- Name Article: The Season in Saratoga
- Author: Unknown
- Year: 12 July 1878
- Published in: The New York Times
- Location: New York, USA
The Season in Saratoga, The New York Times, 12 July 1878, New York, USA
An article is published in the New York Times about the start of the touristic season in Saratoga Springs in the summer of 1878. An anonymous visit describes the upcoming summer season and what activities there are. At that time, Saratoga was one of the world’s most famous gambling cities for gambling houses and Club Houses.
The correspondent is describing entering a Gambling Clubhouse owned by a man named John Morrissey. The reporter visits the clubhouse around 10 pm. This seems to be early because there are not many people inside yet. The reporter describes the clubhouse and the gaming options. There are three roulette tables, a hazard table, and a Faro table. Het continues the story about three men sitting behind the roulette tables, followed by “when they get very tired of sitting still and want a little excitement, they play a game of solitaire, an amusement that there is a great deal of skill in, but not much money.”
Another confirmation that Solitaire, although we don’t know which form here, was at least sporadically played in Gambling Houses.
The most interesting conclusion we can take from this article is the fact that Solitaire was already offered in Saratoga Springs by John Morrissey way before Richard Canfield came along.
John Morrissey is an important figure and can be seen as one of the founders of Saratoga’s success as a gambling city. He was the founder of the Saratoga Clubhouse, which was sold to Canfield a couple of years after he died.
