Well folks, its been awhile. Gene's passing a few months ago was heartbreaking for his friends and it will leave a hole in the hobby which will probably never be filled. One thing I knew about Gene though was his love for history - especially gaming history. There is NO WAY Gene would have wanted the IOTD tradition to end, and so I think it's about time to get things started again.

This IOTD, like all from here on, is dedicated to Gene Trimble. I miss you my friend!

Today's IOTD is from the work of Jim Linduff who took chips marked "Saratoga Club" and made a great case for putting them into Newport, Kentucky. However, he was soon to learn that it wouldn't be that easy when multiple "Saratoga" popped up. Read on to find out Jim's clever research.

Take it away Jim!

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During the last several months, some Saratoga chips showed up in Newport, complete with the original Rigdon box. After an unsuccessful attempt by the owner to sell the chips as a unit, local collector’s purchased the chips and continued to research the location where the chips were located. Given the pristine condition of the chips and knowing they were distributed by Rigdon during the 1940’s and 1950’s, it seems likely they were ordered but never used in play. The two circle hourglass mold has been found on several other illegal chips in Northern Kentucky. The original owner of the box received them from his father who “worked at the bar”.

The research into the location of the Club included the use of phone books, Williams Cross References, newspaper articles and ads, matchbook covers and bar tokens, all helping to confirm that gambling took place at least three Saratoga locations and, totally separately, the existence of a non-profit Saratoga Athletic Club in Newport, authorized by the state of Kentucky in 1935; a club that sponsored softball and baseball teams in Northern Kentucky. This club had no permanent location, conducting meetings at various bars and restaurants in Newport. Because the timeframe for this organization was about 1935-1940 and given no indication that gambling took place from any source, we concluded this was not the organization that would have purchased the chips.

SARATOGA CLUB LOCATIONS ON SARATOGA STREET, NEWPORT

Turning to the locations on Saratoga we found at least three locations as follows:

1940-1945 - 901 Saratoga, 911 Saratoga

901 AND 911 connected by garages

Based on phone books and Williams, the bar was located at 901 Saratoga, a location that had housed restaurants since at least the mid 1930’s The 901 Building is on the left, 911 on the right, connected by garages, . Bar tokens have been found and identified in Roy Klein’s book, Northern Kentucky Café and Bar Tokens.

In 1955 the joint was raided when called the 911 Klub and horse boards were found in the building. The operator, William Buxe was indicted for running a gambling operation, but claimed he was just a board marker. Charges were subsequently dropped.
Note the tokens say Saratoga Café, not Saratoga Club. All the phonebooks also called the joint the Saratoga Café. More to come on that later.

1952-1956 - 801 Saratoga

This location produced both bar tokens and a matchbook that suggested some form of gambling.

Whitey Lundsford, listed as the owner had several bouts with the law as early as 1940 in other locations all involving slots and gambling equipment.

The joint also produced a bar token as shown in the die image from Roy’s book.

1959-1963 - 201 E, 5th Street at Saratoga Street

After showing that both 801 and 901 Saratoga Street locations were vacant, the 5th/Saratoga joint appeared in the 1959 phonebook in a place previously called the Less & Mose Café. A matchbook reveals sporting events available by special wire, indication a book operation there.

This building was demolished and made into a parking lot in the late 1960’s.

Without any shipment records from Rigdon, I examined several other avenues including flickr, a site where photographers shared pictures on the web. There appeared a Saratoga Club sign, attached to 911 Saratoga Street in Newport.

The sign indicates Saratoga Club and appears to be a 1950’s vintage Hudepohl sign. I contacted Bill Eichelberger, the photographer and he indicated he had taken the picture in 2008, but had no knowledge of the bar or how long the sign ad been there. He also was gracious enough to allow use of his photo. Had no additional information been obtained, I would have concluded that 910 Saratoga Street was the most likely place where the chips had been ordered.
But there was one other clue that might better pinpoint the date of manufacture/shipment of the chips. On the box, the address and phone number of Rigdon was as follows:

RIGDON & COMPANY
308W. 4th Street
Cincinnati 2, Ohio
Phone-CHERRY 4738

Key to the puzzle is the phone number which was characterized as a 2 letter, 4 digit number; CH 4738. I looked through the Yellow Pages at the Public Library for the Rigdon location and phone number. White’s Club Room, Rigdon’s predecessor was located at 308 W. 4th Street from at least 1943 to 1952. Rigdon was located at 406 W. Elm Street beginning in 1948 and we all thought remained there until 1972 when to books indicated a return to 308 W. 4th Street, White’s previous location.

But what we missed in an earlier study of Rigdon was there was a fire at the 406 Elm Street Rigdon plant in 1953 which required the business to move.

Rigdon moved to the old White location in 1953 at 308 W. 4th Street, confirmed by the 1954 and 1955 phone directories and stayed there until they ceased operation in 1983.

That’s key because of the phone number and address on the Rigdon box. In 1955 the phone company, in fact the U.S. changed from 2 letters, 4 digit numbers to 2 letters, 5 digit boxes. So the window where Rigdon had the 308 W. 4th Street address and the 2 letters, 4 digit numbers was only about three years, 1953-1955.

The only timeframe matching the address on the box and the phone number is 810 Saratoga Street, Saratoga Club location.

But what about the Hudepohl sign? Well, the sign reads Hudepohl 14-K. 14-K was the most popular beer in the Hudepohl lineup and began distribution in 1953, matching the timeframe of the 801 Saratoga Club’s location. Finally, several old-timers I met at Pompilios, a legendary Newport bar and restaurant near Saratoga Street, confirmed that Saratoga Club was “between 8th and 9th Street”, and the sign was on the bar. That research at Pompilio’s was arduous, but someone had to do it! My thought is that the sign was moved when 801 Saratoga was converted to apartments in the 1990’s, but it’s gone now and confirming the move seems very unlikely.

Well, a rather circuitous route to a conclusion, and normally we can start knowing the location, but I think we have a viable answer and have found a way to date some Rigdon shipments if we have the shipping box. Another local find of Rigdon sample chips has surfaced and has the same address and phone number on the box so we know the 1953-55 timeframe is likely for those chips too.

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Well thank you Jim! I love the style of research and learned a thing or two myself about how to outthink a problem like finding multiple clubs in the same city. Anyone who has tried to research a "Turf Club" knows exactly what I'm talking about.

Rich Richie bought the chips and at the time had them available. Maybe a reply will say if that is still the case.

Until next time - KEEP RESEARCHING!