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Placing BetsPolicy, or “playing the numbers,” was a form of gambling available to the many Americans who could not afford to bet on horse races, play faro, or even buy a ticket in a lottery. Largely attracting poor immigrants and African-Americans, policy entailed placing side bets on lottery drawings or any other random string of numbers. With policy, the stakes were low – usually pennies or nickels. In choosing their numbers, many policy players relied on superstition, aided by dream books and fortune tellers such as the ones here. Old Aunt Dinah, for instance, advised that “to dream of seeing a person having anything of a perfectly round form, is good for ten or twenty first.” According to Madame Le Marchand’s system, one who had dreamed of an anchor, for example, should play 47 and 36. Find your lucky numbers by reading Old Aunt Dinah’s Policy Dream Book here. |
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![Old Aunt Dinah’s Policy Dream Book. [New York, ca. 1850?].](images/section5/4-1-21 am1850oldaun-106829-d-c.jpg)
