KYW Flashback: The First Legal Lottery Tickets Are Sold In The Keystone State
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- Pennsylvanians were lining up for a chance to get rich quick. Or, maybe just looking for a little walking around money.
It was 43 years ago this week that KYW reporters were broadcasting interviews with bright eyed hopefuls ready to plunk down a few bucks for the first legal lottery tickets being sold in the Keystone State.
The numbers bookies weren't happy. Pennsylvania had launched the lottery to pump money into needed programs for senior citizens. Ironically, Philadelphia had previously looked into the lottery idea to prop up city finances.
A KYW reporter had learned that council president Paul D'Ortona had asked a private lottery company, Spot-of-Gold, to explore setting up a Philadelphia lottery. The company had offices next to the KYW building on Walnut street and confirmed D'Ortona's plan. But when Newsradio interviewed mayor James Tate about the idea, he was livid, telling our listeners that they would never see lottery gambling in the city of Philadelphia.
In March of 1972, they did. But the state, not the city, got the swag.
