Call Them What You Want, but Make Sure You’ve Got the Right Name for Pull-Tab Manufacturing
Anthropologists and language buffs have spent decades debating how many words the Inuits have for “snow” but across the Midwest it is accepted without argument that there are many ways to talk about the popular barstool diversion known as …
…pull-tabs, pulltabs, pull-tab tickets, pop-opens, break-opens, instant bingo, bingo tickets, tear-offs, raffle tickets, raffle tabs, peel and win cards, peel-offs, club tickets, Nevada tickets (Nevadas), Lucky 7s, bowl games, cherry bells (cherries), jar tickets, break open tickets, event tickets, tabbies, pickle cards… and sometimes pickles. (Also, later in this story “addictive little rectangles of fun.”)
Why are they called “pickle cards” in Nebraska and Cherry Bells in Beaver County, Pennsylvania? According to the Nebraska Department of Revenue, the cards were stashed in empty pickle jars back in the day when they were sold illegally. Cherries are an iconic casino image, said to also have their origin in anti-gambling laws: a 1900s slot machine paid out in fruit-flavored chewing gum to keep it legal.
Other names on the list seem to have followed a somewhat less-inspired naming convention – see “break open tickets” – but whatever they’re called, they are wildly popular in places you might expect also to have pages of words for snow. Like Alaska.
Minnesotans Can’t Get Enough of Their Pull-Tabs
Or Minnesota. According to The Minnesota Star Tribune, Minnesotans take the prize for spending more money on the addictive little rectangles of fun they call “pulltabs” than any other state in the country.
According to the article, which cites the state Gambling Control Board, people in the North Star State spent over $4 billion on paper and electronic pull tabs in 2023, typically in bars, where charitable pulltabs are part of the culture.
But while Minnesotans may outplay everyone else, pull-tab games are ubiquitous in Wisconsin too, and popular in states throughout the Midwest and South.
Whatever You Call Them, for High-Quality Pull-Tab Printing, Call Pull-to-Win
Whether your customers ask for pull-tab tickets, pickles or cherry bells, do not make the mistake of thinking one ticket is as good as the next. The manufacturing of pull-tab tickets is not a simple undertaking. To deliver the pull-tab experience that keeps people popping them open one after the other, you need a manufacturer capable of delivering high-quality, custom artwork, printing, assembly, and game play with the deal counts and payouts you require.
At Pull-to-Win Products, the charitable gaming division of H&H Graphics, we have decades of experience printing custom promotional and charitable gaming pull-tabs with reliable and rapid turnaround.
Reach out to a member of our team to learn more about the difference the right partner can make.