Scrabble's historic connection with Jackson Heights, Queens revealed
NEW YORK - Lovers of language and a little friendly competition have played the game of Scrabble for generations, but this bestselling board game has a lesser-known history, which began in our own backyard.
At the Queens Library at Fresh Meadows, three friends gather for a weekly ritual.
Lynne Sherman, Pauline Bekele and Mona Fabricant first got to know each other in retirement over a game of Scrabble. They've kept their bond strong for years thanks to meetings with the library's Scrabble Club.
"I like getting out of the house," Bekele said. "And the people are always very nice."
Their friendly competitions take place just a few neighborhoods away from a Scrabble landmark.
Early versions of the game were first played in the social room at the Community Methodist Church in Jackson Heights. Marking the spot stands a Scrabble-style street sign with letters denoting points, just like in the game.
"Only people who know about the game of Scrabble are going to know immediately what it is, and that's why it's my favorite sign, because it's unique ... It's an Easter egg," Queens Historical Society executive director Jason D. Antos said.
A game of strategy requiring spelling skills, a little bit of math and the luck of the draw, Scrabble has left its mark. But whose is the brain behind the beloved board game?
The creator was Alfred Mosher Butts, a Jackson Heights resident who loved puzzles and lived into his 90s.
"He was very proud of it. Whenever you see photographs of him, he poses proudly with the game," Antos said.
Butts first conceptualized the game during the Great Depression, when he was a jobless architect living in a fifth-floor walk-up in Jackson Heights. Cutting the lettered tiles by hand out of balsa wood, he tried out various names for his invention, including Criss Cross Words. In those days, he tested prototypes on friends and family. More than eight decades later, the game's name and rules have evolved into a global phenomenon.
Played in English from India to Senegal, Scrabble is also sold in more than 30 languages. Nigeria regularly wins world championship tournaments.
From a competitive sport to a mind-expanding exercise, the game is a lot of things to a lot of people.
Back at the library, there's one reason above all to play Scrabble.
"Just—it's fun," Sherman said.