Did games of Monopoly™ help POWs escape from Germany in WWII?

Continuing the introduction theme of what I’m thankful for…

I’m very thankful for my jobs (yes, I have more than one). My work here at the newspaper is very fulfilling, especially for someone in his dotage like me. And I love my part-time jobs in radio and as a tour guide at Wild Animal Safari. I work with wonderful people at all three!

I’m also very thankful the fact that this ridiculous, screwed up year of 2020 is almost over!

What are you thankful for? If you want to share your thoughts, I’m always available at didyouknowcolumn@gmail.com, and I always reply.

Let’s be thankful for another serving of trivia, shall we?

Did you know…

…singer, Britney Spears (born 1981), uses an alias when traveling? Yeah, so do a lot of other celebrities. But I know what her alias is. She calls herself “Allotta Warmheart” when booking hotels, so nobody will recognize her. (Well, she did prior to this column, I’d bet.)

…a person who collects postcards is called a deltiologist? (The only one I ever knew, I called “Grandpa.”)

…eight people drowned in a flood of beer in England in 1814? A huge vat containing more than 135,000 gallons of beer at a brewery ruptured, causing other vats to burst, and sending a total of 320,000 gallons of the brew through the streets of London. The beer flood caused two houses to collapse and flooded the cellar homes of many poor people. Eight people drowned in the beer. The flood also damaged the wall of a nearby tavern, which was popular for selling the beer brewed at the brewery where the flood began. (Drowning in beer … what a way to go!)

…flamingo tongue was a common delicacy at Roman feasts? (I don’t think the flamingoes had much to say about that. I’ll see myself out.)

…because of an ancient superstition, sailors in the Royal Navy do not whistle aboard a ship? The old belief is that whistling on a ship can summon strong winds. The only person traditionally allowed to whistle on a ship is the ship’s cook. His whistling is the signal that he’s not eating the food. (Which could warn that another, different type of strong winds might be coming.)

…the Soviet Union had a fool-proof way of determining fake passports? During the Cold War, Soviet officials knew if one of their passports was fake by checking the staples holding the book together. Real USSR passports used cheap staples that would corrode due to the poor quality of the metal. (“In Soviet Union, staples staple you!”)

…the game of Monopoly™ was used to help prisoners of war escape during World War II? During the war, hundreds of Monopoly sets were sent to prisoners in German POW camps as part of their Red Cross packages. The games had some “extras” thrown in – escape maps, compasses, files and even real money slipped into the packets of Monopoly money. Apparently, the games were never searched by the Germans. The idea came about because the John Waddington Co., Ltd., of England, had the license to make and sell Monopoly games in the United Kingdom, and they had also developed a way to print maps onto silk – which were placed inside the game board. The “doctored” games were noted with a small red dot in the Free Parking space, something the Germans would never have noticed. And the compasses and files were camouflaged as ordinary playing pieces. Pilots were instructed to destroy the games after getting the escape materials, so the Germans would not figure out that the games were used to smuggle in escape items. (I could take a Chance and make a “Get Out of Jail Free” joke here, but you’ve probably already thought of all of them, so I won’t.)

…you can be insulted if someone calls you a blatherskite? If you’re wondering why being called that would insult you, it’s because a blatherskite is a person who talks too much, often without making sense. (And suddenly I understand that autograph in my senior high school yearbook…)

…the actress who starred in the TV series, “Murder, She Wrote” was not the first choice for the part? Dame Angela Lansbury (born 1925) won the role of mystery novelist Jessica Fletcher in the popular series, which ran from 1984 to 1996 on CBS, after original first choice, Jean Stapleton (1923-2013), turned down the role. For the rest of Stapleton’s life, Lansbury would say, “Thank you!” to her every time they met. (I don’t know about you, but I would have great difficulty equating Jessica Fletcher with Edith Bunker. I’m just saying.)

…at one time, a government actually canceled taxes? During the Qing Dynasty in China, which ruled from 1636 to 1912, one of its emperors – Qianlong (1711-1799) – canceled taxes throughout the empire four times. The emperor’s reasoning for canceling taxes: the Imperial treasury was too full. (Are you listening, Internal Revenue Service?)

…one of France’s most iconic sights was spared from destruction in 1909? The Eiffel Tower was built in 1889 for the World Exposition in Paris. It was to have been a temporary structure, and was supposed to have been torn down 20 years later – but the tower was spared because it proved to be an ideal transmitter for radiotelegraphy. (Timing is everything!!)

Now … you know!

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