The Humble Beginnings of Bingo

While the earliest history of the game of bingo can be traced back to its original roots in Italy as early as 1530, the game as we know it today actually began in 1929 with the humble beginnings of the little game called BEANO. The game which began as a carnival game found its way into the homes of millions of people, first as the original Beano game and then as the game we all recognize-Bingo.

In 1929, a salesman who was on the road traveling as a toy salesman had the great luck to stumble onto a carnival right outside of Jacksonville. The salesman, Edwin Lowe, found the carnival full of activity especially one booth in particularly.

This booth was the booth which was packed with people playing a little game which involved a caller calling out numbers and the players using numbered cards, placing beans on the numbers as they were called. Of course, back then there weren't any cute variations to the game such as X marks the spot or 4-corner wins, but instead players were playing for horizontal, vertical or diagonal wins. If the player won, then they would receive a prize which was a doll.

Later that night, Edwin Lowe made inquiries about the game with the man who ran the game and discovered the game was picked up by the pitchman by a carnival in Germany where the game was called Lotto. The man was nice enough to explain to Lowe what he knew of the game and Lowe was intrigued further.

When Lowe returned home after his business trip, he set up the game and invited friends over to try it. While playing the game, one of the ladies ( who was playing the game), became excited because she was winning and cried out BINGO instead of BEANO and this was the beginning of the game's name as we know it.

Years later, bingo was used to raise money for charities, for entertainment in homes throughout the world and for just plain fun throughout the world. The game later was introduced to the casino market and found its way to the world of online gaming as well.