Selchow and Righter

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Selchow and Righter was a 19th century New York game manufacturer best known for the games Parcheesi and Scrabble.

It dates back to 1867[1] when it was founded as E.G. Selchow & Co. In 1880, to reflect his new partnership with John Righter, the company name was changed to Selchow and Righter.[2] Games were also produced by Chaffee & Selchow, particularly between 1897 and 1902. Until the mid-twentieth century Selchow and Righter was considered a "jobber", a game company that produced and licensed other peoples' games.

Their first hit was Parcheesi, which they purchased the rights to in 1870 and trademarked in 1874. In 1952 they licensed Scrabble from James Brunot, then purchased that trademark in 1972.[1] Other notable S&R games include Anagrams (1934), which was a Victorian word game, originally published by Selchow and Righter, and Jotto (1955), which was licensed by Selchow and Righter in the 1970s.

Selchow and Righter was purchased by Coleco Industries in 1986 for US$75 million in cash and notes.[3] In 1989 Coleco declared bankruptcy and its primary assets were purchased by Hasbro for US$85 million in cash, plus US$28 million of options.[4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Hasbro Scrabble - History (2005).
  2. ^ "A Brief History of American Games" (1997). Toy Shop. 
  3. ^ “Coleco Agreement”, New York Times, 1986-05-06, <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE6D8113BF930A25754C0A96F948260> 
  4. ^ “Hasbro's Purchase of Coleco's Assets”, New York Times, 1989-07-13, <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE6D8113BF930A25754C0A96F948260> 
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