Most people have credited the modern game of Bingo, the card design and the name, to Edwin Lowe. That’s because in 1940’s America the game was referred to as ‘Beano’ and when toymaker Lowe was on his travellers he came across the game at a carnival in Georgia.
He stumbled upon a crowd of people playing Beano. The caller was pulling numbered wooden disks out of a cigar box and calling them aloud as the players rushed to see if the number appeared on their card. If it was there, they’d place a bean on the number. The carnival owner had created the game after discovering the Lotto game in Germany the year earlier.
Edwin Lowe quickly saw the potential in this game and recognising it’s popularity he created his own version when he got home to New York. Using a rubber numbering stamp, a card board, and dried beans, his friends all began playing and they loved it. Lowe was on to a winner and folklore has it that one player was so excited he shouted ‘Bingo’ and the name stuck.
The game was an immediate success and Lowe allowed local groups and churches to use the game to fundraise. The only problem was that there wasn’t enough variation and number combinations on the cards so too many people were winning. Lowe enlisted the help of a Professor of mathematics at Columbia University, one Carl Leffler. He created an algorithm to increase the number of cards that could be used in a game the and it’s that card design that Lowe was able to patent!