Scavenger Hunt Origins
American gossip columnist, actress, and society hostess Elsa Maxwell (1883-1963) is credited for introducing modern scavenger hunts to partygoers in Paris in 1927 and popularized them upon her return to New York City in the 1930s. The idea spread, and periodically throughout the 1930s and 1940s student groups, sororities, and fraternities at the University of Chicago participated in scavenger hunts. In 1982, UChicago’s Inter-House Council organized a small, one day scavenger hunt event for students living in the dorms. [50 OG Scavvie points]
Boston: Little Brown, 1957
BJ2021.M3 1957 Rare
The Helen Lee Memorial Fund
Carl Van Vechten (1880-1964)
Carl Van Vechten Photograph Collection 1932-1956, Box 3, Folder 34-A
Portrait of Elsa Maxwell on the deck of the ocean liner Conte di Savoia, May 16, 1935
