Note: Yesterday Scott posted he was printing out my posts.
If you highlight the entire post and right click you can copy and paste them into a word doc, scans and all.

Once in a word doc some computers will save the scans in jpgs, if you want them as a jpg. Mine won’t but Spragg and my room mate can do it on their machines.

Massachusetts
Spent several days in Boston as it was usually a stop on the Fall Foliage poker cruises. If I remember right Spragg got us lost there, same as usual.

Kenny Craig sent me this chip in 2000.
One look at the Mason record and I said “Wow” 12,000 chips, that had to be a big illegal.

JFC Hub

John F Carney Co
21 Blossom St
Lowell, Mass
1948

Over the years I have seen this chip in trader books with several different Illegal club names and a couple different states on the 2X2’s.

It sort of got lost in the shuffle and I forgot about it. When I created a new format for my chip program a month or so ago, so I could sort by states for these posts, it jumped out at me again.

Once again I got the urge to know. Thank you to a “Special Friend” of the hobby.
Read below and decide for yourselves if the club members that had them listed with illegal club names were:

“Pinheads” or “Patriots” from Massachusetts.

The chips were delivered to the John F. Carney Company of Lowell, MA which was located at 21 Blossom St.

The company was run by John Francis Carney who also resided at 21 Blossom (died 1966, age 58).

Carney's father John F. Carney, Sr. (died 1944) also had resided at the address where he had operated John F Carney and Son. The Carney's were involved in the carnival, amusement and concessionaire business.

The chips were ordered 21June1948. That year, Carney had been given the responsibility of running Lowell's 75th annual 4th of July celebration on the South Common of Lowell--an event which was projected to draw near 500,000 people over five days. My guess is that he ordered them to be used during this event.

Here's a couple of ads from 1948 about the event which mention Carney:

Lowell Sun--11june1948:

Billboard--May 1948 ("Absolutely No Grift or Gypsies, Please!")

Is it possible Carney got into illegal gambling after the 1948 exposition? Anything is possible.

“No Grift or Gypsies, Please!" in the ad, does not sound like he wanted to be around illegal clubs.

IMO, more than likely used in some of the booths.
Example: Win 20 chips or a certain $ amount and get a Teddy Bear.
Anyone got a Teddy Bear with a tag on it saying?
“Massachusetts 75th annual 4th of July celebration”

Carney and Son ran bingo in Lowell for several years.
This was prior to the chips being ordered.

Lowell Sun--3feb1940:

Here's the Life article from the 15jan1940 issue which led to the bingo ban--Carney, Jr. calling the #'s in the pic:

Got these in 2009. No research as yet.

Not positive about this one. Never looked into it.
Got it in 1999 from Michael Richter.
I put the name to it but did not record where I got the name. 1999 was a long time ago.

Commonwealth Club
Worchester Mass.