Ike and Mamie play Scrabble at Camp David, 7/30/1954, Eisenhower Library, NARA ID 67-82-A-17.
HAPPY NAT'L SCRABBLEDAY!
Marines aboard the amphibious assault ship USS OKINAWA (LPH 3) play Scrabble under the aft Mark 33 3-inch/50-caliber gun mount, 12/1/1987, NARA ID 6430922.
By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs
As a special Scrabble Day gift, here are some archival Scrabble -approved words for your next big game!
Albumen - an albumen photo is one created using a silver halide as the light-sensitive agent and egg whites (albumen) as the binder.
Foxing - discoloration on paper, generally in the form of random rust colored spots.
Halide- in silver halide film, the light sensitive ingredient is a silver halide emulsion
Hygrometer/Psychrometer - instruments used to measure temperature and relative humidity
Lignin - a component of the cell walls of plants, along with cellulose; its presence in paper may contribute to chemical degradation.
Plasticizer - an added chemical used to make PVC more flexible.
Thymol - a toxic, carcinogenic, crystalline compound once used as a preservative and fungicide.
Its been almost 14 years and this is still one of the most unnerving videos I’ve seen. The idea that someone could honestly believe that Scrabble was an oracle of some kind can easily be comical (not that there aren’t any moments of levity in this short) and yet here she’s shown to be obsessed to the point of madness. I’ve seen some crazy stuff involving numerology but this takes the cake.
The ending was especially unnerving, with her implied to have gone and shot that man while he was in the hospital for ruining her percieved prophecy. I think what really makes this whole short unnerving is how it’s all presented against a solid black background with scant but well-placed music and sound effects. It reminds me of those creepy EAS videos.
