History of Bingo Tips

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What did Carl Leffler do for Bingo?

Carl Leffler

All wasn't smooth with Edwin S. Lowe's Bingo card development. It was found that at times during Bingo games, there could be more than a dozen winners in a game. Of course, this led to monetary issues for the churches and halls having to pay the winning players.

Because of this, Lowe requested the assistance of a man named Carl Leffler. Carl was a professor of mathematics at Columbia College. Edwin S. Lowe asked Carl to create 6,000 Bingo cards that had non-repeating number groups.

This took some time and was very difficult for Carl to do, but he did indeed do it! The creation of these 6,000 cut back on the number of winners per game, which helped Bingo halls everywhere!

   
What Happened in France?

On to France

Word spread around Europe of Italy's popular lottery game. In the 1770's, France became aware of this trend and started their own version of the game.

The game was referred to as "Le Lotto" in France and was often played by the wealthy. The game changed a bit; the card used for the game was divided into three horizontal rows and nine vertical rows. Each row had blank squares and numbered squares picked randomly. The vertical rows held numbers from one to 10 in the first row, 11 to 20 in the second and so on, much like we have today.

A caller would pull chips that were marked with numbers and players would cover the number on his card with a chip should it be called out.

Sound familiar?

   
Who is Edwin S. Lowe?

Edwin S. Lowe

Edwin S. Lowe discovered a group of men playing Beano in the 1920's in Florida. Lowe was so intrigued with the game and how addicted the people playing it seemed to be, that he took the idea and ran.

When he returned to his home in New York, Lowe purchased some dried beans, some cardboard for cards and rubber stamps for marking. He decided he would be the person pitching this Beano game and tried it on his friends.

During one of the games, a player was very close to winning and very excited. When her final number was called she yelled out, "Bingo" rather than "Beano" in her excitement.

This is when Edwin S. Lowe had the idea to rename the game "Bingo" and market it as such. He put out two versions of Bingo; a 12-card version that cost one dollar and a 24-card version that cost two dollars.

The game was a huge success. This is how the game of Bingo was born!

   
What is Beano?

Beano?

BEANO! That doesn't sound right if you yell it out, does it? To think, the United States version of Bingo started off being called Beano.

In the 1920's a businessman named Edwin Lowe noticed a carnival while on a trip to Florida. After peering in on the carnival he discovered men playing a game on a table shaped like a horseshoe.

On the horseshoe were cards that were numbered covered with dried beans. The men were playing a variation of the Lotto games but were calling it Beano. When a man covered his card with the designated numbers, he quickly and loudly would yell out "Beano" and win a Kewpie doll as a prize.

Edwin S. Lowe was fascinated by what he saw and questioned the pitchman after the games ended. The man explained he had come across the German Lotto version of the game while in Germany and brought his own version to the United States to play. Thus, the game of Beano began!

   
What did Germany do with the Game of Bingo?

Educational Lotto Games

Once the French started playing this form of Bingo, the word spread even more about this entertaining game. In the 1800's, Germany joined the Bingo bandwagon.

The game took another twist while in Germany and became more of an educational game used to teach children in 1850. These Bingo-type games taught children multiplication tables, spelling, animals and history. Children in Germany were learning while playing a version of Bingo.

Even today, Bingo is a great way to teach children new concepts or review previously learned ones! Bingo is fun and educational!

   
Where did Bingo Begin?

It All Began in Italy

Italy is known for its high end fashion and its many talented designers, but did you also know it was where the game of Bingo originated?

In 1530, an Italian lottery existed that was referred to as "Lo Giuoco del Lotto D'Italia" or the Italian National Lottery. This lottery was held weekly in Italy and brought out many players. Bingo is a direct descendent of this lottery.

The Italian State Lottery today is still played in Italy and contributes 75 million to the Italian government.

   
Is Bingo Trademarked?

Bingo Trademark

With Edwin Lowe's immediate success in the Bingo game market, others followed suit and created their own versions of the game. Why wouldn't they? People saw just what this had done for Lowe. While he could have trademarked the name Bingo, he couldn't really trademark the game as versions of it were being played elsewhere under a different name.

Lowe instead asked people wishing to call their version of the game Bingo to pay him $1 a year. This is how the name Bingo became a term widely used by anyone wishing to create his own cards and supplies.

   
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