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!