butter and eggs
n.— «Americans are betting almost a billion dollars a year that they can guess…The Chicago butter and egg prices.…In some cities it is called “numbers,” in others, “policy.”…The “banker” may nominate other combination of digits and take them from the bond sales on the stock exchange, from butter and egg prices, from baseball or football scores.» —“Betting Billion A Year They Are Good Guessers” in New York City Daily Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisc.) Oct. 20, 1932. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
What if, instead of being an inanimate object, a dictionary were alive? That’s the idea behind a lavishly illustrated new children’s book called The Dictionary Story (Bookshop|Amazon) by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston. This is part of a...
Sean in Oneonta, New York, says that when he was growing up in New Jersey, his family would pile in the car and set off on a surprise adventure, whether a short distance or long, and the kids would be told only that they were going on Buxtehude...