It’s often said that “the little things” are what really set us apart from countries like England. Pounds instead of dollars, tea instead of coffee, lorries instead of trucks…
Really though, we know about all that stuff without even visiting the UK. These days, I’m more intrigued by the similarities – the things that are surprisingly familiar and make me realize how much we have in common with our friends across the puddle.
Case in point: Foxy Bingo. I think of games like Bingo as quintessentially American, and of course flashy mascots and words like “jackpot” are habits that have remained west of the Atlantic, right?
Silly yank.
Foxy Bingo is a wildly popular online Bingo gaming site based out of London. The site operates on the philosophies of friendliness, fun and, most certainly, big winnings. Thousands of people join up each month to try their hands at this modern version of the traditional party game.
For me, the clincher is the Fox himself. I mean honestly, how cute is he? And he’s got swagger! There’s just something about a mischievous grin and purple leisure suit-esque getup that makes me want to grab a cocktail and fill in numbered squares with a fat blue marker.
But now I’m wondering how large my misconceptions about Bingo really are. Where did this game come from?
According to my (admittedly limited) research, Bingo comes down to us from a 16th century Italian game called “Il Giuoco del Lotto d’Italia.” By the 18th century, the French had added cards, tokens and the announcing of numbers. In 1920s Pennsylvania, a carnival man named Hugh Ward popularized the game we know today, and authored its rule book in 1933.
All so I could spend that long ago afternoon and evening in a low lit pub with colorful characters, two of my best friends and yes, a fat blue marker.
So it looks like, once again, Europe wins. I guess I had it backwards.
I’m going to have that cocktail anyway. It is, after all, my birthday. Woot!
Note: This post was sponsored by Media Discovery, an up and coming UK media agency.