History
Many different variations of bingo have been played all over the world under many different names. The game was spawned from lottery games played as far back as the Roman times. Usually this game was used in wealthy households as a fun activity at parties. Every guest will receive a ticket and be assured of receiving a prize. History mentions that Augustus Cesar promoted the sale of tickets so that the lottery became a profitable business in Rome. The proceeds from these games funded important repairs in Rome. The game “Keno” was also very popular in China using characters instead of numbers; legends tell that during the Han dynasty profits from lottery games were used to fund building the Great Wall of China.
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In 1530, the Italian national lottery (Lo Giuoco del Lotto d'Italia) was organised in Florence. This provided a great source of income for the Italian government and still is an indispensable asset to the government budget.
Due to its massive success in Italy the game spread to many countries including France. In 1774 the government in France organised the first French national lottery (la Loterie de l’école Militaire). The proceeds from these games funded many building ventures in France such as the “Champ de Mars” (Field of Mars, named after Mars the god of war) which was originally used for military drills. Proceeds also funded the “Brienne-le-Château” a military school in which, many years later the world famous political and military leader Napoléon Bonaparte would study. In 1776 Louis XVI abolished the French National Lottery and replaced it with the Royal National Lottery with the soul purpose that the proceeds would fund war and other investments benefiting the monarchy. The French government again suppressed lotto games in 1791 to re-instate them in 1797 under the name “loterie nationale de France” (the French national lottery).
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In the 1800’s after the game had captured the imaginations of many entrepreneurs the game was orientated into a more educational setting. In Germany around the 1850’s variations of lotto games were used to teach children their multiplication tables and evidence of this can still be found in schools all over the world today. Many other ‘educational Lotto games’ were created over time such as ‘animal lotto’ where children are given a board with the pictures of animals and the task was to place the correct pieces on top of the corresponding square. Another example of the lotto being used in an educational setting is ‘spelling lotto’ where children are given a board with pictures of items with the goal being to spell the name of the item. Educational lotto games are still used in the school curriculum to help children learn multiplication and spelling.
In the 1920’s a toy salesman from New York by the name of Edwin S. Lowe was travelling to Jacksonville (Georgia) to arrange business appointments. On his travels he decided to stop at a country carnival to lift his spirits. When Lowe arrived, the carnival was coming to a close and only one booth was still open. Lowe approached the busy booth to find out what all the excitement was about, he found a game called ‘Beano’ being played on a horseshoe shaped table packed with customers pouring over numbered cards and holding small beans. The customers sat, listening intently to the numbers on small wooden discs that the booth owner was pulling individually out of a cigar box. Lowe attempted to find a seat and immerse himself into the game but it seemed none of the other customers wanted to leave; they all looked completely hooked and glued to their seats. The booth owner was trying to bring his game to a close and by 3:00 am he had to chase the players away. After the game closed Lowe found out that the booth owner had picked up the lotto game in Germany and had adapted it into a game that could be enjoyed at a carnival then renamed it Beano.
