Chance cards and Community Chest cards are special cards used in the board game Monopoly. The player draws one of these cards when the player's token lands on one of the respectively named spaces on the Monopoly board and must follow its instructions. Once the "Chance card"/"Community Chest Card" has been drawn it is put back on the bottom of the deck.
There are sixteen each of Chance and Community Chest cards in the standard editions (U.S. and UK) of Monopoly[1]. Chance cards in the standard US edition (and older UK editions) are dark orange; Community Chest cards are yellow. The 1982 Canadian edition contained green Chance cards along with yellow Community Chest; cards were larger than in a standard US set with rounded corners.
The cards first appeared with the development of what became Monopoly in the 1920s. Daniel Layman's Finance board game included Chance and Community Chest cards. The first Monopoly editions, self-published originally by Charles B. Darrow, and later by Parker Brothers, featured a few different cards from 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.
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Changes in the Chance cards in the U.S. editions include:
The following cards were introduced by Parker Brothers in 1936:
Cards in the U.S. Standard Edition (the "Atlantic City Edition") which do not appear in the UK Standard Edition:
Cards in the UK Standard Edition which derived from the 1935 Darrow/Parker Brothers edition and are now omitted in the U.S. edition, or are entirely new:
Changes in the Community Chest cards in the U.S. editions include:
Certain cards were also moved from the Chance cards deck:
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:
Cards on the short-lived U.S. Monopoly game show in 1990:
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:
One of the Community Chest cards (later moved to Chance), referring to the train stations says "Advance token to the nearest Railroad and pay owner twice the rental to which he is otherwise entitled. If Railroad is unowned, you may buy if from the Bank."
As shown in the above quote, a typo appears in the fourth last word, saying if instead of it. This mistake has been corrected in later versions.
Chance and 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.
Inspired by the Golden Mermaid Bathing Beauty contest held from 1920 until 2004 in Atlantic City, "Second prize in a beauty contest" is an expression found on a Community Chest card, which reads in full: "You have won second prize in a beauty contest, collect $10."[2][3] The expression has become something of a joke among Monopoly players and is sometimes used for humorous effect in other contexts, for instance being applied to the opposition response speech to the United States' president's annual State of the Union address.[4]
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