YOU KNOW YOU'RE OLD WHEN...

by Rose-Mary Rumbley

You know you're old when you eagerly play Bingo! Yes, I live for Bingo! It's the greatest activity here at THE TRADITION, great place to be when you can't live alone! My son went into shock! YOU--MY MOTHER--YOU, YOU--PLAY BINGO. Yes, I play Bingo here at this plush "home." . I not only play, I WIN!

I play with the residents here. I play with my buddy, Cornell Green, retired Dallas Cowboy!

My husband loved the Cowboys--never missed a game on TV. My husband played in the symphony which always had a concert on Sunday afternoon at the same time as the Cowboy game. Jack, my husband, bought a little TV which fit under the Timpani (big drums) so he could watch the game while he played the concert. He would whisper the score to the other musicians on stage. Please don't mention this to anyone.

Who created Bingo? The first Bingo game was played in Italy in 1530. In fact, it was like a national lottery. It's name was LOTTO D'ITALIA. It was later played in England-the name--Housey Housey. Then a form of the game was played in France. Actually, it was played only by the French aristocracy.

By the 18th century it was played everywhere in England--name, TOMBOLA.

Then the game came to America and was played at carnivals and fairs. It was played with a card of listed numbers. Beans were used to mark the numbers that were called, thus the game acquired the name BEANO! That would be the word called out when the beans were all lined up on the card.

It was played at carnivals and fairs here in the United States. A man by the name of Hugh J. Ward sponsored a BEANO game where a man--instead of calling out Beano!--yelled Bingo! The name of the game instantly changed to Bingo!

In December, 1929, Edwin S. Lowe got the patent for BINGO! and I guess we can say, "The rest is history." It will always be a popular game!