curator's corner
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ou may know that between the Liberty Lottery of 1766 and today’s state-licensed casinos, the state of Maryland has vacillated between enshrining a ban on lotteries in its state Constitution and cracking the door open for private lotteries, locally licensed slot parlors, and, later, a state lottery. But did you know that this checkered on-again, off-again history of legalized gambling intersects with maritime settings? Although not legal, local establishments advertised “amusement devices”—a euphemism for slot machines—in Southern Maryland counties as early as 1910. Slots appeared in restaurants, bars, and small stores—“everywhere except churches,” as former Maryland delegate John Hanson Briscoe (1934–2014) of St. Mary’s County 10 SPRING/SUMMER 2022
THE CHESAPEAKE LOG
