If you like your game night to come with a box of Scrabble, the board game that requires you to actually spell words (gasp) correctly; then here is some news for you. The tricky game was invented in Jackson Heights, Queens by Alfred M. Butts (Whaaa, you say?!)
If you go poking around the hood, there really is no sign, nothing that speaks of the gentleman or his invention, but if you ask enough old timers about Butts, then you’ll get the lowdown on what exactly transpired.
Alfred Butts, was an out of work architect, who wasn’t really happy with the state of board games back in the 1930′s. He figured that by putting together word games and anagrams, he would be able to give people a game that they would enjoy. Enter, “Criss Cross.” Bad name–but what else could you expect from a guy named Butts? Anyhoo, after trifling with “Lexiko,” the board game was finally christened “Scrabble” by entrepreneur James Brunot. The rest, is H-I-S-T-O-R-Y.
To add a visual element to my ramble, here is a charming video made by Columbia Journalism Students Benedict Moran and Sruthi Gottipati, about Scrabble in Jackson Heights.
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