In 1931, the Great Depression — the worst economic crisis in American history — had thoroughly dampened the country’s spirit. Amidst the crisis, Alfred M. Butts, an out-of-work New York architect, decided to create a game to take his mind off the economy. Aspiring to develop a classic to join the ranks of other timeless card and board games, Butts came up with the idea for a board-and-tile game he non- committedly named “Criss Cross,” which we now know as Scrabble. The Architect’s Plan At its core, Scrabble was inspired by crossword puzzles and always featured the iconic lettered tiles, each with separate quantities and point values. Butts determined the point values by surfing through his collection of local newspapers and counting how often each letter appeared. To prevent players from creating too many cheap plurals, he included only four “S” tiles in each box and assigned the letter a measly 1 point. Butts was eager to share his idea with the world, but the world was not as eager to receive it. He pitched the game to several publishers and retailers, but all rejected it. Butts had to retail it on a small scale, and the game did not become the surefire hit he expected it to be. It wasn’t until fellow New Yorker James Brunot discovered the game that things changed for the better. Brunot offered to mass- produce the game and, in exchange, would provide Butts with a portion of the profits, which Butts happily agreed to. Brunot’s Bargain As soon as Brunot secured the rights to the game, he began making significant changes to it. These included redesigning the board, its color, players’ starting position, and the location of various score multiplier tiles. But his most important contribution was changing its name to Scrabble! The owner of Macy’s then discovered the game and offered to carry it in his stores. Brunot went from creating 12 copies of the game an hour when he first acquired the rights to 2,000 sets per week by 1952. By 1954, millions of copies were sold. Today, the game has been translated into over 20 languages and has sold over 100 million copies. People play the game worldwide, in tournaments and living rooms alike, and it has allowed millions to share in the joy initially envisioned by a down- on-his-luck architect in a time when hope was a distant prospect. MY WORD! EXPLORING THE RICH HISTORY OF SCRABBLE
INGREDIENTS Frosting •
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1/4 cup natural peanut butter (Do not use peanut butter with xylitol/ birch sugar) 1/2 cup plain, unsweetened applesauce 1/2 cup pumpkin purée
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt 1/4 cup peanut butter
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Cake •
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1 cup flour
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1/2 tsp baking soda 1/8 cup vegetable oil
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1 egg
DIRECTIONS Frosting 1. Thoroughly mix Greek yogurt and peanut butter, then set aside. Cake 2. Preheat oven to 350 F. 3. In a large bowl, combine flour and baking soda. 4. In a separate bowl, mix vegetable oil, peanut butter, applesauce, and pumpkin purée. Once combined, add egg and mix well. 5. Combine wet and dry ingredients. 6. Grease an 8-inch round pan with oil, fill it with cake batter, and bake for 25–30 minutes. 7. Once cooled, remove from pan and spread frosting on the cake.
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