Scrabble is a traditional word based board game. It has been about for decades as it was created in 1938. Not many people know but it is actually a variation on an older word game called Lexico. It was created by architect Alfred Mosher Butts. Do develop the game Butts had to meticulously perform frequency analysis on each letter of the alphabet in order to determine the scoring system!

The game really took off when in 1948 James Brunot from Newtown, Connecticut bought the manufacturing rights to the game by offering Butts a royalty on every game sold. At this point the rules were slightly simplified. The game was also called “Scrabble” meaning to “search frequently” for the first time.

Originally the game lost money, being manufactured in a former school house by Brunots family. It was only in 1952 when Jack Strauss, president of Macy’s played the game while on holiday. When he returned he realised that his store did not sell the game and immediately placed a large order.

At this point Brunot was unable to meet the demand himself so he sold the rights to Selchow and Righter who had previously rejected the game! They however went bankrupt in 1986 and there assess were bought by Hasbro. Scrabble is now owned by Mattel. It was also turned into a popular daytime quiz show by TV network NBC and the show ran from July 1984 to March 1990. It was hosted by Chuck Woolery, the show continued for a few years before unfortunately it was discontinued!