As a book collector, I am very disciplined about what I acquire for the personal library. Certain authors, certain publishers, certain illustrators. But there are exceptions to every rule or set of rules and for me it is when I come across something that is very unusual and/or quirky.
In August 1998, we were living in Annapolis, Maryland and my go-to bookshop was Briarwood Books, just down the street from the State Capital Building heading towards Cheaspeake Bay. When I go into the shop, I would always check the glassed in case beneath the counter, and that is where I saw The Money Game.
The Money Game: Explaining Fundamental Finance – A New Instrument of Economic Education; by Norman Angell; E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., New York, 1929.
Englishman, Sir Ralph Norman Angell (1872 – 1967) was a lecturer, journalist, author and Member of Parliament for the Labour Party. He joined the Labour Party in 1920 and was parliamentary candidate for Rushcliffe in the general election of 1922 and for Rossendale in 1923. He was MP for Bradford North from 1929 to 1931; after the formation of the National Government, he announced his decision not to seek re-election on 24 September 1931. In 1931, he was knighted for his public and political services, and in 1933 he was presented with the Nobel Peace Prize.
Angell was also the designer of The Money Game, a visual method of teaching schoolchildren the fundamentals of finance and banking. First published in 1928 by J. M. Dent & Sons, The Money Game, How to Play It: A New Instrument of Economic Education was both a book and a game. The bulk of the book was an essay on money and a discussion of economic theory, it also contained a summary of the game's story and an explanation of the rules.
Angell was obviously a very persuasive individual and the first twelve pages of the book – Some Opinions - before the title page, are quotes from numerous individuals praising the book and the game in an effort to persuade the reader to actually buy the book/game. The book is 8 centimetres thick and when you open it, it divides nicely with the book on the left and the game on the right.
The player gets to invest in any of ten industries. But no board or dice as in Monopoly, the game
Parker Brothers started marketing in 1935. The Money Game was more of a card game. Both
had lots of money!
