Play a Game at Scrabble Club

Whether you’re a high-scorer or a novice, you can play a friendly game of Scrabble at the Scrabble Club. This event takes place at the Elmhurst Public Library on Monday, Nov. 8, at 10 a.m. All skill levels are welcome. At McGrath Elmhurst Toyota, we’re grateful to live and work in a community that offers so much to its residents. We appreciate the wealth of activities provided by the library.

Scrabble is available in more than 30 languages and is sold in 121 countries. Nearly 150 units of the board game have been sold around the world, and about a third of American homes have a Scrabble set. There are approximately 4,000 Scrabble clubs worldwide.

The history of Scrabble dates back to 1938 when architect Alfred Mosher Butts created it as a variant of another word game he developed called Lexiko. Butts called the new game Criss-Crosswords. It was played on a 15×15 board with the now familiar crossword-style gameplay.

Butts tried to sell his game to manufacturers but was unsuccessful. James Brunot purchased the rights from Butts in 1948, stipulating that the game inventor would get a royalty for every unit sold. Brunot made a few minor changes to the game, called it Scrabble, and began manufacturing sets in a converted schoolhouse in Connecticut. Scrabble lost money initially, but the Macy’s department store placed a larger order, and the game took off.

Brunot sold the manufacturing rights for the game to Selchow and Righter, who bought the trademark in 1972. Today, Scrabble is manufactured by Hasbro.

Here’s some Scrabble Trivia:

• The rules have been changed four times in the game’s history.
• Playing all seven tiles is officially called a bingo in North America. In other parts of the world, it’s known as a bonus.
• Scrabble is mentioned in songs by Frank Sinatra, Kylie Minogue and Barry Manilow.
• Scrabble was a TV game show from 1984 to 1990.
• ITRI created a Scrabble-playing robot that’s impossible to beat.

Date and Time:
Monday, Nov. 8, 2022, at 10 a.m.

Location:
Elmhurst Public Library
125 S. Prospect Ave.
Elmhurst, IL, 60126

Admission:
Admission to Scrabble Club is free. No registration is required.

For More Information:
Call 630-279-8696 or email [email protected].