Pot Luck Board Game: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This board game is a part of a collection of 233 objects associated with the Upper Berks Grain Company, a wholesaler which supplied material to stores which sold drug paraphernalia.

The board game, Pot Luck, was created in 1979 by R. Winston Carroll.

The game is modeled on the popular board game, Monopoly. Players roll dice and then move around a game board. However, rather than buying property, players buy different types of marijuana.

The initial print run for the game was for 10,000 units. A second print run of 10,000 followed quickly on the heels of the first printing.

The game was advertised in Rolling Stone, Playboy, and High Times. Attempts to have the game advertised on EZ Wider rolling papers fell through when the manufacturers of EZ Wider refused the partnership, claiming that their rolling papers were not intended for use with marijuana (the Controlled Substances Act prevented EZ Wider’s manufacturers from promoting their product in conjunction with marijuana).

After the election of Ronald Reagan (1980) and the creation of Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” anti-drug campaign (1981), Pot Luck sales dropped dramatically.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1979
• maker: Carroll, R. Winston
• Object Name: board game
• Measurements: overall: 1 1/2 in x 20 in x 10 in; 3.81 cm x 50.8 cm x 25.4 cm
• place made: United States: Ohio, Shaker Heights
• associated place: United States: Pennsylvania, Elverson
• associated subject; depicted; web subject: Marijuana
• associated subject; depicted; web subject: Drug paraphernalia
• associated community; associated subject; depicted; user's community; web subject: Recreational Drug Use
• associated community; associated subject; depicted; user's community; web subject: Hashish
• associated subject; user's community; web subject: Tobacco Use
• associated community; associated subject; user's community; web subject: Counterculture--United States--History--20th century
• ssociated community; associated subject; user's community; web subject: Smoking
• ssociated community; associated subject; user's community; web subject: Protest
• ID Number: 2024.0069.153
• accession number: 2024.0069
• catalog number: 2024.0069.153
• Credit Line: Cheryl Adams Boone
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.