Rich Uncle Pennybags

Rich Uncle Pennybags, as depicted on the cover of the first edition of the Parker Brothers game that gave the character a name

Rich Uncle Pennybags is a portly old man with a moustache in a 3 piece suit and top hat (a common misconception about this character is that he is depicted with a monocle, although this is not the case) who serves as the mascot of the game Monopoly. In large parts of the world he is also, or even exclusively, known as Mr. Monopoly. He also appears in the related games Advance to Boardwalk, Free Parking, Don't Go to Jail, Monopoly City, Monopoly Junior, and Monopoly Deal.

The character first appeared on Chance and Community Chest cards in U.S. editions of Monopoly in 1936. The identity of the artist who designed the character was long a mystery. In 2013 Wendy Wolfe, granddaughter of the artist, having read historian and author Philip Orbanes remarks that the artist was unknown, contacted Orbanes. He then obtained from the artist's children material identifying their father as the artist and delivered a paper at the June 4, 2013 meeting of the Association of Puzzle and Game Collectors, Meet Dan Fox – The Artist Who Created “Mr. Monopoly”.[1]

History

The unnamed character made his first appearance outside of Monopoly within the Parker Brothers' game Dig, released in 1940, before the U.S. entered World War II. The character did not receive a name until 1946 when the game Rich Uncle was published by Parker Brothers. His likeness appeared on that game's box lid, game instructions, and currency.

The face is said to be based on Otto Hermann Kahn, a New York financier. According to Phil Orbanes, former Vice President of Parker Brothers, Rich Uncle Pennybags of the American version of the board game Monopoly is modeled after American Progressive Era businessman J. P. Morgan.[2]

A more contemporary depiction of Pennybags on the box of Monopoly

Between 1985 and 2008, the character appeared in the second "O" in the word Monopoly as part of the game's logo. More recently, the character is depicted over the word "Monopoly", drawn in a 3-D style, and extending his right hand. The character, however, no longer appears uniformly on every Monopoly game box.[3][4]

In 1988, Orbanes published the first edition of his book The Monopoly Companion. In the book, all of the characters that appear on the Monopoly board or within the decks of cards received a name. Uncle Pennybags' full name was given as Milburn Pennybags, the character "In Jail" is named "Jake, the Jailbird", and the police officer on Go to Jail is named "Officer Mallory".[5]

In 1999, Rich Uncle Pennybags was renamed Mr. Monopoly. During the same year, a Monopoly Jr. CD-ROM game was released within cereal boxes as part of a General Mills promotion. This game introduced Mr. Monopoly's niece and nephew, Sandy and Andy.

According to the book, Monopoly: The World's Most Famous Game & How It Got That Way and The Monopoly Companion, Mr. Monopoly has a second nephew named Randy, although the Monopoly Companion mistakenly refers to Sandy as a boy. Monopoly: The World's Most Famous Game & How It Got That Way also states that Mr. Monopoly has a wife named Madge.[5][6] He is named as the sixth richest fictional character in the 2006 Forbes Fictional 15 list on its website and the ninth richest in 2011.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Association of Game and Puzzle Collectors Quarterly www.AGPC.ORG summer 2013 Vol.15 No. 2. Page 18. Meet Dan Fox-- The Artist Who Created "Mr. Monopoly" by Philip E.Orbanes
  2. ↑ Turpin, Zachary. "Interview: Phil Orbanes, Monopoly Expert (Part Two)". Book of Odds. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
  3. ↑ Hasbro Toy Shop page for Monopoly. The mascot character appears only on the Standard Edition set.
  4. ↑ USAopoly page for Monopoly. The mascot character appears on only about half of the editions shown.
  5. 1 2 Orbanes, Philip (September 1999). The Monopoly Companion: The Player's Guide : The Game from A to Z, Winning Tips, Trivia. Adams Media Corporation. p. . ISBN 978-1-58062-175-5. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
  6. ↑ Vanderkam, Laura (March 21, 2007). "Just Visiting". American.com. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
  7. ↑ "The Forbes Fictional 15 - #6 Mr. Monopoly". Forbes. 2006-11-20. Archived from the original on 2012-09-16. Retrieved 2009-06-26.

External links

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