I have taken a look into the history of this British cultural mainstay and how it has developed across Europe from an Italian type lottery called ‘Lo Giuoco del Lotto D’Italia’, to ‘Le Lotto’ in France, which are both still played today. Finally finding its way to Great Britain and across various other borders in Europe, to becoming the world-renowned game it is today.
From a misinterpretation of a word in Atlanta to the technological world of online gaming with online bingo websites like https://www.whichbingo.co.uk/ and once played mostly by the working class and now being played by all ages and backgrounds you can really see how Bingo has grown through the years to being one of the most played games across the globe.
Bingo’s background in Britain
Although versions of Bingo in the UK can be traced back as far as the 1700’s, the popularity of the game never took off until the 20th century, when it became the game we know today.
We start off in the United States where a car salesman found an earlier form of the game at a carnival in the 1920’s. New Yorker Edwin Lowe decided to make some changes to this game he had seen and introduce it to his friends as ‘Beano’ where you would try to complete a set of numbers from a card and shout the word ‘Beano’ to announce your win. The name eventually changed to what we know today after one of Lowe’s friends declared ‘Bingo’ after completing his card of numbers.
This name seemed to stick as the game spread across the whole of North America and eventually to Britain in the 1950’s, where cinema owners found another use for their sites, as a slump in popularity for the film industry meant that many movie venues were converted into halls to play this increasingly popular game of ‘Bingo’.
Big Changes Establish Game as Phenomenon
The 1960’s brought about big changes to the gambling laws in Great Britain and with the popularity of the Television growing, it brought about an explosion in the following for ‘Bingo’.
People stopped going to the cinemas, which meant the cinema owners had to find another use for these venues and began to convert these large spaces into ‘Bingo’ halls. This only added to the growth of the game, eventually making it a staple part of the culture in Britain through the 1960’s and continuing into the 1970’s, becoming the ‘go to’ activity for most of the working class.
Furthermore, other venues started to see this meteoric rise and decided to cash in on this demand, with the game easily transferable to working men’s clubs, holiday camps and even churches, the surge continued.
At the games pinnacle you could find well over 470,000 people playing every day and about 2000 bingo halls just in Britain.
Big Brands Stake a Claim
Larger companies wanted some of the action and, as a result, branded chain venues began to open, putting many of the smaller venues out of business (A similar scenario to Starbucks coffee shop chains putting smaller local coffee shops out of business). With the bigger brands involved, this brought about bigger jackpots across local and national Bingo venues which saw a decline in the number of venues across the country, dropping the amount by around 20% at the midway point of the 80s.
Bingo continued to be a big part of people’s social life up until the late 1990s, when the introduction of online gaming became the catalyst for a big change to how people played.
Online Presence Only Helping Popularity
With the growth of the internet and the popularity of online gaming gathering pace this has only increased the notoriety of the game, but because so many now decide to play from the comfort of their own home, this has obviously seen a massive decline in Bingo halls. By 2014 Bingo halls had reduced by 75% over a 30-year period.
Now, with so many variations on the game and the predicted online market to reach 1.9 billion by 2022, this British staple only looks to continue as a mainstay well into the future. If you are interested in playing online bingo, then check out this article covering Where to start with online Bingo!
