SCRABBLE History & Gifts: National Scrabble Day

Today is National Scrabble Day. Here's a short history and some "SCRABBLE" gifts to celebrate the day.

Here's a bit of Scrabble History from Time Magazine:
Scrabble was conceived in 1938 during the Great Depression by an unemployed New York architect named Alfred Mosher Butts, who figured Americans could use a bit of distraction during the bleak economic times. After determining what he believed were the most enduring games in history — board games, numbers games like dice or cards and letter games like crossword puzzles — he combined all three. He then chose the frequency and the distribution of the tiles by counting letters on the pages of the New York Times, the New York Herald Tribune and The Saturday Evening Post. For more than a decade he tweaked and tinkered with the rules while trying — and continually failing — to attract a corporate sponsor. The Patent Office rejected his application not once, but twice, and on top of that, he couldn't settle on a name. At first he simply called his creation "it" before switching to "Lexiko," then "Criss-Cross Words."

In 1948 when a New Yorker named James Brunot contacted Butts about mass-producing the game, he readily handed the operation over. Brunot's contributions were significant: he came up with the iconic color scheme (pastel pink, baby-blue, indigo and bright red), devised the 50-point bonus for using all seven tiles to make a word, and conceived the name "Scrabble." The first Scrabble factory was an abandoned schoolhouse in rural Connecticut, where Brunot and several gracious friends manufactured 12 games an hour. When the chairman of Macy's discovered the game on vacation and decided to stock his shelves with it, the game exploded. By 1952, Brunot's homegrown assembly line was churning out more than 2,000 sets a week. Nearly 4 million Scrabble sets were sold in 1954 alone.

Read more Here

SCRABBLE GIFTS AND MORE!

Scrabble Cakes and Cupcakes:

Yarn Pillows.  I would order a J, of course, and that's worth 8 points!

I love these Scrabble Tile Macbook Decals, don't you?

Need a pencil or wouldn't this make an adorable clutch?

So maybe you want a real handbag rather than a clutch?

Scrabble Jewelry

Want to make your own Scrabble BRACELET?  Go HERE for easy instructions.


Addicted to Scrabble? Get these MUGS:

Want some Socks? These Scrabble Socks are great!

 Still wearing ties? Why not a Scrabble Tie?

 And, who wouldn't want this custom keyboard. I would!

Or, you can watch this 2004 documentary, Word Wars about Scrabble junkies.

And the final Scrabble Resting Place:

Cartoon of the Day: Holiday Scrabble

Scrabble Costume

Although I love Scrabble, I doubt I'll be wearing this Halloween costume. To order, go HERE.

Scrabble Gifts for National Scrabble Day

Today is National Scrabble Day. In celebration, over at DyingforChocolate.com I've posted several Scrabble Cakes and Cupcakes that were created for Birthdays, Weddings and special events. I knew I had to commemorate the day here on Mystery Fanfare, too. Flavorwire, one of my favorite sites for everything odd, has a whole list of gifts for National Scrabble Day. I often see the tiles at the Flea Market, and it's time to make my own.  To celebrate tonight, you'll want to play at least one game. I play every day on my iPad, but since it's Friday--and Friday the 13th, you might want to play with a real time partner.

Here's a bit of Scrabble History from Time Magazine:
Scrabble was conceived in 1938 during the Great Depression by an unemployed New York architect named Alfred Mosher Butts, who figured Americans could use a bit of distraction during the bleak economic times. After determining what he believed were the most enduring games in history — board games, numbers games like dice or cards and letter games like crossword puzzles — he combined all three. He then chose the frequency and the distribution of the tiles by counting letters on the pages of the New York Times, the New York Herald Tribune and The Saturday Evening Post. For more than a decade he tweaked and tinkered with the rules while trying — and continually failing — to attract a corporate sponsor. The Patent Office rejected his application not once, but twice, and on top of that, he couldn't settle on a name. At first he simply called his creation "it" before switching to "Lexiko," then "Criss-Cross Words."

In 1948 when a New Yorker named James Brunot contacted Butts about mass-producing the game, he readily handed the operation over. Brunot's contributions were significant: he came up with the iconic color scheme (pastel pink, baby-blue, indigo and bright red), devised the 50-point bonus for using all seven tiles to make a word, and conceived the name "Scrabble." The first Scrabble factory was an abandoned schoolhouse in rural Connecticut, where Brunot and several gracious friends manufactured 12 games an hour. When the chairman of Macy's discovered the game on vacation and decided to stock his shelves with it, the game exploded. By 1952, Brunot's homegrown assembly line was churning out more than 2,000 sets a week. Nearly 4 million Scrabble sets were sold in 1954 alone.

Read more Here

SCRABBLE GIFTS AND MORE!

Scrabble Cakes and Cupcakes:

Yarn Pillows.  I would order a J, of course, and that's worth 8 points!

I love these Scrabble Tile Macbook Decals, don't you?

Need a pencil or wouldn't this make an adorable clutch?

So maybe you want a real handbag rather than a clutch? Here's one from Sassy Lady Gifts.

 Scrabble Jewelry

Want to make your own Scrabble BRACELET?
Go HERE for easy instructions.

Addicted to Scrabble? You'll want this Mug.

Or these MUGS:

 Still wearing ties? Why not a Scrabble Tie?

 And, who wouldn't want this custom keyboard. I would!

Or, you can watch the 2004 documentary, Word Wars about Scrabble junkies.

And the final Scrabble Resting Place:

Coasters for Mystery Readers

I never use a book for a coaster, but I do want to protect surfaces most of the time. Here are a few cool coasters for readers, especially crime fiction readers. So put that glass of wine or scotch down safely on one of these.

Dexter Blood Splattered Coasters

Lets your visitors know splatters are unacceptable. Set of 6 clear glass coasters with rubberized feet.
Store them in a Dexter treasure box

Splat Stan-Silicone Drink Coaster

Stan was happy and completely oblivious to the dangerous conditions. There were heavy drinks being hoisted and lowered all around him, yet he always felt perfectly safe. Then Stan got splatted by a giant pint.

And, my personal favorite: Scrabble Drink Coasters

These cool coasters, created with scrabble letters, can be customized to create words of your own choice--or choose from 4 beverage related tile coasters.

Hat Tip: Oddee.com

Eating Your Words: Scrabble

Once again my worlds collide, although this time it's not chocolate but cookies. Following up on a food book theme (the International Edible Book Festival) that I blogged about the other day, you've got to visit Savor the Thyme's blog Eating Your Words 2010 Round Up, Part I. All of the entries are great, but I really liked the Scrabble words. Winners will be announced soon, so be sure and check back to Savor The Thyme.

This entry comes from Caroline at When Adobo Met Feijoada. She made Meyer Lemon Sugar "Letter's" for her SCRABBLE COOKIES submission. Be sure and check out the recipe and her blog. The "tiles" (cookies) are the exact size of scrabble pieces, and the letters were written with edible markers. Very cool!

Photo: Savor the Thyme with permission

Update April 9: The winner of Eating your Words 2010 on SavortheThyme: The Meyer Lemon SCRABBLE COOKIES from Caroline of When Adobo Met Feijoada! Caroline is the winner of the amazing and highly coveted aebleskiver pan courtesy of Aunt Else's Aebleskiver! Her winning entry will also be featured on Chef Zimmern's Blog. Congratulations!