Alfred Mosher Butts
An unemployed architect who turned his love of word games into Scrabble, creating one of the world's most enduring cultural pastimes.
1899–1993 (age 94)·American architect who invented Scrabble·Birthday: April 13·The Lost Generation
Biography
During the bleakness of the Great Depression, Alfred Butts, an out-of-work architect from New York, meticulously analyzed the English language to invent a game. He called it 'Lexiko' and then 'Criss-Cross Words,' calculating the letter frequency from the front page of The New York Times to perfect the tile distribution. For years, he hand-made sets and faced rejection from major game companies. It wasn't until 1948 that entrepreneur James Brunot partnered with him, tweaked the rules, and trademarked the name 'Scrabble.' Butts received only a small royalty on each set sold, but his creation slowly grew from a niche passion to a global phenomenon, selling over 150 million sets. He lived to see his game become a household staple, a quiet testament to patience and analytical brilliance.
The Lost Generation
1883–1900
Came of age during World War I. Disillusioned by the carnage, they rejected the certainties of the Victorian era and built modernism from the wreckage — in art, literature, and politics.
Alfred was born in 1899, placing them squarely in The Lost Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Alfred Was Born
The biggest hits of 1899
Alfred's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1899Born
President: William McKinley
1904Started school
New York City opens its first subway line
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1912Became a teenager
Titanic sinks on its maiden voyage
President: William Howard Taft
1915Could drive
The Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat
President: Woodrow Wilson
1917Could vote
Russian Revolution overthrows the tsar; US enters WWI
President: Woodrow Wilson
1920Turned 21
Women gain the right to vote in the US
Home: $3,395President: Woodrow Wilson"Swanee" — Al Jolson
1929Turned 30
Wall Street crashes, triggering the Great Depression
Gas: $0.21/galPresident: Herbert Hoover"Singin' in the Rain" — Cliff EdwardsBest Picture: The Broadway Melody
1939Turned 40
World War II begins; The Wizard of Oz premieres
Gas: $0.19/galMin wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Over the Rainbow" — Judy GarlandBest Picture: Gone with the Wind
1949Turned 50
NATO founded; Mao proclaims the People's Republic of China
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Riders in the Sky" — Vaughn MonroeBest Picture: All the King's Men
1959Turned 60
Fidel Castro takes power in Cuba
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $12,400Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"The Battle of New Orleans" — Johnny HortonBest Picture: Ben-Hur
1969Turned 70
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1979Turned 80
Iran hostage crisis begins; Three Mile Island accident
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $37,900Min wage: $2.90/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"My Sharona" — The KnackBest Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
1993Died at 94
European Union officially established
Gas: $1.11/galHome: $86,600Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"I Will Always Love You" — Whitney HoustonBest Picture: Schindler's List
Key Achievements
- Invented the board game Scrabble, originally called 'Lexiko,' during the 1930s.
- Performed a detailed frequency analysis of English letters to determine the tile distribution still used in the game today.
- Saw his game, after years of rejection, become one of the best-selling board games in history.
- Was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2004 for his creation of Scrabble.
Did You Know?
Butts was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's architecture school.
He originally assigned no points to the blank tiles; the 0-point value was a later addition.
The game's first factory was a converted former schoolhouse in Dodgington, Connecticut.
Butts was a talented artist and painted landscapes throughout his life.
“I studied the front page of the Times to get the letter frequencies just right.”
