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Parker Brothers

by Jen Ratliff on May 11th, 2020 | 0 Comments

 

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Parker Brothers was founded in 1883 by Salemite George Parker, after he designed his first game, Banking, at age 16. A few years later, his brothers Charles and Edward joined him in the business. By 1900, the brothers were leaders in the gaming industry and in 1901 they acquired 15 acres of land at 190 Bridge Street, which they grew in to a 35,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility. 

Despite this growth, the company was hit hard by the onset of the Great Depression. Thanks to the release of a new game, The Parker brothers fully recovered and became synonymous with America's favorite board game.

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In 1935, Parker Brothers released a new real estate themed game that had been submitted by Charles Brace Darrow. The brothers had rejected Darrow’s design in 1934 but changed their mind, the following year. Darrow modeled his design after the 1903 Landlord’s Game by Lizzie Magie, which Parker Brothers later bought the rights to. Monopoly provided players with a form of escapism as they imagined themselves as real estate tycoons. The game took off and Parker Brothers struggled to keep up with demand. The factory was producing more than 25,000 sets the first year and the a year later maxed out at 1.8 million copies manufactured. 

The company continued selling new family game night staples such a Clue, Sorry, and Risk. Parker Brothers went through multiple mergers and was eventually bought out by Hasbro in 1991. The Salem factory continued for three more years before it was torn down in 1994. The former factory site on Bridge Street is now occupied by an apartment complex.

Since Monopoly's introduction to the market in 1935, it has become one of the most popular board games in history, Monopoly was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 1998 and as of 2018, an estimated 250 million copies had been sold worldwide. 
 

 

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