24 April 2011

Game Night




Board Games, that is. Our family loves board games. Both the Guy and I grew up playing them and passed that along to our children. One day fairly early in our marriage, I asked the Guy to play a game of Monopoly with me. It was a little late and he wasn't too interested because, "it will take too long". I insisted we could play a game in half an hour or so. And as it happened, we did. And I won!

Now I do not normally set out to "win" games. I just enjoy playing them. If the Guy or one of the girls wins, I am happy. They tell me I take the fun out of it, but hey, I AM happy if they win. That's not to say I'm not happy if I win. That long ago Monopoly game was one of my finest hours!

Seventy-fifth Anniversary. For all of my dish friends, that means FIESTA. This year is the 75th anniversary of the introduction of Fiesta. Homer Laughlin is having an extravaganza with new shapes and a special anniversary colour. Well, this year is also the seventy-fifth anniversary of MONOPOLY. What a great year!!! With this table I am combining the two for a fun evening with friends.

Monopoly has always been my favourite board game. For years now I have collected the metal tokens. Not sure why. I would always pick them up at yard sales or antique malls if the price were right.

All this time I've just been collecting the tokens in a box. The original patent from 12/31/35 had six metal tokens: iron, cannon, thimble, ship, shoe, and top hat. In 1936 the car and the purse got added, but the purse was dropped after only one year. For many years those were the only pieces. The design of some of them changed slightly over the years (e.g. car with driver went to car without driver), but this was the basic set. During the 1960s there were 8 tokens, but the 70s saw two more added to make 10. Back in 1985 a deluxe 50th Anniversary Edition of the game came out with a new token: a train. And then in 1998 a moneybag was added. The standard edition of the game now has 11 tokens and the deluxe addition has twelve. And then there is the Heirloom edition which also has a piggybank token. Gets confusing, n'est pas? I wish they would bring back the purse.

train, purse, and piggy bank


original canon, current cannon and other tokens

Then different versions of Monopoly began being issued. All of them have their own tokens, so these days, there are a LOT of tokens - over 1100 at last count. Here's a link to a chart that will help keep the standard ones in order.

And if changing the tokens weren't enough, remember this guy?

As of the year 2000, our dear Rich Uncle Pennybags was renamed to Mr. Monopoly. What's the world coming to???

And there have been some other changes since I first started playing the game: Income tax is now a flat $200 (instead the player's choice of 10% of their total holdings or $200), and Luxury Tax increased from $75 to $100. I think I will just keep my old board, cards and tokens.



Even if Parker Bros. wants me to no longer have my rich uncle, I still love the game. And I decided to do a game night dinner. To begin with I started with a tied quilt to use for the tablecloth.


I figured I would use Post-86 Fiesta for the dishes, but I had to think about the flatware. Then I remembered this box.


Look what's inside:

The vintage Quikcut Flatware is in the perfect colours to go with the Monopoly game tablecloth.

Did you know there are Monopoly glasses?


And tin banks, too:


I kept looking for napkin rings, but never did find any I liked. Then I ran across these bookmarks:


A little craftiness with a hot glue gun and voilà, just what I needed to hold the napkins (which I made of Monopoly money fabric):


Back in the 1980s Hallmark put out these Free Parking paper plates. I topped them with clear glass plates to protect them.


I had a lot of fun building the centrepiece. I started with a Bauer pedestal cake stand and sat a Fiesta cake plate on top. A vintage British Monopoly tin spills out tokens and vintage wooden houses and hotels. A stuffed Uncle Penneybags and a tin bank are on one side. The other side has a couple of vintage thimble jiggers and a salesman sample flatiron, which all mimic tokens.






Gotta use my favourite candleholders. This time in chartreuse:


Lilac Fiesta also goes great with this tablecloth:


So, c'mon over and we can play a quick game. It won't take but half an hour or so!

On the table:
Handmade Monopoly quilt, aka tablecloth - eBay
Rich Uncle Pennybags glasses - McDonald's Happy Meal toy in the 1990s
Black stemmed goblets - Luminarc
Vintage and new Monopoly tokens, houses and hotels - various yard sales, antique malls, etc.
Pottery: Post-86 Fiesta in scarlet, sapphire, sunflower, lilac and chartreuse; Bauer 2000 pedestal cake stand in parrot green
Clear glass plates (unknown maker)
Vintage Monopoly No Parking paper plates by Hallmark
Vintage British Monopoly round tin
Vintage tin Monopoly bank
Contemporary Monopoly bookmarks made into napkin rings
Napkins - made from Monopoly money print fabric
Antique miniature flatiron - salesman sample
Vintage thimble jiggers
Flatware: vintage Quikcut Fiesta



Join me this week with:
Drowsy Monkey @ Mellow Yellow Monday
Smiling Sally for Blue Monday
MaryT/TheTeach over @ Work of the Poet for Ruby Tuesday
Marty @ A Stroll Through Life for TableTop Tuesday
Jenny @ off on my tanget for Alphabe-Thursday where this week's Letter is "B" - B is for Board Games
Susan @ Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday
Suzanne @ The Coloradolady for Vintage Thingy Thursday
Sandi & Bill @ Whistlestop Cafe Cooking for Friday's Favourites



Thanks so much for stopping by today!

namasté,
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45 comments:

Paula said...

You have too much time on your hands, dear friend! I love it! Thanks for sharing!

Mary H said...

Now, how cute is that!

Sallie M said...

super cute Becky - I remember the monopoly fabric at JoAnn's.

Pam W said...

That is SO cute! What fun!

Craig Miyamoto said...

Ah, Monopoly! My family banned me. They said I cheated. I made up my own rules, but remember, anything not banned is legal!

xoxox Craig

SmilingSally said...

I've never seen that fabric; it's cute.

Thanks for sharing these beautiful blues.

Happy Blue Monday, Becky.

Gypsea Nurse said...

This post is awesome! I love it..and all your pictures!
Smiles~
Cricket @ gypsea nurse

Pie said...

Wonderful shots. Happy Easter!

My Blue Monday.

Angie said...

That really is one amazing post - loved it. Pop over to http://aglimpseoflondon.blogspot.com/
& see more Monopoly stuff

black eyed susans kitchen said...

Becky, This is probably my favorite post of the week! I love that you collect the monopoly tokens and the information and history about the game was fascinating!! I also love your fiesta ware and the table scape is fabulous!

LV said...

What an amazing and wonderful showing of so much monopoly used in so many different ways. You did a remarkable job putting all this together.

Carolea said...

Oh, how you have taken me back . . . waaaaay back! Thanks!

Daphne said...

Wow, Becky! What an incredible table! I think you may have outdone yourself with this one. I love all of the layers of accessories you use to tell the story.

Maryann said...

Too cool. :)

Debbi H said...

Becky- that is great!! My son loves Monopoly and collects the games and anything else Monopoly related. He won't open a game unless he has a duplicate and right now has over 100 games alone. When he got married the wedding reception them was Monopoly with each table having color coordinated cloth overlay for that particular street. The music CD they gave as favors had the name of the street you were seated at as the cover. In fact we found a metal Monopoly bucket at an antique mall in Ohio and that was his Easter basket yesterday. Thanks so much for sharing your tablescape. I'll be sure to show him.

Olive said...

Wow, very clever using the game board as chargers. Love it!

Unknown said...

Girlie...what a table. Now when you set a table, YOU SET A TABLE! So cute and unique and innovative...Love it. Thanx for sharing, visit me sometimes over at The Cranky Queen, Tiff

Liz said...

These are beautiful!

My Ruby.

Monica @ Happily Playing with Dishes said...

This is so cool!!!!! I love it. I love the colors and accessories.

Diana LaMarre said...

I love this table! Who knew that there were Monopoly table items. I just love when a table is created from the owner's hobbies. The centerpiece is wonderful--what an all around fun table.

Hootin Anni said...

I LOVE IT!!! Each and every piece. So so fun this is.

Here's my link: My Ruby Tuesday Do stop by if you get a chance.

anne said...

This reminds me of my long lost friend, we used to play this game before. Mine is at Anne’s Sweet Life thanks!

Marty@A Stroll Thru Life said...

Oh my word, this is absolutley fabulous. I love all the dishes, accessories and the linens. Totally fantastic. Thanks so much for joining TTT. Hugs, Marty

Anonymous said...

What a unique tablescape! You have really put your love into this beautiful setting. I think you've inspired me to get up a game of Monopoly this weekend!
Tammy

Sanghamitra Bhattacherjee(Mukherjee) said...

OMG!What a tablescape! Sooo..bright and beautiful!
Lovely blog you got :)

Good day..

Sanghamitra.
http://rainbow-thecoloursofindia.blogspot.com

Rocky Mountain Woman said...

What a great idea..I'm bookmarking this because I am planning to do a game night for my neighbors next month..

Donnie said...

we have the Coast Guard edition and play it quite often. We never get done in 1/2 hour though. Sometimes it takes days...lol...I love your collections. Really fun.

Christine said...

Oh my Word! this was awesome to look at and fun to read. I want that purse token so badly. I just love collections. This was a lot of fun.

H said...

My youngest son used to love Monopoly (and still does from time to time). He has the London, Manchester, Simpsons and Wonders of the World versions!

Unknown said...

This is amazing! I have never seen anything like it. Wow!

Jenny said...

I was excited to see a post about board games and then totally enchanted to see this unique tablescape.

I've never seen these dishes or linens...ever!

This is such a unique and fun stop! I am totally willing to let you win if you let me sit around that table!

A+

Unknown said...

This is amazing! I would love to come to dinner. I used to play all the time as a kid & we would play for hours. Thanks for stopping by my blog also:-)

Gina said...

I love board games AND monopoly and thought your pictures of the table and centerpiece are just fabulous!
Gina
http://ginakay.typepad.com

People Who Know Me Would Say: said...

This is one of my favorite tablescapes of all time! How fun!!!!!

Terra said...

oh my goodness that was just amazing! I love monopoly and am partial to the original pieces! What an amazing table!!!

Monica said...

This is SO cool! I used to play Monopoly with my friend when we were kids - Our games would last for hours. Sometimes we'd have to leave the board set up and come back to it the next day...We must have played with our own rules for it to last that long! We haven't played it much with our kids, but we have about 6 different versions. I think we should play Board games this weekend!!

ESTWILL @ Edspire said...

You have made me long for a game of monopoly - with original pieces!!

April D said...

This is so FUN. I personally have ONLY ONE fond memory of Monopoly, but even I cannot argue with all those cute linens and the COLORS and paired with Fiesta. . .
great table!

Personalized Sketches and Sentiments said...

How absolutely cool and creative!!!! Wow! I love all that you have done for this tablescape! We love Monopoly!

Blessings & Aloha!
...I am sooo behind on my Alphabe-Thursday entry! Hope you take a peek at my place... Have a wonderful weekend!

Unknown said...

Wow now that is an obsession. What a wonderful collection. We used to play years ago when our children were little. A lot on info in this post I didn't know. Thanks for sharing.
QMM

Marlis said...

This is an amazing table! You have a lovely collection and I learned so much by coming by. I love your table, the colors, the fiesta the flatware the quilt. So wonderful thanks so much for sharing.

Pattie @ Olla-Podrida said...

This table is FANTASTIC! What a great collection of Monopoly items you have there. I'll bet this was a lot of fun to put together.

Sharon Haynie said...

I am always amazed at the combinations that Fiesta lovers put together. Yours with the Monopoly theme is perfect. You've got a great collection, I'll be looking forward to seeing more in the future. Thanks for sharing!

Unknown said...

thanks for the cool info on Monopoly...we played it alot. I never saw some of those tokens.

Sandi @the WhistleStop Cafe said...

Winner!
You have an over the top table setting. That is a friday's favorite for sure :-)