George Swinnerton Parker Cuba" on the impending Spanish–American War. The game industry was growing, and the company was becoming very profitable. In 1906, Parker Brothers published the game "Rook", their most successful card game to this day, and it quickly became the best-selling game in the country. During the Great Depression, a time when many companies were going out of business, Parker Brothers released a new board game called "Monopoly". Although the company had originally rejected the game in 1934, they decided to publish it the next year. It was an instant success, and the company had difficulty keeping up with demand. The
History of the board game Monopoly were owned, and included "chips" to indicate improvements on properties. Magie again approached Parker Brothers about her game, and George Parker again declined, calling the game "too political". Parker is, however, credited with urging Magie to take out her 1924 patent. After the Thuns learned the game, they began teaching its rules to their fraternity brothers at Williams College around 1926. Daniel W. Layman, in turn, learned the game from the Thun brothers (who later tried to sell copies of the game commercially, but were advised by an attorney that the game could not be patented, as they were not