The Illinois Lottery’s first drawing took place 50 years ago today, but dreams of an unexpected windfall are older than our country itself. Some of the earliest settlers in New England and even the Founding Fathers were known to organize sweepstakes to raise money for their projects.
The lottery got a bad reputation, however, after a group of men established the Louisiana State Lottery Co. in 1868. Though it quickly became one of the largest businesses in the United States, very little of the revenue actually went to charitable organizations. The only people getting rich were its organizers who pocketed the money tax-free.
Maybe that’s why it would take almost a century before another state considered hosting a lottery. New Hampshire, which had no sales or income tax, authorized a sweepstakes to raise money for education in 1963. Tickets were sold at its state-operated liquor stores for its drawings, which began in March 1964.
That same year, Illinois officials opposed the idea of operating a lottery. Illinois Retail Merchants Association President Joseph T. Meek called New Hampshire’s legalized gambling “extremely unwise and deplorable.”
So what changed? Here’s a look back at how the Illinois Lottery was founded just a decade later.
Illinois Lottery celebrates 50 years of rich history, from pingpong balls and TV drawings to minting folk-hero millionaires
June 1972: Illinois – lucky No. 7?
Six states — New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania — already had lotteries when Illinois legislators considered the idea as a solution to its financial woes.
After a bill to create a state lottery passed the Illinois House 100-64 in early June 1972, the item was sent to the state’s Senate.
“There will be some winners, but there will be thousands and thousands of losers,” Rep. George Ray Hudson of Hinsdale said before the vote. “And, I suggest that most of the losers will be the persons least prepared to lose, the people with few financial resources.”
Democratic Rep. E.J. “Zeke” Giorgi of Rockford, a sponsor of the bill, claimed an official sweepstakes would cripple syndicate gambling operations, which depended largely on poor people’s hopes for riches. Other backers said the lottery would pump $100 million into the hands of winners annually and another $100 million into schools and local governments.
The Tribune’s Editorial Board said it would be hard for then-Gov. Richard B. Ogilvie — who generally opposed gambling — “to veto a measure which would open up a new source of revenue and at the same time help avert a tax increase.”
Ogilvie didn’t have to take that action, however — the Illinois Senate did it for him. The bill, which would have required 30 votes to pass, only received 20.
May 8, 1973: Giorgi rolls the dice again
The Rockford representative waited until 554 bills had been introduced before proposing his lottery legislation again. House Bill 555 once again breezed through to the Senate. This time, Giorgi said the game would be played with the sale of 50-cent tickets, which were expected to produce $100 million annually (though a Princeton University “think tank” said $75 million was more likely). Of that, $45 million would go to the state’s common school fund and another $45 million would be earmarked for prizes. The remaining $10 million would pay for operation expenses.
As lawmakers were voting on the hot topic, which was called by some “a cancer to society” and “a godsend to education” by others, they conducted a lottery of their own on the House floor — betting on how many votes the bill would receive.
“Rep. Rolland Tipsword (D., Taylorville) hit the jackpot and walked off the floor $72 richer when the final vote was announced, 112 to 56,” the Tribune reported.
The Tribune’s Editorial Board disapproved of this conduct and the bill: “Lawmaking is a serious business, extremely so when it comes to dealing with such pernicious measures as Mr. Giorgi’s. If this bill becomes law, the state will be in the same business as the crime syndicate profiteers who run policy and numbers rackets.”
Giorgi was forced to shelve the plan until the fall in order to refine the lottery’s procedures to make them more acceptable to Republicans.
Dec. 14, 1973: Illinois Lottery becomes official
In early December, the Illinois House and Senate approved the lottery bill and sent it to Gov. Dan Walker’s desk. Walker signed it into law — making Illinois the 10th state in the contiguous U.S. with its own lottery. Since the lottery bill was passed by a simple majority and not a three-fifths majority, it went into effect on July 1, 1974.
The lottery would be administered jointly by the Illinois Department of Revenue and a five-member lottery commission, but no decision had been made as to the size and number of the prizes.
June 13, 1974: $1 million set as top prize
State revenue director Robert Allphin announced the Illinois Lottery’s first drawing would take place on Aug. 8, 1974, at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield. Tickets would cost 50 cents each and drawings would be held each Thursday. Prizes would range from $20 to $1 million, though the top prize would only be an option each time ticket sales totaled $30 million. And, it would be paid out in $50,000-per-year increments spread out over 20 years. (But it would be much less after the Internal Revenue Service took a chunk of the total out in taxes.)
Each ticket, Walker later explained, would be marked with five, two-digit numbers for Lotto (with prizes of $20, $100 and $5,000); two, three-digit numbers for Bonanza (with prizes of $1,000, $10,000, $50,000 and $300,000) and two, three-digit numbers for the Millionaires Drawing (with prizes of $1,000, $10,000, $100,000 and $1 million).
Tickets that matched all the numbers would be entered into another drawing for both the Bonanza and Millionaires drawings.
Jewel Food Stores — with more than 200 locations throughout the Chicago area — became the first major retailer to be approved as an agent for ticket sales. Lottery officials expected another 10,000 establishments to apply to sell tickets. Those eligible were, “Businesses holding a valid Illinois State Sales Tax Certificate; Bonafide religious, charitable, labor, fraternal, educational or veterans’ groups; and Organizations holding a current, valid Bingo license,” according to an official notice published in the Tribune.
July 17, 1974: First ticket license handed out
Although other agent licenses had already been distributed, a coffee shop at 1419 W. Taylor St. was chosen to stage a ceremonial “grand opening.” Al and Theresa Prisco were interviewed as lottery officials taped posters to the coffee shop walls urging customers to use their coffee change to buy lottery tickets. A $1.5 million advertising campaign — including a supplement section published in the Tribune that taught readers how to play the games — followed.
“We’ve been here 25 years,” Al Prisco told the Tribune. “I didn’t expect to celebrate it with a bang like this.”
Tickets could also be bought at the Illinois Lottery Showmobile, a large van that would tour the state with drawing equipment and a portable stage.
At first, lottery ticket purchasers were not able to select their own numbers to play. Tickets were sold one-by-one from the top of a stack. One Tribune reader asked the newsroom’s “Action Express” team for tips to beating the game.
“Sure, there’s a system,” an unnamed lottery official said. “Just buy more tickets.”
July 30, 1974: First tickets go on sale
At noon, Illinois Lottery tickets were sold for the very first time in the state at 7,500 outlets. Anyone 18 years and older could buy them from a licensed vendor (though chances of being struck by lightning were much better than winning the money).
The first one was sold by John Hucko, a news vendor in the State of Illinois Building, to Gov. Walker’s daughter, Roberta.
Two weeks later, the state printed 2 million additional tickets due to demand.
There was one early loser:a young man who stole a stack of tickets with specific serial numbers and bolted from a pizza parlor on 71st Street.
Aug. 8, 1974: First ‘Golden Thursday’ and first winners emerge
Almost 7.5 million tickets were sold for the drawings, which took place starting at 10:30 a.m. on a stage at the edge of the racetrack at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. About 500 people, “sweating under the August sun,” assembled to watch the event. (It was not front page news, however, due to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.)
A clear plastic Lottosphere began tumbling 50 orange numbered balls.
“No hands ever touch the balls until they fall out — the balls choose themselves,” said Chick McCuen, a former NBC broadcaster who served as master of ceremonies for the day.
Lotto’s winning numbers were 15-12-16-18-04. The weekly Bonanza and Millionaire numbers were 697-192-352.
Laws at the time prevented the lottery’s winning numbers from being broadcast live over radio and television. The Tribune began publishing the results following that first drawing — though no one in the newsroom was allowed to give the numbers over the telephone due to the laws.
An estimated 35,000 tickets were winners during the first-ever Lotto drawing. Eighty-four people qualified for either the Bonanza or Millionaire drawing.
The biggest winner present was a 28-year-old electrician who had just finished wiring the stage. Springfield’s David Nall had four of the five winning numbers. A band struck up, “Hey, Big Spender.”
Many notable state leaders were missing from the inaugural drawing due to their “previous commitments,” which Gov. Walker acknowledged.
“There are some people who had reservations about the lottery,” he said. “But I hope that by its cleanliness, the enthusiasm it has engendered and the fun it provides, they will overcome these feelings.”
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