRIC CO. more than double if one owner monopolizes both utilities. Thus, when a player lands on a utility, he throws the dice again. If the utility belongs to an owner who does not also own the other utility, the dice score is multiplied by 4. If the utility owner monopolizes both utilities the dice score is multiplied by 10. Thus, the charge sky-rockets from a multiplier of 4 to a multiplier of 10 of the throw of the dice. This means that the utility baron raises the prices of water and electricity by 150% once he monopolizes both utilities. For example, if a player rolls a 5 after landing on the Atlantic City Water Works, he is billed 5 x 4 or $20 for his water. But if the water company owner also owns the Atlantic City Electric Co, he pays 5 x 10 or $50 for his water. (These amounts appear on each utility title card.)

BANKRUPTCY RULES: Players are bankrupt when they cannot raise sufficient cash to make a required payment. To raise cash, players may mortgage their land after selling houses back to the BANK. Alternatively, they may sell their property to other players, though, again, land may be sold to other players only after selling its houses back to the Bank. If the cash raised is not enough to make the required payment, the cash plus their remaining property (with mortgages still in effect) is turned over to the player who caused their bankruptcy and the bankrupted player leaves the game.

If players are bankrupted by payments owed the BANKER, all their cash and property is turned over to the BANKER. The property becomes unmortgaged property which the BANKER puts up for auction.

THE LAST MONOPOLIST TO REMAIN IN THE GAME IS THE WINNER!

________

New players should not try to learn too much from the rule book before playing. Very little need be remembered in order to get into the game, and the meaning comes quite easily from playing a single game. For beginners to play a satisfactory game, they need only refer to the following:

1. Each player takes $1,500 at start.
2. Take $200 every time around the board.
3. Players line up in space marked GO and move clockwise according to players' dice.
4. When the playing piece stops on COMMUNITY CHEST or CHANCE, the player takes the topmost card and follows directions.
5. Taxes—pay Bank as directed.
6. Owners owning a monopoly (all parcels of a color-coded series), build houses and collect higher rent.
7. When you cannot pay a rent or other charges, retire.

Properly speaking, there are few "rules" which must be followed to play monopoly. Certain customs are given here which have been found to work well in playing, but players need not at first actually know and follow them all to play an interesting game.

ABOUT AUCTIONS
When the bidding is in process during an auction, the BANKER should call each raise three times unless the price is again raised before he can do so. For instance, he should say, "Going once for $305. Going twice for $305. And sold for $305." The word "and" should be distinctly prolonged to allow for last minute bidding. Bids are always raised by a minimum of $5 because odd dollar raises simply prolong the process unnecessarily.

ADVANCED RULES FOR EXPERIENCED PLAYERS
JAIL INSURANCE. Players who do not own a land monopoly may insure against going to Jail on their next turn by paying $25 to the Bank on approaching the "Go to Jail" corner. The $25 must be paid before throwing the dice. If the player's playing piece falls short of the corner, he must pay another $25 if he wishes to insure on his next turn. $5 insures against going to Jail by a Chance card. The BANKER writes up an insurance slip for the player

PAUPERS. A player cannot be put out of the game by a debt to be paid to the BANKER. If all his property is mortgaged and he has less than $100 in cash, all payments resulting from Chance, Community Chest, Taxes, etc., are canceled.

FORGETTERS. If a player forgets to collect his $200 on the turn in which he completes the subsequent circuit of the board, he forfeits his right to collect it. If a player forgets to collect what another player owes him, he forfeits the right to do so the moment the debtor moves his playing piece away legitimately on his next turn.

FREE RIDES. Property sellers often ask for "free rides" in compensation for less cash. A free ride is the privilege of stopping on a property without paying rent.

HOUSING SHORTAGE. If a player wants to buy a house but the BANKER has run out of houses to sell, the player can try to buy a house from another player at any price they can agree upon. If no bargain can be struck, the player must wait until the BANKER has a house to sell. If the BANKER runs out of hotels only, five houses substitute for one hotel.

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