Scrabble

• What game was invented during the Great Depression?

  Scrabble
• Who invented Scrabble?

  Alfred Mosher Butts
• Where was Alfred Mosher Butts from?

  Poughkeepsie, New York
• What inspired Butts to create a word game?

  Anagrams and crossword puzzles
• What did Butts note about popular games in his 1931 paper?

  Most were strategy, number, or letter games
• What was the original name of Scrabble?

  LEXICO
• How did Butts determine the point values for letters?

  By performing a frequency analysis
• How many 'S' tiles did Butts include in the game?

  Four
• What change did Butts make to the game in 1938?

  Added a 15×15 board
• Who bought the manufacturing rights to the game from Butts?

  James Brunot
• What condition did Brunot impose when buying the rights?

  Butts would receive royalties
• What significant change did Brunot make to the game?

  Renamed it to Scrabble
• What does the word "Scrabble" mean?

  An act of scratching or scrambling
• Where did Brunot and his wife set up their business?

  An abandoned schoolhouse
• How many units of Scrabble were sold in its first year?

  A couple of thousand
• What was the net loss for Brunot in the first year?

  $450
• Who played Scrabble while on vacation in 1952?

  Jack Strauss
• What happened after Strauss placed a large order for Scrabble?

  It became a must-have game
• What did Brunot do when he couldn't keep up with demand?

  Licensed the rights to Selchow and Righter
• How many sets of Scrabble were sold two years later?

  Over four million
• What companies previously rejected Scrabble before its success?

  Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers
• How much did Butts earn in royalties by 1971?

  $265,000
• How much did Brunot earn from Scrabble?

  $1.5 million
• What happened to Selchow and Righter in the 1990s?

  It was sold to Coleco
• Who acquired the international rights to Scrabble?

  Mattel
• How many sets of Scrabble have been sold worldwide?

  Over 150 million
• What fraction of US households own Scrabble?

  About one third
• What fraction of households in Great Britain own Scrabble?

  About half
• What are some bonus facts related to Scrabble's history?

  • Leo Fender started Fender Radio and Record Shop during the Great Depression.
  • Alfred Butts invented another game in 1985 called Alfred’s Other Game.
  • Butts was an amateur artist with works in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  • A Scrabble game show aired from 1984 to 1990.
• What was the gameplay style of Alfred's Other Game?

  Solitaire type gameplay
• What was the duration of the Scrabble game show?

  1984 to 1990