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Number of versions: 3
Edition: February 25, 2001
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Probably only 10 to 15 years after Parker Brothers started selling MONOPOLY
games in 1935 in America, the first Portugese editions appeared.
The properties on the Parker Brothers game boards as from 1961sometimes majorly differ (like
stations instead of cinema's) and sometimes only in minor detail (different spelling of street names) from that of the original issues of
the same maker!
The spaces on the game boards as from 1961 are from Partida:
Campo Grande (Lisboa) - Caixa da Comunidade -
Av.Fernão de Magalhães (Porto) - Pague imposto sobre a renda -
Estação do Rossio - Avenida Almirante Reis (Lisboa) -
Sorte -
Avenida Todi (Setúbal) - Av.
24 de Julho (Lisboa) - Cadeia (2x) - Avenida
dos Combatentes (Braga) - Companhia Electricidade - Rua Ferreira
Borges (Coimbra) - Av. de Roma (Lisboa)
- Estação de Campanhã - Avenida da
Boavista (Porto) - Caixa da Comunidade - Avenida
da República (Lisboa) - Rua de SÁ da
Bandeira (Porto) - Estacionamento Livre - Rua
de Santa Catarina (Porto) - Sorte -
Rua do Carmo (Lisboa) - Av.Marechal
Gomes da Costa (Porto) - Estação de S.Bento - Rua
de Santo António (Porto) - Companhia das Águas - RuaGarrett
(Lisboa) - Avenida dos Aliados (Porto)
- Vá para a Cadeia - Avenida da Liberdade
(Lisboa) - Praça da Liberdade (Porto)
- Caixa da Comunidade - Rua do Ouro (Lisboa)
- Estação de S.ta Apolónia - Sorte - Rua
Augusta (Lisboa) - Taxa de
Luxo and Rossio (Lisboa).
 Edition:
Monopólio
Publisher: Majora - Porto - ± 1950
Dimensions of the box: 25 x 49.5 cm
The game:
A collector from Portugal pointed this old, not Parker Brothers
Monopoly issue out to me.
He tells about this edition:
"My mother got this set as a child, the reason why I assume this set dates
back to about 1950.
It must have been one of the first Portugese Monopoly editions. Even today the existing manufacturer could not tell when they started
issuing this game. However Marjora decided to translate the original American
name, because under the then ruling dictator (until 1974) import of products was
forbidden and in case products were important they should be sold under
Portugese name.
As Parker Brothers found out Majora brought the games on this way on the market
they were forced to stop and use the original name."
At close comparison of the Parker Brothers version as from 1961 with this
inland variant it shows that:
 | The corners were not yet the official ones:
 | The rascal wears real prison clothing and is behind more bars. |
| On Free Parking a luxury car is to be seen from the front
instead of the back of the red car
with its white spare wheel. |
| "Officer Edgar Mallory", the policeman who sends you back to
jail looks forward but points backwards. |
|
| Except for the Electric Company and Water Works (both with deviating
pictures) there is a Gas Company as well. |
| At the 3rd red street space is now the
Water Works. |
| " Caixa da Comunidade" (= Community Chest) is called here "Tire a sua Sorte".
On these spaces is like on those of the "Tire o seu Azar" (=
Chance) a ?. |
| At the Water Works space is an additional " Tire a sua Sorte". |
| Instead of a 3rd purple street is a
tax space "Pague Imposto Predial". |
| Instead of stations there are 4 cinema's here. |
| The second street after Partida is a
different street in Porto. |
| The field names are only printed once on this game board. |
| The colors of the question marks on the game board differ. |
As from Partida the properties and other
fields are successively:
Campo Grande (Lisboa) - Tire o seu Azar - Av.dos
Combatentes (Porto) - Pague imposto sobre a renda - S.Luís
Cine - Av. Almirante Reis (Lisboa) - Tire a sua Sorte -
Av. Todi (Setúbal) - Av.
24 de Julho (Lisboa) - Cadeia (1x) - Av.
dos Combatentes (Braga) - Companhia Electricidade - Rua Ferreira
Borges (Coimbra) - Pague Imposto Predial - S.Joáo Cine - Av.
da Boavista (Porto) - Tire a sua Sorte - Av.República
(Lisboa) - R. SÁ da Bandeira (Porto)
- Estacionamento Livre - R.Sta. Catarina
(Porto) - Tire o seu Azar - Rua do Carmo
(Lisboa) - Companhia das Águas - Cinema Tivoli - R.Sto.António
(Porto) -Tire a sua Sorte - R.Garrett
(Lisboa) - Av. dos Aliados (Porto)
- Vá para a Cadeia - Av. da Liberdade (Lisboa)
- Pr.da Liberdade (Porto) - Companhia do
Gaz - R.do Ouro (Lisboa) - Coliseu
- Tire a sua Sorte - R.Augusta (Lisboa) -
Pague Imposto de Conservaçáo de saneamento and Rossio
(Lisboa).
Apparently until the sixties it was common usage to always have something
different at the yellow streets. So
they waggled with the amounts of the first and third street. The board has a
value of 2600$ at R. Sto. Antonio, while its property deed shows a mortage value
of 1400$ (=Escudos). In reverse the board has a price of 2800$ at Av. dos
Aliados, while its mortage value is 1300$. And here again the
rent of all unimproved.
The banknotes are of the manufacturer's own design and so differ
completely from the "official". In the large central circle of the
note it always says above the number in red "MONOPÓLIO Registado"
and under it "MAJORA". Outside this circle there are another 4 smaller
circles showing the denomination. The denominations of the 7 banknotes are
resp.: 10$ - 50$ - 100$ - 200$ - 500$ - 1000$ and 5000$.
Unfortunately there are no tokens, houses nor hotels
anymore. However, it is known that they were of wood.
 Edition: Monopoly,
Ref. 492
Publisher: Parker Brothers, Inc./Majora - Porto - 1961
Dimensions of the box: 26.2 x 48.0 cm
The game:
This white box with a picture of the gameboard in a green
and blue field and Monopoly in white
characters in a red bar is typical for the
sixties and seventies. Moreover is under the red
bar the logo exsisting of a "drawn Uncle Pennybags in a red
square with a blue engine on each
side".
Like in other European countries these Portugese editions clearly have
the features of the Parker Brothers design, i.e.:
| The standard presentation of the Jail (= rascal with thick lips behind 3
bars), Free Parking (= red car with white
tires) and
Go to Jail (= policeman with blue
cap and wistle). |
| Thee stations show the black lokomotive pointing to the left. |
| Until the eighties the word MONOPOLY on the boargame's midfield is
in closed, black characters without frame and parallel to the
first side. |
| The names of the spaces are mentioned twice. |
| The Community Chest fields show the blue
treasure chest and the Super Tax field shows "the gold ring with
diamond". |
However, there are remarkable differences compared to the same editions from
other countries, viz.:
| The banknotes (dim. 48 x 91 mm) are indeed of the Banco
Monopoly and they also show a house, a lokomotive and twice the
denomination in a small space, but the design is completely different and
there is no mention of a patent nor a patent pending. The brown
backside show a pattern of the word Monopoly. The 7 denominations
are in Escudos: 10 (dark grey on light
grey)
- 50 (red on beige)
- 100 (dark blue on blue
green)
- 200 (blue green on light
green)
- 500 (brown on light
brown)
- 1.000 (orange on yellow)
and 5.000 (purple on light
purple). |
| The plastic houses are red,
while the hotels are green!
They have roof tiles as well as a centrally placed chimney. |
| All cards, including the property deeds are numbered. |
| The gameboard is folded with the playside outwards. |
The white back of the game board has a pattern of the maker's name in blue
characters. In the innerbox are 2 inserts of soft cream
colored plastic. One contains 7 spaces for the banker's banknotes, the other has
8 holes for the storage of the attributes. The is nothing printed at the bottom
of the box.
Like in the issues of other countries here the rent of all unimproved.
Both blue Sorte- and pink
Caixa da Comunidade cards have a pattern of the word Monopoly printed on
both sides.
The tokens are 6 simple plastic pawns. Both dice are white with black
pips.
The price of this set amounted to US$ 11.- in September 1987.
 Edition: Monopoly, Ref. 492/1
Publisher: Parker Brothers, Inc./Majora - Porto - 1961
Dimensions of the box: 22.0 x 42.0 cm
The game:
This edition is almost exactly equal to the one with Ref.492, except for the
fact that it is slightly smaller. Also this smaller edition cannot be
compared with the square box of other countries in which the gameboard is folded
twice. That is because of this edition the board is 41 x 41 cm, whereas that of
the large edition is 66.8 x 66.8 cm.
The board has remarkable broad white edges. It's back is green
with a pattern of the name Majora.
In the innerbox is an insert of blue
plastic with 9 holes for the attributes. The bottom of the box is
unprinted.
Again the houses are red and the hotels
green. The 6 colored, plastic tokens
are hollw cilinders with rounded top.
Both dice are of wood and green with
gold pips.
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