After many years of perfecting the mechanics of the game and filing a provisional specification (12/1/1944) at the Patent Office, Mr. and Mrs. Pratt visited Waddington's Games in Leeds, England to discuss the possibilities for its manufacture. They were accompanied to the meeting by their friends, Mr. and Mrs. Bull, who had already invented a successful game called Buccaneer.

Waddington's personnel played the first game with the Pratt's and the Bull's in the office of the Managing Director, Norman Watson. Mr. Watson immediately recognized CLUE® as a winner. Due to post-war shortages of various materials, there were some delays before the game was finally launched in 1949.

CLUE® is today sold in over 40 countries from Brazil to Sweden, New Zealand to Abu Dhabi. In England, the game is called "CLUEDO", in Brazil, "Detective". The same successful formula works when translated into any language.

RELATED INFORMATION:
History of Toys and Games   from The Great Idea Finder

ON THE BOOKSHELF:
Toy Wars
by G. Wayne Miller / Hardcover: 348 pages / Diane Pub Co (May 1, 2001)
Although it may seem to outsiders like a playful pursuit, manufacturing and marketing toys is not all fun and games. Toy Wars: The Epic Struggle Between G.I. Joe, Barbie, and the Companies That Make Them, by journalist and novelist G. Wayne Miller, reveals the realities of the business and the people behind it.

ON THE WEB:
Parker Brothers Clue® Game History
See how Hasbro has adapted their games to entertain over eight generations of kids.
(URL: www.hasbro.com/default.asp?x=corp_history_clue)
Patent Information
Official application contains game description, board drawings, and claims. From the European Patent Office records.
(URL: v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&IDX=GB586817&F=0&QPN=GB586817)
Clue Fan Site
This site is a collection of eveything in the world to do with the classic detective board game
Cluedo or Clue.
(URL: www.cluedofan.com/index.html)
How to Play Live Clue
This site was developed as part of a presentation for the Ohio Library Council Northeast Chapter Conference
(URL: www.cplrmh.com/clue.html)
Final Clue mystery solved; it wasn't Miss Scarlet or Colonel Mustard
Instead, the man who made mayhem into a children's game died peacefully of natural causes in a nursing home. Article by Robert McG. Thomas Jr.
(URL: www.theartofmurder.com/table/print/prattobit2/prattobit2.html)
Cluedo/Clue
But when this classic game was created in England, it was called "Cluedo", taking off what the Britons called LUDO (pronounced "lew-doh"), which simply means "I play" in Latin. So when Waddingtons Games Ltd., agreed to produce Anthony Pratt's new board game, they made a play on words: "LUDO" became "CLUEDO". And in more than 40 countries around the world, it's known either as CLUEDO or by the American CLUE name.
(URL: www.cluedofan.com/overview.htm)

DID YOU KNOW?:

• One mystery remains unsolved! While millions have discovered who committed the murder, where and with what weapon, nobody knows why the unfortunate Mr. Boddy was killed.
• In more than 40 countries around the world, it's known either as CLUEDO or by the American CLUE name.