Cluedo inventor’s archive goes on longterm loan to the Library of Birmingham

Marcia Lewis – the daughter of the inventor of Cluedo, Anthony Pratt – has handed over her father’s archive to the Library of Birmingham. The archive consists of a number of fascinating communications from staff at Waddingtons Games.

Among the noteworthy correspondence is a letter telling Anthony that Cluedo – known as Clue in the US – will be going on sale soon. Another rejects Anthony’s proposal for a new game called Treasure Hunt. Astonishingly, the same missive goes on to explain that Waddingtons Games is “…somewhat disappointed with the Cluedo sales.” In all, the archive comprises of around 70 documents and images, alongside a number of objects for the museum to store and, potentially, exhibit.

Marcia handed the archive over to Jo-Ann Curtis and Peter Doré at the Library of Birmingham at 12:45pm on Wednesday November 12th. Marcia told onlookers: “Without Birmingham, Cluedo wouldn’t have ever happened… It’s only right that these items should come home to Birmingham…”

Speaking about the legacy of her parents, Marcia added: “Cluedo is a phenomenon but – above all – it’s just lovely to think they’ve left something that gives so much pleasure to people of all ages, all nationalities. It’s a lovely mark for them to have left on the world and I’m just sorry they didn’t know in their lifetime just how important it was.”

Peter Doré, Head of Birmingham Archives and Collections, acknowledged the quality of Marcia’s curating. He said: “There’s some brilliant stuff in this archive. It’s great to see the progress of Anthony’s initial ideas developing all the way through to it ending up on the market… It gives you a great picture of the whole process.” The material already has a collection number; MS5201. That means people can request to see it in person immediately. It will also soon be available to view in an online catalogue.

You can read about The History and Mystery of Cluedo in a deep dive into the game’s creation here. You can also learn more about Anthony Pratt in an interview with daughter Marcia Lewis here. Finally, you can take a look at one of the letters from the archive – printed with Marcia’s permission in last year’s Mojo Nation Magazine – here.

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