ABSTRACT
In Christmas 1953, shoppers could obtain the standard three-dollar Scrabble set in only two ways: they could place their names on long waiting lists, or they could stand for hours alongside a retail counter until a new shipment of the game arrived, at which time they were likely to become engulfed in a wave of desperately groping humanity. At that point in time there were approximately 1.1 million sets in the U.S. and perhaps ten million players, with countless converts appearing every hour. Scrabble was alleged to be selling more rapidly than any board game in the history of the trade.
