Raising Vikings and Monopoly in Denmark

Why the ultimate capitalist board game is a hit in Denmark and how hot water bottles and potatoes are getting us through Danish half-term

Happy ‘potato holiday’ aka ‘week 42’ aka ‘kartoffelferie’ in Denmark. In 1899, the official potato school holiday was placed in mid-October, in week 42, so the children of farmers all over Denmark could help with the potato harvest. Nowadays, the tradition seems to be the same as half-term all over Northern Europe: exhausted kids get sick (I was ill eve…