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!