It was Mr. Pratt in Birmingham with a Crayon!
The story behind the most popular murder mystery game
Was it Colonel Mustard or Miss Scarlet? In the library or the kitchen? With the rope or the lead pipe?
A British friend asked me recently if we played the game Cluedo in America.
“Cluedo? No. But we played a game named Clue.”
As the conversation continued, we realized that we had both played the same murder mystery game as kids, though the game’s name was slightly different.
But where did the game come from?
And why is it called Cluedo in the UK and Clue in the US?
I was curious…
The story of Clue(do) begins in the 1940s, with a British musician named Anthony Pratt.
Anthony left school in his mid-teens, and made a living playing the piano, touring around England as part of the BBC Orchestra.
But when World War II began, Anthony was no longer working as a musician.
Instead, he served as a fire warden for the Air Raid Precautions and as a soldier in the Home Guard.
He also worked in a local munitions factory in Birmingham, England.
Anthony loved to read, and he spent most evenings reading books from his large collection, especially crime and detective stories.
“He was a big fan of murder fiction,” said his daughter Marcia Davies.
“He was fascinated by the criminal mind. When I was little, he was forever pointing out sites of famous murders to me.”
Then, on a summer evening in 1943, 40-year-old Anthony had an idea.
“It dawned on me that this wretched old war was killing the country’s social life,” he said.
He thought back to days before the war when “all the bright young things would congregate in each other’s homes for parties at weekends.”
“We would play a stupid game called ‘Murder’, where guests crept up on each other in corridors, and the victim would shriek and fall to the floor.
“Then came the war and the blackout, and it all went, ‘Pouf!’”
“Overnight, all the fun ended.”
“We were reduced to creeping off to the cinema between air raids to watch thrillers ... I did so miss the partying and those awful games of ‘Murder.’”
Anthony’s neighbor and friend was a man named Geoffrey Bull, who had sold a treasure-hunting game called ‘Buccaneer’ to the toymakers Waddington’s.
Seeing his friend’s success with a game gave Anthony an idea.
Working with his wife, Elva, Anthony decided to create a game, inspired by the murder mystery parties they attended before the war.
Elva worked on the board, sketching out the game’s nine rooms on cardboard, while Anthony used matchsticks colored with crayon to represent the game’s characters.
The game may have been influenced by Agatha Christie’s 1942 novel The Body in the Library, which involved Colonel and Mrs Bantry discovering the corpse of a young dancer in their library.
The Pratts would invite friends over to test out the game.
In December 1944, after 18 months of tinkering, Anthony filed a preliminary patent application for his game, called Murder!
A year later, his application included more specifications, including the game’s nine weapons (including a bomb, axe, and a bottle of poison).
Three of the original weapons (rope, gun, dagger) were included in the finished game, and a candlestick, a spanner, and a lead pipe were added.
The patent application included 10 rooms on the board, but “the gun room” was dropped from the final version.
The game also included 10 characters, and all had colorful names, but some (like Mrs. Silver and Mr. Gold) were not part of the final game.
One character, “Colonel Yellow” was changed to “Colonel Mustard” to avoid any associations with yellow being used as slang for “cowardly” in the military.
In 1945, Anthony approached Waddington’s to produce his game – called Cluedo, an amalgam of “clue” and “Ludo” (a 19th century English board game, and also Latin for “I play”).
Cluedo was later shortened to “Clue” for the US market, as “Ludo” was not sold in the US. (And maybe the toymakers questioned Americans’ knowledge of Latin?)
Although Waddington’s agreed to purchase the game, materials were in short supply at that time, and production was delayed until 1949.
But the British public snapped up Cluedo when it hit the shelves.
The money Anthony earned from Cluedo allowed him to quit his job, and the family moved to Bournemouth, England.
Anthony’s patent for the game brought in regular cheques.
“Some quarters I’d receive a cheque for something like £30,000, other quarters it would be only hundreds, and my wife would lament that we weren't Americans, who’d have made a fortune,” Anthony said.
But in 1953, Anthony made a decision that would cost him dearly.
That was when Anthony was offered £5,000 to sign away the foreign sales rights for Cluedo.
“He was told that sales were not going too well, and that it was unlikely to sell at all overseas,” said his daughter Marcia.
“So in May 1953, my father signed over all royalties from overseas sales for £5,000.
“Five-thousand pounds was a lot of money back then – you could buy a good house with that.
“In those days you didn’t go to financial advisers or agents. Ordinary people like us didn’t even know they existed.”
Anthony did not know how popular his game would become.
When the British patents expired in the 1960s, there was no more income from Cluedo sales.
“A letter came with a cheque and the news that there’d be no more, because the patents had lapsed,” Anthony said
“That was that.”
Although Cluedo (and Clue’s) popularity continued to grow, Anthony and Elva did not benefit from it.
Eventually, they moved to a smaller house, and Anthony returned to work as a solicitor’s clerk.
“My mum was angrier than he was about it,” said Marcia.
“Dad was more sanguine. He felt we’d had a good time for a few years on the back of the game.
“He didn’t court the recognition, and we weren’t penniless.
“But I can’t help thinking the money would have made my parents’ final days so much more comfortable.”
Over the years, Anthony had tried to create two other games, but was unsuccessful.
In 1980, the family returned to Birmingham.
The game that began as Murder! would go on to become one of the most successful board games of all time.
It inspired a film, a play, a musical, and a television series — not to mention many competitions and spin-off versions of the game.
In 1990, Anthony was interviewed by the Birmingham Evening Mail and asked how he felt about losing the rights to his game.
“We didn’t mind, you know. It had been one of life’s bonuses.”
“A great deal of fun went into it. So why grumble?”
Anthony lost his wife Elva in 1990. He died four years later at the age of 90, neither rich nor famous.
He is buried in Bromsgrove Cemetery in Birmingham, England.
His tombstone reads:
“A Very Dear Father. Anthony E Pratt.
Born 10 August 1903. Died 9 April 1994
Inventor of ‘Cluedo’
Sadly missed.”
Oh my, it gets sadder…
Waddington’s only discovered Anthony Pratt had passed away in the late 1990s, after they sent out a press release trying to track him down.
In celebration of the 150 millionth game sold, they launched a “Cluedo hotline” looking for information on the game’s creator.
The press release read: “Wanted: For Murder Most Enjoyable.”
One more thing…
Clue is still selling millions of copies each year, in more than 73 countries. The differences are not limited to UK and US games, though.
The murder victim I grew up with in the US was Mr. Boddy. But the victim is Dr. Black in England, Herr Kludo in Switzerland, and Senor Lemon in Spain.
Mr. Green, originally the Rev. Green in Britain, is Dr. Olive in France; Professor Plum is Professor Black in Brazil; Mrs. Peacock is Baronesse von Blauw in Norway.
And in Switzerland instead of Colonel Mustard, they have Madame Curry.
AND LET’S TALK ABOUT “MODERN” CLUE…
Updated versions of the game have been introduced over the years, though the original 1940s style version has remained more popular.
In 2016, the game saw its first character change when it replaced Mrs. White with Dr. Orchid (who is represented with a pink piece).
The other characters have also become much younger (though Colonel Mustard is significantly older).
And does anyone else think Rev Green looks like a young Matthew Perry?
A new version of Cluedo is planned for “some time in 2023.”
Curiosity Doesn’t Take a Holiday
Devoted Curious Minds readers will remember back in February, my curiosity took me down the rabbit hole to learn more about Jimmy Buffet’s hit song Margaritaville, and the billion-dollar empire he’s built on the back of it.
So when I had a last minute trip to Orlando last week, you know where I had to go…
The Margaritaville Resort
It was just what I expected in so many ways…including the laid-back feel, the vacation vibe, and this statue of a flip flop (and a pop top).
And in case you are curious (like I was), I can confirm Margaritaville did not play on repeat…
How Can I Help?
I’ll keep saying it: Communication matters.
In case you aren’t convinced, check out this article about Andi Owen, the CEO of MillerKnoll (maker of those fancy Herman Miller chairs).
Owen went viral this week for all the wrong reasons — and will forever be associated with the words “Pity City.”
But if you want to improve your communication (and get all the good things that come with that), I’m your gal.
So many companies could reap significant benefits – from performance and culture to retention and engagement – by improving their communication.
If you know someone who could benefit from some help (as even the most seasoned leaders do), please get in touch and check out my website for more information.
You can also see my Top 10 list of what I can (and can’t) do for you here.
And if you see any communication examples (the good, the bad, and the ugly) that you think are worth analyzing or sharing, please send them my way!
Until next time, Stay Curious!
-Beth
Thank you for your sleuthing on the story behind one of my favorite board games, Nancy Drew! <--a possible future topic for your newsletter?