The History of Bananagrams

In the mid-2000s, Abe Nathanson, his daughter Rena, his young grandson, and the rest of their family were playing board games at the family’s beach house in Narragansett, Rhode Island. Abe was frustrated with the slow pace of Scrabble but still wanted to play word games with his family. After reportedly saying offhand, "we need an anagram so fast it will drive you bananas,” he got the inspiration for Bananagrams. The Pawtucket native quickly got rid of the Scrabble board and began making words using the tiles instead. The rest of the family joined in and tested out basic rules as they went. Abe, who had been making toys for his family for many years but had never marketed them before, created the gameplay organically with his loved ones, then decided to have some made for local toy stores. After Bananagrams immediately sold out, Abe and his family launched their game at the 2006 London Toy Fair and it became an immediate hit, even winning Game of the Year at the Toy of the Year Awards in 2009. Today, Bananagrams is considered a modern classic and is a favorite for family game nights.