I got the EW - T mold from a post on the BB a few weeks ago. It intrigued me as it had 2 addresses on it. I thought the 2nd address was Osceo, Louisiana. As it turned out either I could not read or the Taylor salesman could not write. It is Osceo, Indiana.

Enough of that:

EW T mold
Elmer Waltz
Lincoln Way Tavern
805 ½ Lincoln Way West
South Bend, IN
Chips delivered 1948-50

IMO: Also very possible used at.
Green Star Café
1605 Miami
South Bend, Indiana
1948-1950’s

Elmer Justin Waltz, born 1897 in Cincinnati; family moved to Cleveland when he was a kid and then to Michigan where Waltz spent his young adulthood in Detroit. By the 1930’s he was in northern Indiana and involved with gambling. He was arrested on a gambling charge in 1935 at the “Fan Inn” located southwest of South Bend near the border of Elkhart & St. Joseph counties.
My note: This was too early for the chips.

The “local underworld character” was George Nahas of Michigan City, Indiana (located several miles west of South Bend). Nahas and his brothers were notorious underworld figures in the Michigan City area and NW Indiana. One of the other “resorts” which was raided was the Brown Derby, located about halfway between Michigan City and South Bend. The reported owner was Mrs. B. Waltz, sister of George Nahas. It may be a coincidence, but Elmer Waltz’s wife’s name was Beatrice. I was not able to determine what, if any, family ties there might have been between Mrs. B. Waltz and Elmer Waltz.

My note: Seems pretty clear to me. Our chip buyer was married to the boss’s sister and they were letting her, front the joint.

At the time of this raid, Waltz and his wife were residing at 1233 Bower in Elkhart which was the delivery address of the harp-mold EW chip order 10 years later in May 1946. Waltz also had an EH T-mold chip order sent to the address in late 1945.

I need this chip! Cough it up if you have a trader.

I need this chip! Cough it up if you have a trader.

During this time period, Waltz had several racehorses which he stabled on a farm he had in Elkhart. Like many gambling operators, looks like Waltz owned a sheriff--but this one had four legs (from June 1945):

I noticed that the website “Midwest Illegal Gambling” lists a gambling place in Elkhart called “Waltz Café.”
http://midwestillegals.webs.com/indianaplaces.htm
I’m assuming that this must have been a place operated by Elmer. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any references to the place. The1945 Elkhart city directory says that Elmer Waltz had or was associated with a café located at 1605 Miama. There is no Miama in Elkhart. There is a Miami Ave., but it is a short residential street that doesn’t have a 1600 block. However, there is a 1605 Miami in South Bend which in 1945 housed, and still houses today, the Green Star Café.

My note: Here is my opinion on the Waltz Café listing on this site. Does not reflect on the site owner as he posted something a collector gave him. I think a collector saw the Taylor order with no casino name on it and came to the conclusion it had to have been Waltz’s Café. I’ve seen this many times with illegals.

A few years after the EW harp-mold order, Waltz’s EW T-mold chip order was sent to 805 1/2 Lincoln Way West in South Bend. At the time of the order, 805 was the location of the Lincoln Way Tavern. 805 1/2 would have been the room above the tavern. The building still exists.

from 1945:

There are two addresses and two dates on the EW T-mold order--I’m guessing that the shipment to Lincoln Way was in 1948.

The second address is hard to read, but I’m pretty sure that it was sent to Osceola, Indiana and not Osceo, Louisiana. Osceola is halfway between Elkhart and South Bend. The address looks like Bx 234 Rt 4 ??? There’s a Route 4 in Indiana which passes south of South Bend, but doesn’t seem to come close to Osceola.

Waltz died in 1968 at age 71 while a resident of Mishawaka, part of the South Bend metro area and just east of Osceola.