postal savings account – Gambling-History.com https://gambling-history.com History of Gambling in the U.S. Thu, 26 Dec 2019 22:07:12 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://gambling-history.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/cropped-Kings-Castle-Chip-32x32.png postal savings account – Gambling-History.com https://gambling-history.com 32 32 Quick Fact – Savings at all Costs https://gambling-history.com/quick-fact-savings-at-all-costs/ https://gambling-history.com/quick-fact-savings-at-all-costs/#respond Wed, 12 Jun 2019 01:26:29 +0000 https://gambling-history.com/?p=2553

U.S. Postal Savings Certificate of Deposit, 1941

1933

When panhandling in Bakersfield, California, an Arthur J. Hayden received 25 cents ($4.70 today), which he took to a casino and parlayed into $690 ($13,000 today). The next day he grew his winnings to $1,000 ($19,000 today), which he put in a postal savings account.

When he went back to begging on the street, he was arrested and convicted. For punishment, rather than pay a fine and have to dip into his winnings, he chose to serve 90 days in jail.

Photo from Smithsonian National Postal Museum

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