¡Lotería! Origins and Practices of the Mexican Bingo

Week of July 23, 2022

La lotería is known as “the Mexican bingo” in the US. Although this board game and the American bingo have a common Italian ancestor, over the centuries they evolved into two different games, being the most obvious difference the rich images of la lotería versus the numbers in bingo. These images make la lotería a very powerful and artistic game, but also controversial since they reflect the values, fears, and prejudices in Mexican culture.

This audiovisual program explains how la lotería and bingo evolved from the 16th-century gambling practice Il gioco del lotto d’Italia, into a family-oriented board game. It also traces the various sources of la lotería images, such as The Game of the Goose and tarot. Last but not least, it draws attention to the humorous, poetic, and occasionally “spicy” verses used by the card-caller —el gritón— to call the cards during a traditional lotería game session.

The program ends with a live performance of an early 20th-century ballad, Corrido de la lotería, composed by popular artist José Guadalupe Posada, the creator of the well-known Day of the Dead skeletons.

 

 

 

Dr. Gloria Arjona is an active lecturer on the little-known chapters of Mexico’s history and traditions, in particular those dealing with race and gender.   Dr. Arjona teaches Spanish language and literature at California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena. She is the author of Posadas Unknown Calaveras (Floricanto Press, 2020), ¡Lotería! (Floricanto Press, 2020), and her upcoming children’s book The Story of Selena Quintanilla (Rockridge Press, 2022). She is also a published translator and a singer.

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