Lottery Tickets
Lotteries began in Europe in the
sixteenth century. In America, they were a source of revenue for the
founding
of several colleges, such as Harvard. They have also been used to
fund the
building of canals, railroads, and turnpikes. Lottery tickets were
used
for give-aways of material goods such as jewelry, and games. In the
early
years, they were used as a way for merchants to advertise their
goods. The
tickets, on average, measured 2 ½ x 6 ¾ inches. Early
on,
they were printed only in black; later with colors such as red and
blue.
They often had a "State Lotteries" stamp, and in the nineteenth
century
a lottery watermark.
The American Antiquarian Society's lottery tickets collection
includes
two binders, sorted by state and town. There are approximately 350
tickets
ranging in date from the mid-1750's to the late nineteenth
century. Related
to this collection are some broadsides issued by lottery offices
and government
agencies, which are housed in the Graphic Arts Department.
-Terri Tremblay, Assistant Curator of Graphic Arts
Source: Rickards, Maurice, The Encyclopedia of Ephemera. New
York: Routledge, 2000.
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Ticket for the Faneuil-Hall Lottery held in 1768 at Boston,
Massachusetts
Louisianna State Lottery Company ticket for a drawing held on March 13,
1888
For current information on the cataloging status of this and
other AAS collections, choose "Collection Access" below.
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