The other day, an Idaho Lottery retailer in Rathdrum had the opportunity to revisit an old holiday-themed Scratch Game from the Idaho Lottery. The player walked into the Hico Country Store with a $1 winning ticket and tried to cash it.
Adorned with Holly and Berries, and the words "Season's Greetings!" the ticket proved something of a mystery to the clerk and store personnel. They tried to scan the ticket with their terminal. No luck. They even tried to enter the game number manually. No good either.
The Idaho Lottery's Sales Representative in the area obtained a photo of the scratched ticket and sent it to the office in Boise for further investigation.
The $1 game featured a very unique top prize: an original painting from Jane Wooster Scott, a famous American artist best known for painting her nostalgic, heritage views of America. The only trouble, though, the ticket was scratched and did not show the original game name, number, or art work.
Still, it took the Idaho Lottery's product manager about five minutes to locate the original game. The game in question, Happy Holidays, was Idaho Lottery Scratch Game #124, issued on November 4, 1997.
Once we discovered this, Idaho Lottery Marketing Director Sherie Moody-St. Clair, who was a graphic artist on staff at the Lottery at the time, recalled the work. "This was the game that I secured a deal with Jane Wooster Scott," said Moody-St. Clair. "She lived in Idaho, so we decided to do a ticket with her. She was fantastic to work with. We were the first state to do this and then a lot of other states followed. The painting while fun, didn't sell the ticket very well, mostly because people didn't want to Scratch the beautiful artwork!"
Jane Wooster Scott lived in Sun Valley at the time. In fact, she had previously completed works entitled "Sun Valley Celebration" and "Winter Village, Sun Valley, Idaho ÔÇô Old Baldy." The painting in question on the Idaho Lottery's 1997 game was entitled "Nutcracker Fantasy" from 1990. The original was a 24 by 20 inches, oil on canvas.
Which brings us back to the original ticket at hand. The ticket was from late 1997. The last day to make a claim on the ticket was September 20, 1998. This means, the game ended on March 24, 1998 ÔÇô more than twenty-one years ago.
Still, a $1 winner is a $1 winner. And while our local rep is trying hard to track down the owner of the ticket to at least get them some coupons, we are wondering where has this ticket been for the past two decades? And why was it never checked for winners?
A lot has changed for Idaho, the Lottery, and the country since 1997. But the enduring images painted by Jane Wooster Scott are a lasting reminder of America full of optimism, happiness, and simplicity. Thank you lucky winner for sharing this holiday game blast from the past with us!
