Bingo Origins and the History of Bingo
The history of Bingo goes back to games of Lotto first held in Italy, then in France, on into Germany, then finally arriving in the USA. For some of us who wondered why the elderly players shouted out “Beano”, there actually was a reason after all. Beano was the original name of Bingo at carnivals in the United States where beans were the markers rather than chips. Here is how it all began.
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In Italy, the first public paying lottery
The first sign of what we know today as Bingo dates back to the 1530 Florence Italy drawing “La Lotto de Firenze”, which was the first public paying lottery. Due to its popularity, in the same year similar drawings were formed in Genoa and Venice to raise funds for public projects. And when Italy was united in that same year, the popular lottery spread throughout Italy and was renamed Lo Giuoco del Lotto d’Italia. With but a few interruptions due to wars, the Italian lottery begun in 1530 still exists today, is an indispensable part of the government budget and draws in a yearly contribution of over 75 million dollars.
France catches on
In 1778, the intelligentsia of France caught on to the development that had begun in Italy and formed the popular version of the lottery. Cards were used and each was divided into three horizontal rows and nine columns. In the nine columns there were the random numbers of from 1 to 10 for the first column, 11 to 20 in the second, and so on up to 81 to 90 for the ninth and final column. The three rows consisted of five places with numbers and four places with blanks. Each of the many cards was different, meaning no two alike. Wooden chips numbered from 1 to 90 were drawn from a cloth bag and read out loud. Players covered the number read on their card. When a player completely covered a row, they won the game.
Germany, then all of Europe
Germany liked the game as well and in the 1800s used the idea of Lotto to educate children. Games evolved to teach multiplication tables, spelling and history and also taught children how to count. Lottery games spread throughout Europe as they became popular everywhere.
America, Beano to Bingo
An American man touring Germany with a carnival saw the popular lottery game as an opportunity. He made up some cards and changed the wins to filled row, column, or diagonal and used beans to place on the players cards. When someone filled the line, they shouted “Beano!” When he brought the game back to the United States, toymaker Ed Lowe happened to come by on a busy night where he observed play but found the tent so crowded that he could not get a seat. Lowe went home and fashioned some cards and invited friends over to try it out. He drew the numbers from a bag and noticed the same excitement among his guests that he had witnessed at the carnival. One woman was so excited that when she finally placed the final bean down on her card for the win, she stood up and stammered, “Bingo!” Lowe knew from this woman’s elation that the game was a winner. He chose the name that the woman had cried out in joy, Bingo. He manufactured and sold the game and was very successful. He never applied for a trademark; he only asked that competitors pay him a dollar a year and call the game Bingo.
Bingo Online History
Online Bingo has been around since 1996. You can learn more one our page titled Online Bingo Games.
