WHAT WOULD YOUR LOTTERY TICKET COME WITH IN 16TH CENTURY ENGLAND?
The ideal answer would be money of course. But no, not quite the case here.
in 1560s England, Queen Elizabeth I introduced the lottery to England and was promoted in scrolls as a way for people to potentially win life-changing money. And one of the ways they enticed people into buying the lottery ticket would be the introduction of the ‘get out of jail free’ card. Monopoly clearly did the research on that one…!
To answer one common question first; why did they introduce a ‘get out of jail free card’? Well. In order to create an interest in the lottery, and to get people to purchase a ticket, they needed an incentive to do so. And that came in the form of this card.
The other common question; what did the ‘get out of jail free card’ do? Well, unless you commit one of the following crimes: piracy, murder, felonies, or treason, then you were granted a one-time immunity.
The prize was money, but it also included silverware, fine linen cloth, and other valuables.
So the next time you play Monopoly, you’ll have this fact ready to go. Lucky you!