where did Yahtzee originate?

Answer 1

"E.S. Lowe filed Yahtzee as a trademark with the U.S. Patent Office on April 19, 1956. The first commercial usage of the name Yahtzee was a few weeks earlier on April 3. Lowe classified his product as a "Poker Dice Game".

According to Hasbro, the game was invented in 1954 by an anonymous Canadian couple, who called it "The Yacht Game" because they played it on their yacht with their friends. Two years later they asked toy and game entrepreneur Edwin S. Lowe if he would make up some sets to be given as gifts to their friends who enjoyed the game. Lowe perceived the possibility of marketing the game, and acquired the rights to the game from the couple in exchange for 1,000 gift sets. This story is expanded by E.S. Lowe in the 1973 book A Toy is Born. According to Lowe, the game did not initially do well commercially, since the rules and appeal were not easily conveyed in an advertisement. Eventually he had the idea of organizing "Yahtzee parties" where people could play the game and thereby gain a firsthand appreciation for it. The idea was successful, and enthusiasts quickly popularized the game through word of mouth.

However, the overall concept of Yahtzee traces its roots to a number of traditional dice games. Among these are the Puerto Rican game Generala, and the English games of Poker dice and Cheerio. Most notable is the dice game named Yacht which is an English cousin of Generala. This game is fully explained in The Complete Book of Games by Clement Wood and Gloria Goddard (1940). This predecessor is extremely similar to Yahtzee in both name and content. The game's rules differ from those of Yahtzee in the following ways:it does not have an upper section bonus, both straights are a sequence of five (must attain 23456 and 12345), full house is scored by summing all dice, there is no three-of-a-kind category, and the highest possible score is 302. Wood classifies Yacht and a similar three dice game called Crag as sequence dice games."

Answer 2

History
Original 1956 Yahtzee GameE.S. Lowe filed Yahtzee as a trademark with the U.S. Patent Office on April 19, 1956. The first commercial usage of the name Yahtzee was a few weeks earlier on April 3. Lowe classified his product as a "Poker Dice Game".

According to Hasbro, the game was invented in 1954 by an anonymous Canadian couple, who called it "The Yacht Game" because they played it on their yacht with their friends. Two years later they asked toy and game entrepreneur Edwin S. Lowe if he would make up some sets to be given as gifts to their friends who enjoyed the game. Lowe perceived the possibility of marketing the game, and acquired the rights to the game from the couple in exchange for 1,000 gift sets. This story is expanded by E.S. Lowe in the 1973 book A Toy is Born. According to Lowe, the game did not initially do well commercially, since the rules and appeal were not easily conveyed in an advertisement. Eventually he had the idea of organizing "Yahtzee parties" where people could play the game and thereby gain a firsthand appreciation for it. The idea was successful, and enthusiasts quickly popularized the game through word of mouth.

However, the overall concept of Yahtzee traces its roots to a number of traditional dice games. Among these are the Puerto Rican game Generala, and the English games of Poker dice and Cheerio. Most notable is the dice game named Yacht which is an English cousin of Generala. This game is fully explained in The Complete Book of Games by Clement Wood and Gloria Goddard (1940). This predecessor is extremely similar to Yahtzee in both name and content. The game's rules differ from those of Yahtzee in the following ways:it does not have an upper section bonus, both straights are a sequence of five (must attain 23456 and 12345), full house is scored by summing all dice, there is no three-of-a-kind category, and the highest possible score is 302. Wood classifies Yacht and a similar three dice game called Crag as sequence dice games.

The E.S. Lowe company sold Yahtzee from 1956 to 1973. During Lowe's ownership, a number of changes were made to the game's packaging, contents, and appearance. Between 1956 and 1961, the game's advertising slogan was changed from:

The Game That Makes You THINK While Having FUN to the new slogan

The FUN Game That Makes THINKING fun!

The game and its contents were copyrighted by E.S. Lowe in 1956, 1961, 1967, and 1972. In 1973, Milton Bradley purchased the E.S. Lowe Company and assumed the rights to produce and sell Yahtzee. During Lowe's ownership over 40 million Yahtzee games were sold in America and around the globe. The game has maintained its popularity. According to current owner Hasbro, fifty million Yahtzee games are sold each year.

Over time, the Yahtzee logo has taken several forms. The original version of the Logo was used throughout the entire period that the game was produced solely by the E.S. Lowe company. After 1973, the logo changed various times. This logo is found on the scorecards and the game boxes. (See image of the logos in the "Rules" section above)


[edit] Evolution of the Game Packaging and Contents
Over the time period from the first sale in 1956 to the present day, many changes have been made to the packaging and contents of the game. This is a brief overview of the evolution of the packaging from 1956 to 2004. The dates here denote the latest copyright date on each version of the game. Often the latest copyright date is only stated on the instruction booklet, not on the box. All boxes prior to 1973 only have the original copyright date of 1956. The following gallery exhibits the evolution of the Yahtzee game box over time. The differences in same-date varieties stem from the use of different dice cups (paper cup with rim, paper cup no rim, plain plastic, ridged plastic etc.) and box differences. Click on images for a detailed description of each game.


1956

1961

1967 a

1967 b


1967 c

1972

1973

1975


1978

1980

1982 a

1982 b


1982 c

1996

1998

2004

Answer 3

Yahtzee was invented in 1956 by Edwin S. Lowe.He at first called it the "Yacht" game.Mainly because he invited some friends aboard his yacht.They loved the game.Soon he began to sell,didn't sell good the first year.Then Mr.Lowe started to throw Yahtzee parties.The game became increasingly more popular after that.Milton Bradley eventually acquired the E.S. Lowe company..