Lotteries and raffling as part of the Christmas festivities in Jamaica
While doing research for these Christmas pages I became increasingly aware of the important part played by forms of gambling in the Christmas scene in Jamaica for several decades at the end of the 19th century. The frequent references to lotteries, 'tambola trees', 'Christmas trees' and 'raffling' illuminated a topic to which I had previously seen only passing reference; in fact most accounts of old-time Jamaican Christmas do not seem to mention it at all.
Read H G deLisser's recollections of Christmas in the 1890s.
Please click on underlined phrases to see advertisements.
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There were a few lotteries noted in Kingston between 1868 and 1871, but these had no special connection with Christmas. It will be useful to find references to the carrying on of lotteries in Jamaica in the 18th and early 19th centuries, a period when lotteries were all the rage in Britain, Europe and North America; I am sure these lotteries must have taken place, but so far I have not been able to track down references. If any reader can point me in the right direction on this I shall be most grateful!
The lottery in 1868 was in aid of the Central Park (presumably on the Parade) and was under the patronage of the Custos of Kingston. The advertisement promised that ‘A Lottery Tree will be reared and a large lot of excellent Prizes offered for competition. Tickets for the Lottery at 6d each, will be disposed of during the evening '. In 1869 the lotteries were part of the farewell performance for Signor and Signora Bianchi, popular visiting singers; the prizes were pieces of jewellry, a watch and a book of poems.. By the Christmas of 1871, however, the idea of the Christmas lottery, in the form of a Christmas Tree, appeared to be already well accepted.
The two advertisements on the left, from Christmas 1871, provide examples of the type of attraction that became increasingly popular in succeeding years. The references to 'prizes' and 'numbers' clearly indicate that the gifts on the trees were allocated by some type of lottery, usually the buying of numbered tickets. Gifts on Christmas trees at functions for children, especially when connected with churches, were usually distributed by local dignitaries, but even on these occasions were sometimes distributed on the basis of numbered tickets.
In the following years the enthusiasm for the lotteries grew. In 1872 the Commercial Hotel and the Model Grocery advertised lotteries. The Union Drug Store, 18 King Street, claimed in its advertisement that 'THE ANNUAL UNION CHRISTMAS TREE has been got up with great care and a variety of good things well worth a trial this year', suggesting that this was not a new venture. The proprietor of the Model Grocery on King Street tried out two names for the Christmas lottery - Cornucopia and Yew Tree - but they do not seem to have caught on; the terms that were current in the succeeding years were 'Lottery Tree', 'Christmas Tree' and just plain and simple 'Grand Lottery'; in 1875, to add to the confusion, the term Tambola or Tombola Tree was added to the mix, though the actual operation seems to have been the same.
In 1873 Caleb Duncan, and the Alexander Brothers, advertised Christmas lotteries, and in 1875 at least half-a-dozen stores advertised them. In one of the 1875 advertisements the term 'raffling' was used, and this became a general term for this type of Christmas gambling. The most impressive operation that year was put on by James Gall of Myrtle Bank Hotel and News Letter fame. He ran an enormous Christmas Tree lottery at Cooper Hall, located at the south east corner of the Duke and Harbour Street crossing. He advertised 12,000 prizes, setting out a list which included such treasures as a church bell, a harmonium, a gold watch, sewing machines, photo albums (look at the advertisements!). On December 23 an item in the Gleaner columns promoted his show:
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The turn out was in fact so large that Gall had to publish instructions for ticket holders so that the crowding could be controlled:
Daily Gleaner, December 29, 1875
Gall’s Christmas Tree
With a view to prevent disappointment and relieve the immense rush upon the Cooper Hall, in the Evenings throughout the present week, the Christmas Tree Drawings will be continued during the day, so that families and young children may attend without inconvenience or unpleasant crowding.
In the Evenings it is proposed that only those in possession of Tickets will appear in front at the Counter, as the crush is rendered distressing by persons crowding forward who have no other interest in the proceedings beyond mere curiosity.
To secure better order and regularity, the distributors of prizes will in future keep their own division of the Counter which will obviate the necessity of Ticket Holders calling on others appointed to other divisions to attend to them.
The utmost dexterity will be used in furnishing prizes, but Mr. Gall appeals to the good feeling of the community, not to harass those so anxious to serve them, by a hundred persons calling at one time to be attended to. The distribution of prizes requires great care and accuracy to preserve order, and it is alike painful to Mr. Gall and his assistants that in their best efforts to please all who patronize the Christmas Tree, there are at times very undeserved reproaches for delay and inattention. Mr. Gall therefore appeals to the public to assist him in the orderly disposal of the 12,000 Prizes he has prepared for distribution among them.
Tickets purchased in the Evening will be honored at any time during the season so there need be no unnecessary pressure on the Counter if there is too great a rush on the Distributors.
It may be that Gall’s mammoth operation alerted the authorities to possible infractions of an old law against lotteries; for the next two years the Police made it clear that they would be clamping down on this burgeoning Christmas activity.
Christmas in Jamaica
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the worthy frog
joy lumsden 2006.
