Screeno: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|Bingo game played in movie theaters}} |
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'''Screeno''' (a [[portmanteau word|portmanteau]] of "screen bingo" or "screen [[keno]]") was a form of [[bingo (US)|bingo]] played in [[United States|American]] [[movie theater]]s during the [[Great Depression]] of the 1930s. To bolster attendance on slow weeknights, the neighborhood movie houses would feature the game in which [[audience]] members would have a chance to win cash prizes.<ref name="TIME.com 1936">{{cite web | title=Religion: Bingo Banned | website=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date=December 21, 1936 | url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,757214,00.html | access-date=2021-05-02}}</ref> The story is that many a theater was saved from [[bankruptcy]] by the advent of screeno. The game was played between the two main movie features. |
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| ⚫ | A number dial and a giant spinning needle were projected onto the movie screen. Patrons were provided with toothpicks to punch out the winning numbers on their cards. Apparently, on most nights patrons paid a modest fee for their cards, but one night a week was designated as "bank night" in which the audience would get free screeno cards with their [[Ticket (admission)|movie tickets]]. A 1937 [[Romantic comedy|romantic-comedic]]-[[Musical film|musical]] movie titled ''[[Thrill of a Lifetime (film)|Thrill of a Lifetime]]'' featured a song called “Keno, Screeno and You.” |
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In 1937 [[Fiorello La Guardia]], [[mayor of New York City]], tried to have screeno banned as part of his anti-gambling crusade that also targeted [[pinball]] and [[Bingo (American version)|bingo]] in the city. His efforts were blocked by the courts.<ref name="Billboard p. 74">{{cite magazine |date=January 16, 1943 |title=New York Mayor Runs Into Court Obtacle When His Crusade Ends Up in Fight Against Bank Night |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|The Billboard]] | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pQwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT73 | language=en | access-date=2021-05-02 | page=74 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> |
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==See also== |
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*[[Bank Night]] |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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[[Category:Bingo]] |
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[[Category:Great Depression in the United States]] |
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[[Category:History of film]] |
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Latest revision as of 18:18, 6 August 2024
Screeno (a portmanteau of "screen bingo" or "screen keno") was a form of bingo played in American movie theaters during the Great Depression of the 1930s. To bolster attendance on slow weeknights, the neighborhood movie houses would feature the game in which audience members would have a chance to win cash prizes.[1] The story is that many a theater was saved from bankruptcy by the advent of screeno. The game was played between the two main movie features.
A number dial and a giant spinning needle were projected onto the movie screen. Patrons were provided with toothpicks to punch out the winning numbers on their cards. Apparently, on most nights patrons paid a modest fee for their cards, but one night a week was designated as "bank night" in which the audience would get free screeno cards with their movie tickets. A 1937 romantic-comedic-musical movie titled Thrill of a Lifetime featured a song called “Keno, Screeno and You.”
In 1937 Fiorello La Guardia, mayor of New York City, tried to have screeno banned as part of his anti-gambling crusade that also targeted pinball and bingo in the city. His efforts were blocked by the courts.[2]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Religion: Bingo Banned". Time. December 21, 1936. Retrieved 2021-05-02.
- ^ "New York Mayor Runs Into Court Obtacle When His Crusade Ends Up in Fight Against Bank Night". The Billboard. January 16, 1943. p. 74. Retrieved 2021-05-02 – via Google Books.