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A Brief History of SCRABBLE®

SCRABBLE® was created in 1931 by a young out-of-work architect from Poughkeepsie, NY named Alfred Mosher Butts. After researching existing games, Butts determined that there were only a few basic categories of games at that time: games based on numbers (like bingo), games based on moves (backgammon or chess), and word games. Butts loved crosswords and anagrams, and decided to create a game that included these skills as well as some chance. The first prototype was called Lexiko, which eventually evolved into the game Criss Cross Words, and ultimately SCRABBLE®.

Butts’ research included a linguistic analysis of the English language. By studying one of the most respected publications available – The New York Times – he compiled a frequency distribution of letters used in the English language. Based on this analysis, he assigned quantities and values to each letter in the alphabet. After a little experimentation and tweaking*, he created the standard set of 100 tiles used in SCRABBLE® today. [*For instance, the frequency of U’s in the game was increased to make it easier to use the Q tile.]

From 1932-1938, Butts gave handmade Lexiko game sets to friends, but could not identify a manufacturer to produce the game commercially. From 1938-1942, Butts sold the next generation Criss Cross Words directly to individuals. Bookseller Charles Ives manufactured the game for him until the World War II broke out in 1943, when Butts met entrepreneur James Brunot.

Little was done with the game through the end of the war, when the game was refined (simplified rules, different premium square configuration, etc.), and the name was changed to the now ubiquitous SCRABBLE® Brand Crossword Game. The Brunots established the Production and Marketing Company at his home in Newtown, CT to manufacture and market the game.

They soon outgrew the space and moved to an abandoned schoolhouse in Dodgington, CT. The Brunots lost money the first few years, but eventually could not keep up with demand, and approached game manufacturer Selchow & Righter. Selchow & Righter expanded the game into several language versions (Spanish, Italian, etc.), and in 1972 purchased the rights to all SCRABBLE® brand products in the United States and Canada. Rights in the rest of the world were purchased by two other companies.

In 1986, Selchow & Righter was sold to Coleco Industries, which declared bankruptcy three years later. Rights to distribute and market the brand in North America were purchased by Hasbro, Inc. Mattel/Spears currently markets the game in other areas.

For a more detailed history, consult Everything SCRABBLE®.

Revised: 01/30/07