What would life be without its games and toys? Here at LCG they can be found in the libraries and lounges. Here’s a little history on three that we have surely enjoyed over our lifetimes.
During World War II, there was a serious shortage of rubber. Scientists were attempting to develop a synthetic rubber. An engineer at General Electric combined boric acid and silicone oil and inadvertently dropped some on the floor. It bounced! It couldn’t be used in place of rubber; but five years later this gooey substance found its way to toy store shelves. It became known as Silly Putty and was sold in plastic eggs. More than 4,500 tons of Silly Putty have been sold since 1950. It can be found in the Smithsonian Institute and even went to the moon with the Apollo 8 astronauts.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s son, John, another famous architect, after studying his father’s techniques for earthquake-proof structures in Japan, invented a child’s building set with pieces of notched redwood. He introduced them to the public in 1924, marketed under the name of Lincoln Logs. Years ago a switch was made to plastic pieces, but they are back to being produced of wood again.
Everyone’s favorite word game, Scrabble, has undergone many name changes. It was first developed in 1931 by Alfred Butts and called Lexico. He applied for a patent under that name and was turned down. Years later he applied again with the name Criss-Crosswords…turned down again. It wasn’t until 1948 that the name Scrabble was offered and accepted. The game is now available in 29 languages and has sold over 100 million sets. Mr. Butts lived to see the first Scrabble world championship, held in London in 1991. He was 91 years old at the time.