In 1931, Poughkeepsie in New York State was in a similar predicament to the rest of the USA ....deep in the depths of the depression.

There was no job security. Living on your wits was the order of the day.

And so it was that when the local architect, Alfred Mosher Butts, lost his job he decided to explore his passion for games and words.

Mild-mannered, bespectacled Butts disliked dice games. They were all down to luck. On the other hand, he felt that all-skill games, like chess, were too highbrow for the general public.