National Scrabble Day
National Scrabble Day on April 13 honors the birth anniversary of the mastermind who invented this legendary board game.
Alfred Mosher Butts was a popular American architect who founded Scrabbles while he was unemployed for a period during 1930.
National Scrabble Day is about cherishing creativity, the satisfaction of a beautifully placed word, and the legacy of a brilliant mind who gifted word lovers this timeless board game.
History of Scrabbles
The history of Scrabble is embedded with persistence, creativity, and a bit of fortune, too. What started off as a plain experimental game during challenging times went on to become the most popular word-based board game across the world.
American architect in Poughkeepsie, Alfred Mosher Butts, built a word game as another variation of Lexiko, one of his earlier games. Both games are played with letter tiles, but what segregated them was how they are designed.
He carefully researched how frequently each letter appeared in real-life texts, such as in newspapers like the New York Times, and used the data to assign points to decide the frequency of each letter to be included.
Butts modified his game even more by adding a 15*15 board and crossword-style gameplay and called it the Criss-Crosswords. Although the concept was smart, he initially struggled to sell it, and as no major game companies showed any interest, he made a few sets himself.
In 1948, James Brunot, another game enthusiast, purchased the rights to this game and pledged to pay Butts a royalty for each copy sold. Brunot made some minor modifications in the game but kept most of it the same as it was originally made and named it Scrabble.
James Brunot and his family started making Scrabble sets by hand in 1949 in an old schoolhouse based in Dodgingtown, Connecticut. With around 2,400 sets sold, they were still operating at a loss.
Brunot partnered with Selchow and Righter in 1952 (they rejected the game initially), and once they started producing it, Scrabble quickly became popular.
Nearly four million sets were sold by 1954, and the Scrabble trademark was officially bought by the company in 1972.
Selchow and Righter were acquired by Coleco in 1986, which later filed for bankruptcy; in 1989, the rights were bought by Hasbro.
Mattel got the rights to manufacture Scrabble outside North America in 1994, and today Hasbro manages it in North America, while Mattel handles the rest of the world.
Scrabble evolved from a board game into a TV show game in 1984 on NBC, running until 1990 and briefly returning in 1993.
Another version aired in 2011. In 2004, it was added to the National Toy Hall of Fame.
From a handmade game to a global favorite, Scrabble continues to bring people together through the joy of words.
Celebrating National Scrabble Day
If you enjoy playing with words, this is your chance to slow down and have fun with your loved ones while playing this iconic board game.
Keep the vibes playful and use little challenges to make it more fun. This is also the perfect opportunity to get kids out of their screen and help them develop their vocabulary with new words.
However you choose to spend it, the day is really about appreciating language, sparking creativity, and enjoying the magic hidden in everyday words.
Treat Yourself To Brand New Scrabble Sets
Portable Scrabble Set
Monopoly Scrabble Game
The Classic Scrabble
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