Analysis of the front page of The New York Times allowed Alfred Mosher Butts to determine the exact frequency of each letter in the English language. This statistical foundation enabled the design of his most significant contribution to popular culture, a game originally titled Lexiko that eventually transformed into the globally distributed board game known as Scrabble.
Architectural Foundation
Born in 1899 in Poughkeepsie, New York, Butts attended Poughkeepsie High School and later secured a degree in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania in 1924. While his professional career focused on building design, his creative interests extended to the fine arts. The Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired six of his drawings for its collection, highlighting his ability to translate visual concepts into tangible forms beyond structural engineering.
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In the early 1930s, a period of professional unemployment led Butts to examine the mechanical principles of existing recreational activities. He categorized games into three primary structures: movement-based systems like chess, dice-based systems like bingo, and word-based systems like anagrams. By integrating these elements with the popular pastime of crossword puzzles, he developed a system that balanced linguistic skill with calculated probability.
Commercial Evolution
Butts initially struggled to find a manufacturer for his invention, which he briefly renamed Criss Cross Words. The project gained momentum only after he sold the rights to entrepreneur James Brunot. In 1948, the game was officially trademarked as Scrabble. Production began in an abandoned schoolhouse in Dodgingtown, Connecticut, with early efforts yielding a net loss of $450 in 1949. Distribution assistance from Macy's and eventual licensing to Selchow and Righter facilitated mass market adoption.
Later Pursuits
During his later years, Butts returned to game design, releasing Alfreds Other Game in 1985 through Selchow and Righter. This tile-based system utilized 144 letters and four boards, requiring players to build multiple word combinations simultaneously. While this project lacked the reach of his primary success, it reflected his enduring interest in linguistic mechanics. Butts passed away in Rhinebeck in 1993 and is buried at Stanford Cemetery.
Fast facts
- Born: 1899, Poughkeepsie
- Died: 1993, Rhinebeck
- Education: University of Pennsylvania
- Occupation: Architect and inventor
- Notable work: Scrabble
- Burial site: Stanford Cemetery
Questions readers ask
Did Alfred Mosher Butts have children?
No, he and his wife, Nina, did not have children during their 54-year marriage.
Why were there only four S tiles in the original Scrabble set?
Butts limited the quantity of S tiles to prevent the game from becoming too easy to win through simple pluralization.
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