Toy, The Little Bandit
date: label: date made
content: ca 1952
notes: label: Description
content: Throughout much of the nineteenth and twentieth century, gambling was illegal in many American states. However, entrepreneurs developed ways of selling games of chance. For example, Indiana-born games salesman and real estate developer Edwin S. Lowe of New York City and later Long Island developed a form of Lotto (played as Beano and then Bingo) and of the slot machine that were played in the home. This is an example of Lowe’s game “The Little Bandit” which had the form and some of the features of a slot machine.
label: Description
content: The plastic toy has three wheels carrying various images printed on paper. These rotate in one direction when a metal lever on the side moves forward and in the reverse direction when the lever moves back. Different final arrays of images are worth different numbers of points. The machine can be played in the form of solitaire, in which the number of points accumulated in twenty-five spins must be above a given total (25, according to the instructions). One also may play with competing players. A leaflet of instructions and the toy fit in a cardboard box.
label: Description
content: A mark on the back of the toy reads: LITTLE BANDIT (/) PAT. PEND (/) E.S. LOWE CO., INC. (/) NEW YORK MADE IN USA. A mark on the front of the box reads: THE LITTLE BANDIT (/) TRADEMARK. Another mark there reads: WATCH (/) “EM SPIN (/) PAYS OFF (/) IN (/) FUN. A third mark there reads: No. 25 (/) SLOT (/) MACHINE.
label: Description
content: E. S. Lowe Company proved more successful with sales of Bingo and of the game of Yahtzee. Milton Bradley acquired the firm in 1973.
label: Description
content: References:
label: Description
content: W. Ecenbarger, “Bingo!” <I>Chicago Tribune</I>, February 15, 1987, p. D1, D10.
label: Description
content: Art Harris, “Appreciation: The Bingo Baron Edwin Lowe, a True Gamesman,” <I>Washington Post</I>, February 28, 1986, p. C1.
label: Description
content: E.S. Lowe Company Inc. Advertisement. The Billboard 11 Nov. 1950.Vol. 62 No. 45: 70.
label: Description
content: E.S. Lowe Company Inc. Advertisement. The Billboard 19 May 1951. Vol. 63 No. 20: 74.
label: Description
content: E.S. Lowe Company Inc. Advertisement. The Billboard 26 May 1951. Vol. 63 No. 21: 72.
label: Description
content: E.S. Lowe Company Inc. Advertisement. The L.A. Times 11 Nov. 1951.
label: Description
content: “Merchandise Topics,” <I>The Billboard</I>, May 26, 1951, p. 72. This article notes that The Little Bandit was then for sale.
label: Description
content: L. Vangelder, “From Game Boards to Show Business,” <I>New York Times</I>, September 20, 1981, p. 132.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
label: Subject
content: Mathematical Recreations
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Edith R. Meggers
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MA.335282
label: catalog number
content: 335282
label: accession number
content: 314637
objectType: label: Object Name
content: toy
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: plastic (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper (box, instructions material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (arm material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 7 cm x 6.5 cm x 4.5 cm; 2 3/4 in x 2 9/16 in x 1 25/32 in