This document provides a history of the board game Scrabble from its creation in the 1930s to the present day. It describes how Alfred Butts created the game and its early development. It then discusses how the game grew in popularity and was licensed by different companies. The document also summarizes how Scrabble has adapted over time with new versions for travel, technology, and different age groups. It discusses the cultural impact of Scrabble through competitive play and use in education.

1. KeliaPagni Joey Trujillo Katherine Freeman MasharaMunns Nicole Thomas JocelinDrennan Alyssa Smith

3. A Scrabbled History From rags to riches! Alfred Mosher Butts, in Depression era 1931, conjures a plan to create a game in an attempt to boost his income Originally called Lexico (a game that would later evolve into Criss Cross Words), Butts designed a game that combined both numbers and letters, luck and skill, with an emphasis on skill Researching and charting letter frequency in the words used on the front page of the New York Times, letters were assigned number values Butts made the first working sets of his game by hand, and continued to do so through 1938, often gifting the sets to friends War put progress on hold, until 1947, when Butts and an entrepreneur named James Brunot collaborated to make the game marketable, fine-tuning the layout and rules and coining the name “SCRABBLE” Brunot rented an abandoned schoolhouse in CO as a makeshift factory, making 12 games an hour by stamping letters on wooden letters one at a time.

4. Continued… Early 1950’s, the president of Macy’s discovered the game while on vacation. Decided to sell it in his store. Became very popular. Brunot couldn’t keep up with the demand, licensed Long Island- based Selchow & Righter company. Marketed the game to the US and Canada. 1972, Selchow and Righter purchased trademark from Brunot, giving the company exclusive rights to SCRABBLE Brand products 1986, Selchow & Righter was sold to COLECO (Cabbage Patch Dolls) 1989, COLECO declared bankruptcy, best known assets purchased by Hasbro (owner of Milton Bradley Co.) Hasbro has furthered the SCRABBLE cause, promoting SCRABBLE competition by underwriting the NSA Today is found in 1 of 3 households in the US

5. Scrabble for All Scrabble has adapted with different versions of the games, broadening its appeal and accessibility through marketing and technological advancement. Disney, Junior Edition, Cooking Different types of games whether for kids or travel have become increasingly more popular year after year Scrabble has also developed games which are easily accessible on-the-go for your iPhone, iPad, or iPod for $1.99 The Scrabble App allows you to connect with your friends and family via Facebook and challenge them test your Scrabble playing skills. Scrabble mainly operates through its Facebook page where fellow Scrabblers can take polls on their favorite versions of the game. It also gives a word of the day!

6. Growing up with Media Print/Radio Era When Scrabble was first created in 1938, people’s primary media sources were print media and radio. People spent more time with each other playing board games like Scrabble and doing other activities face-to-face. Up until televisions became a household item, entertainment wasn’t particularly centered around mass media Television Nothing really changed in the world of scrabble from the 1950s, when the game became more widely available and gained popularity, and the 1970s. In the 1980’s, when television began to expand and became the media outlet of choice for more people, Scrabble became a television show on ABC.

7. Still Growing! Computer/Internet Age In the 1990’s, Hasbro created various versions of Scrabble computer games that people could purchase for home use. When the Internet picked up speed, a couple online versions of the game appeared (some Hasbro-sanctioned and some not). The Digital Age Now, in the digital age, Scrabble isn’t just a board game we play in our living room with family. In 2008, a Facebook app called “Scrabulous” (a knockoff of Scrabble) became one of the most popular games on the site, with nearly 500,000 players EVERY DAY participating virtually with each other. Hasbro sued the creators of Scrabulous, but realized that social networking sites were becoming an important way to reach consumers, so they teamed up with EA Games to create their own, official Facebook version of the game. In addition to the Facebook app, EA and Hasbro now offer a video game version for just about every console, an iPhone and Droid app for phones, and even an iPad version of the game.

8. And Growing… The Digital Age Now, in the digital age, Scrabble isn’t just a board game we play in our living room with family. In 2008, a Facebook app called “Scrabulous” (a knockoff of Scrabble) became one of the most popular games on the site, with nearly 500,000 players EVERY DAY participating virtually with each other. Hasbro sued the creators of Scrabulous, but realized that social networking sites were becoming an important way to reach consumers, so they teamed up with EA Games to create their own, official Facebook version of the game. In addition to the Facebook app, EA and Hasbro now offer a video game version for just about every console, an iPhone and Droid app for phones, and even an iPad version of the game.

9. So What’s All This Mean for Scrabble? As technology has changed, so has Scrabble. Every time a newer technology has been created, a new version of Scrabble has been there to match. What started as a simple board game has been reinvented for every major new technology and form of mass media since its creation in 1938. As technology and media become more important, extensive parts of our daily lives, so Scrabble adapts and follows suit. REALLY?! Now, there is even a computer program intelligent enough to predict the moves of other Scrabble players. This program was even pitted against another program, and the two computers, with no need for humans, played their own game of Scrabble!

10. School of Scrabble Scrabble is used today in schools as a teaching aid to help foster word-building, vocabulary, and other skills: In-School Programs! Half a million kids 18,000 kids nationwide News with teacher’s edition “Lesson plans designed to meet nationally mandated education goals”

11. Impact on Education Expands vocabulary (18,000 words) Use of strategic logic to maximize points 22 languages, 121 countries Earn MONEY and SCHOLARSHIPS!

12. A Culture of It’s Own Organizations and clubs National Scrabble Association (NSA) and North American Players Association (NASPA) Local, national, global, and school-based competition Word Wars (the official trailer!) Language Language is a definitive part of a cultural identity Official Scrabble Dictionary

13. Culture Building A tool for reinforcement… Language revitalization… Ex. Games can utilize culturally relative words exclusively to help build and strengthen cultural understanding (geography, history, tradition, etc.) Taku River Tlingit First Nation, Atlin BC

14. And after all the tiles have been played, it’s easy to see just how useful a word game can be. While only just recently made a form of media and diversion available for all via technology, the intellectual, social, and cultural benefits of the game have been around from the start: bringing people together, creating a fun and intellectually-stimulating atmosphere for all, using language (something we all share) as its medium. With the introduction of technology and Scrabble’s many adaptations and evolutions, the possibilities are seemingly endless. The game is engrained in culture, not only providing a platform around which communities can gather, but also directly influencing and helping to build cultureitself.