Just one more of the many exciting things in the new second edition (heavily expanded) of Illegal Gambling Clubs of Toledo; theChips, the Dice, the Places and Faces"

Brown “Roman Border” mold Hollywood Club chips on right

The above group of Hollywood Club gambling chips was found together at a flea market in Toledo in 2014. One would naturally assume that because the brown chip clearly says “Hollywood Club,” and the simple fact that the brown chips were found together with the tan and yellow Hollywood Club chips in Toledo… all of the chips surely must be from the Hollywood Club. That assumption would be incorrect.
First, let me explain a little bit of background on Hollywood Club chips. For many years, there has been an ongoing debate on the brown, non-denominational Hollywood chips, because the outer edge mold design was not produced during the time of the Hollywood Club’s existence. The Hollywood Club closed its doors for the final time in 1951.

In the book are a few never before seen and never known to exist Hollywood Club chips as well as a slot machine token.

So, how could this be? Why would we see identical print fonts on chips frequently found together locally in Toledo, yet they weren’t made until after the Hollywood Club closed? There was no denying that the brown chips could not have been used at the Hollywood Club because of the manufacturing date conflict, so I did not include them in the first edition of this book.

Thanks to the extensive research on gambling chips done by members of the Casino Collectibles Club and their investigations into manufacturers’ records and interviews with owners of chip manufacturing companies, it has been documented that the Roman Weave mold chips were first produced in the late 1950’s. The original “Small Key” mold design used by the Hollywood Club was manufactured by B. C. Wills company located in Detroit. The earliest documented use of the Roman Border (sometimes called Weave mold) design was in 1958 by H. Baron Company in New York City.

Finally, the mystery was solved. Following the closing of the Hollywood Club in 1951, the chips were used again in other Toledo area illegal gambling operations.

During one of my many breakfast meetings with Donnie Van Gunten, who was personally involved with many of the illegal gambling clubs, I decided to ask if he knew anything about the brown chips. Without hesitation, he immediately stated “Of course… we used those at Whitey’s Golf and Bowling Club, and the Blue Note and at the 3-D Club.” He went on to tell me that he exclusively used the original Hollywood Club chips along with the brown weave mold Hollywood Club chips when he ran the Harry Hughes Horseman’s Haven gambling operation in 1975. Van Gunten went on to add that Joseph “Penay” Besase had to go up to Detroit and personally pick up the chips.