In 1963, E. S. Lowe Company, Inc. (New York) marketed a new game called Scribbage. It was a "dice" game, but instead of standard dice markings, each side of a die contained a letter. The intent of this game was similar to other "dice-word-games" of the period - to make words from the letters that came up when the dice were rolled from the dice cup.
The copy of the game pictured on the right was donated to the Museum in 1970. The box is 12cm long x 26cm wide x 4cm high. Instructions for the game are printed inside the box cover. The dice cup is 8cm high x 7cm in diameter.
The dice cubes are 1.6cm square. For the most part, each cube has an alphabetical letter imprinted on each face of the cube, and a corresponding number representing a player's score for using that letter in a word. The following is the distribution of the letters:
(1) N-2, C-4, O-1, V-4, U-3, K-5
(2) O-1, N-2, U-3, S-2, M-3, B-4
(3) S-2, E-1, H-3, L-2, A-1, T-2
(4) L-2, A-1, I-2, G-4, Q-8, F-4
(5) I-2, R-2, E-1, L-2, 0-1, T-2
(6) A-1, R-2, E-1, N-2, D-3, J-6
(7) A-1, E-1, T-2, W-4, D-3, V-4
(8) M-3, Y-4, O-1, W-4, U-3, P-4
(9) S-2, A-1, Y-4, B-4, E-1, X-8
(10) S-2, E-1, D-3, R-2, I-1, Blank Diamond
(11) O-1, H-3, T-2, R-2, E-1, N-2
(12) F-4, I-2, Z-10,A-1, C-4, E-1
(13)G-4, E-1, M-3, P-4, I-2, Blank Diamond.
The game is intended for 2 to 4 players.
About 1978, Milton Bradley Co. (which had absorbed E.S. Lowe) marketed a new version of the game of Yahtzee, called Word Yahtzee. The original version of the game used dice with standard numeric markings.
The copy in the photograph at the right was donated to the Museum in 1987. This new version of Yahtzee combined elements from the original game of Yahtzee and the game of Scribbage, but used letters on the dice instead of number markings. Thus "Word Yahzee" replaced the game of "Scribbage" on the market.
Click on "Classic American Games" in the left menu above to see more detailed information about the standard Yahtzee dice game, as well as the "word" variation.
Last update April 1, 2010