I got this one in Feb 2000 as a gift.
It came into the hobby as The Copa Club, Newport, KY. Same old tired story about a policeman keeping a box of them from a raid on the Copa. It just not feel right to me.
Once again the old manufacturers records came to the rescue but does not always tell the whole story. Terra Haute is close to Newport. The 1923 notes on the card are mine.
I called the Terra Haute library. I found a very helpful librarian with a little time on her hands. The local newspaper archives were available to her.
Dennis Shea was a lifelong resident of Terra Haute with a lengthy arrest record for gambling activities in several different joints. The Trianon Ball Room was used for different things over the years including a pay for dance with a lady joint (the police thought it was just a pay for a lady joint when Dennis was arrested for the "P" word ) and a skating rink. Dennis Shea had a lease on it when the chips were purchased and was arrested there for gambling. I could find no record that Dennis Shea ever resided in Newport, KY.
I asked the librarian if she had any records of heirs for Dennis. She had none.
I started calling every Shea in the current Terra Haute phone book. One unrelated Shea said Dennis had a granddaughter living in Terra Haute and gave me her number. I called her. She was very nice while I was verifying I had the right Dennis Shea. When I told her what I was after, history on Dennis and the chips he bought.
Her reply:
“My grandfather was a god fearing man and would never ever have broken any law!!!!!” Then she slammed the phone down. End of that story!
I thought about sending her to the library but decided not to call her back.
History is history and some people do not want to face it.
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