DECEMBER 1st - Yahtzee! People love Bingo.



This day is more of an arbitrary celebration than an actual commemoration of an event. This is the day that we celebrate the invention, rather customization, of a great American game. On a December day in 1929, and let us just say it was December 1st to avoid further confusion, Edwin S. Lowe, a New York toy salesman who had the misfortune of starting his own company right before the stock market crash, came upon a country carnival outside of Jacksonville, Georgia. One booth was packed with people playing “BEANO.” Lowe saw an opportunity and brought the game back with him to New York, changing the name to BINGO when a friend got so excited he had won he shouted out Bingo instead of Beano--allegedly. Though that claim can be disputed, the game certainly thrived from that point on, and still does big business in America. Plus the word itself has infiltrated common lexicon, which as a wordie I find even more interesting than the fact that a hard-luck toy salesman repurposed a really old Italian game that had been already seen a variety of incarnations and made it into one of the more popular and successful games in history. Admittedly, it is a fun word to say. It’s a nursery rhyme for a reason. Bingo. Bingo. And it’s not one of the words that it fun to say but has an awful meaning that will offend people. Like dendrophiliac. Can’t just go throwing that word around willy-nilly without offending people. But bingo. That’s a word expressing satisfaction. People love bingo. B.I.N.G.O. You’re all gravy with bingo. Unless you want to be a bit more exotic and scream Yahtzee. And guess is credited with Yahtzee? Bingo. Edwin S. Lowe.

This day has been Marked.

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