Community Chest cards

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There are sixteen Community Chest cards in the standard editions (U.S. and UK) of the game Monopoly. Community Chest cards in the standard US edition of the game are yellow in color, and printed on only one side in black, unraised ink.

The cards first appeared with the development of what became Monopoly in the 1920s. Daniel Layman's Finance board game included Community Chest cards (as well as Chance cards). The first Monopoly editions, self-published originally by Charles B. Darrow, and later by Parker Brothers, featured a few different cards than the ones printed currently. Editions published between 1933-1935 featured only text on the cards, which is still true of most UK editions, as well as translations based on the UK standard edition. Various illustrations appeared on the cards in the U.S. edition starting in 1935, and the more familiar illustrations featuring the Rich Uncle Pennybags character were introduced in 1936.

Changes in the Community Chest cards in the U.S. editions include:

  • Everyone Must Donate 10% of His Holdings to You in Cash (one edition only, 1936)
  • Go Back to Baltic Avenue (four editions, omitted in U.S. editions since 1936)
  • Go to Income Tax or Jail (Darrow edition, 1934 only)
  • Advance Token to the Nearest Railroad (2x, later moved to Chance)
  • We're Off the Gold Standard, Collect $50 (1935-1936 only, now omitted)
  • Pay Your Insurance Premium: $50 (omitted in U.S. editions since 1935)
  • Pay a $10 fine or take a Chance (omitted in U.S. editions since 1936)

Certain cards were also moved from the Chance cards deck:

  • Pay School Tax $750
  • You are Assessed for Street Repairs
  • Your Xmas Fund Matures

One further card was introduced by Parker Brothers in 1936: Grand Opera Opening, Collect $50 from each player. The "Second Prize in a Beauty Contest" was also changed in 1936 to an award of $10 from an award of $11.

Cards in the U.S. Standard Edition (the "Atlantic City Edition") which do not appear in the UK Standard Edition:

  • Grand opera Night – collect $50 from every player for opening night seats
  • Life Insurance Matures – collect $100
  • Pay School tax of $150
  • Receive for services $25
  • You are assessed for street repairs – $40 per house, $115 per hotel

Cards in the UK Standard Edition which are derived from the 1935 Darrow/Parker Brothers edition and are now omitted in the U.S. edition, or are entirely new:

  • Receive interest on 7% preference shares: £25
  • Pay a £10 fine or take a "Chance"
  • Go back to Old Kent Road
  • Pay your insurance premium £50
  • It is your birthday Collect £10 from each player

[edit] Other editions

Community Chest cards are customized for other local and special editions. Placenames get changed on customized boards, and the cards are further customized for local currency, though the actual amounts often stay the same. Text on the cards for the special edition boards is changed to reflect the theme of the board.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Passing Go: Early Monopoly, 1933-1937 by "Clarence B. Darwin" (pseudonym for David Sadowski), Folkopoly Press, River Forest, Illinois. Pages 19, 198-206.
  • UK Standard Edition (London) board, copyright 1961, Waddingtons.
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