Monopoly Memories
Most of my happy memories are tied to times spent at my family's summer cottage. During my childhood, my grandparents had their circa 1910 summer cottage that my grandmother inherited from her Aunts, with one across the street that was built in 1898. My grandmother's cousin's summer cottage was next door to the "guest" cottage. It was a dream to have as a kid: woods to have adventures in, trees to climb, blueberry and raspberry bushes to pick, an ice cream shop at the end of the lane, and a lake to swim in—not to mention fun times with my cousins. We also had a semi-professional tennis player neighbor who owned a tennis court on the lane that we could use! I also remember playing board games like Boggle, Scrabble, Chutes and Ladders, Sorry!, and Monopoly. I can picture us sitting at the tables in the living/dining area playing games for hours. We did this as kids and also later on as adults (although the board games changed).
When my family made the difficult decision to sell the lake front cottage in 2021, we had an estate sale. It was during this sale that I noticed all the board games out in the "free pile" in the garage. A sudden thought came to my mind—I can do something with the Monopoly pieces! I did not know what it would be, but something creative would happen with the old discarded games.
With the help of my cat Mia, I sorted all the pieces and decided that I would do a large decoupage piece on a 20"x 20" wooden board.
Every section of the Monopoly game had its own layer. Money first, title deed cards second, chance cards next, and then the tokens and dice to finish it off. I ended up making one Monopoly-themed decoupage for myself to remember the cottage and one that will be available for purchase.
There's interesting history behind this game—did you know it was originally named The Landlord's Game? You can read more about it here and here. What does the board game Monopoly mean to you? I would love to hear what memories it brings up for you.
Update on 1/14/2023: Great podcast episode by #Throughline about the history of Monopoly.