The Badfads Museum
  • Activitiesvvvvvvvv
  • Collectibles
  • Events[cgview tags=events orderby=title order=asc]
  • Fashionsadd asdasdsa daads asddsaddada
  • Health
  • Hobbies
  • Music
  • Recreation
  • Technology
  • TV & Film
  • Search
  • Menu

PreviousNext
123

Crossword Puzzles

Some things exist for quite a while before they erupt into a full-blown fad — such was the case with crossword puzzles.




The first known published crossword puzzle was created by Arthur Wynne on December 21, 1913 and he is usually deemed as the inventor of the popular word game. One of the fans of the puzzles was the cousin of Richard Simon. Simon and his business partner Max Schuster owned a small three-person publishing company that would soon become Simon and Schuster.

Because his cousin enjoyed the puzzles so much, Simon sought to put together a compilation of the puzzles in a book. Simon and Schuster quickly arranged a meeting with the puzzle editors of the New York World and they agreed to put together a collection that was printed in 3,600 copies of the book. Although rejected by many book dealers early on, they eventually caught on and demand for the book exploded. Soon crossword puzzles books popped up everywhere, sometimes in other languages and often with a particular subject matter theme.

As a side note, the sale of dictionaries and thesauruses exploded with the emergence of the crossword puzzle and the collective average IQ probably increased as well.


Popular Fads

  • ZubazJuly 27, 2011 - 5:21 am
  • Zoot SuitsJuly 27, 2011 - 5:13 am
  • Wraparound GlassesJuly 27, 2011 - 5:00 am

Our Other Sites

About Bad Fads

Thank you for visiting the Bad Fads Museum.

This site was created to take a fun and nostalgic look at fashions, collectibles, activities and events which are cherished by some and ridiculed by others.

Some of our Great Sites

Great Black Heroes
Black History Moments
Black Inventors Online Museum
Great Female Inventors
History of Spies
Bad Fads Museum
Professional Wrestling Online Museum

Our Social Media

Like Us on Facebook

Tweet Us on Twitter

Watch Us on YouTube

Pin Us on Pinterest

Link to Us on LinkedIn

Contact Us

Adscape International, LLC

PO Box 173 Brandywine, MD 20613

240-244-9660

We would love your feedback.

© Copyright 2019 - Adscape International, LLC - All Rights Reserved.
  • Twitter
  • Dribbble
Scroll to top