Gene,

Your note: Not sure when Federal gambling stamps were first issued. They were mostly obtained by operators that had race wires. It kept the Feds out and operators only had to worry about local cops. I have a scanned copy of one issued to an Illegal, but could not find it for this post.

The Federal Gambling tax stamps were first issued in 1951...Congress included them in the Revenus Act of 1951 after the influence and scope of organized crime was identified by the Kefauver Committee. This was used to get Screw Andrews in Newport as you know.

Jim