Karen’s Opinion

I have not verified the following information but, since my mom sent it to me and I found it very interesting, I thought I would share it with my readers. Perhaps someone knows if it really happened that Monopoly games were used during the war.

WWII Monopoly

Starting in 1941, an increasing number of British airmen found themselves as the involuntary guests of the Third Reich, and the Crown was casting about for ways and means to facilitate their escape. Now obviously, one of the most helpful aids to that end is a useful and accurate map, one showing not only where stuff was, but also showing the locations of ‘safe houses’ where a POW on-the-lam could go for food and shelter.

Paper maps had some real drawbacks — they make a lot of noise when you open and fold them, they wear out rapidly, and if they get wet, they turn into mush.

Someone in MI-5 (similar to America’s OSS) got the idea of printing escape maps on silk. It ‘s durable, can be scrunched-up into tiny wads, and unfolded as many times as needed, and makes no noise whatsoever.

At that time, there was only one manufacturer in Great Britain that had perfected the technology of printing on silk, and that was John Waddington, Ltd. When approached by the government, the firm was only too happy to do its bit for the war effort.

By pure coincidence, Waddington was also the U.K. Licensee for the popular American board game, Monopoly. As it happened, ‘games and pastimes’ was a category of item qualified for insertion into ‘CARE packages’, dispatched by the International Red Cross to prisoners of war.

Under the strictest of secrecy, in a securely guarded and inaccessible old workshop on the grounds of Waddington’s, a group of sworn-to-secrecy employees began mass-producing escape maps, keyed to each region of Germany or Italy where Allied POW camps were regional system). When processed, these maps could be folded into such tiny dots that they would actually fit inside a Monopoly playing piece. As long as they were at it, the clever workmen at Waddington’s also managed to add:

1. A playing token, containing a small magnetic compass

2. A two-part metal file that could easily be screwed together

3. Useful amounts of genuine high-denomination German, Italian, and French currency, hidden within the piles of Monopoly money!

British and American air crews were advised, before taking off on their first mission, how to identify a ‘rigged’ Monopoly set — by means of a tiny red dot, one cleverly rigged to look like an ordinary printing glitch, located in the corner of the Free Parking square.

Of the estimated 35,000 Allied POWS who successfully escaped, an estimated one-third were aided in their flight by the rigged Monopoly sets. Everyone who did so was sworn to secrecy indefinitely, since the British Government might want to use this highly successful ruse in still another, future war. The story wasn’t de-classified until 2007, when the surviving craftsmen from Waddington’s, as well as the firm itself, were finally honored in a public ceremony.
~~~

It’s always nice when you can play that ‘Get Out of Jail’ Free’ card!
I realize most of you are (probably) too young to have any personal connection to WWII (Dec. ’41 to Aug. ’45), but this is still interesting, isn’t it? I wonder if Wii and Wii Fit will ever have this claim to fame.

I am so excited. While out and about with my daughter and other family members, we decided to stop at a store just on the chance that they might have a Wii and/or a Wii Fit for sale. I have been reading my sister’s blog with interest as she tells how much fun it is to exercise with her Wii Fit. I need any motivation I can get to get off my butt and get into shape. I am doing ok with my walks but except when it rains.

Lo and behold, they had a Wii Fit. I bought it and even though I didn’t have a Wii console, I figured I would find one some day. LOL

My daughter proceeded to check on the Internet that evening and found a Wii for me. They actually had one in stock. She processed the order and I received a Wii on Monday. Woo hoo!

I have discovered that I am terrible at skiing but boy oh boy, can I ever move my hips to make a hula hoop twirl. I have been walking, now that I found how to get to the walk portion of the program. I was dripping with sweat this morning. Yay me. I have to pat myself on the back. I require so much motivation!

Ok, I admit it. I WANT A Wii game console. My daughter has one and we had so much fun playing it when she met us in Kentucky. We laughed until our sides ached. You cannot imagine the facial expressions given while playing the games. Besides all the fun we had, I really enjoyed the fact that I am not such a klutz when playing online games as compared to playing in real life. We don’t even want to talk about how bad I am at sports. I think I could get into shape if I had the Wii Fit. Of course now that there is a new cooking game for Wii, I might be hungry all the time. The new game is called Order Up and I am sure will be a big hit with everyone. Watch the Order Up! Trailer to see just how much fun it is to play.

This game is the perfect way to learn to cook. Utilizing the Wii remote just like you would when you cook teaches you cooking skills! The more you adapt to the technique the harder it gets. Complexity is the name of the game as you rise up the cooking scale by cooking recipes on different skill levels. You will be cooking like a television chef before you know it!