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Today’s IOTD was a result of work I was doing cleaning up some of the illegals in the Chip Guide. In the state of Washington, there was a Spokane Club with two different chip designs, both made by Taylor and Company. Some chips are marked “The Spokane Club” which were ordered in 1949 & 1950, while the others have an “Indian head” which were ordered various times between 1940 and 1950.
When looking through the records however, the Indian Head stamp was not unique, and was used by other clubs as well. Since all the chips in the Chip Guide have them going to the Spokane Club, I thought I would do a little research and see if I could unwind some of the problems and find the rightful homes for these chips. Here is what I found…
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Spokane Club, Spokane, Washington
Molds: Both T’s and harp
HARPS:
10c Lt Green (1942)
25c White (1940)
50c Red (1940)
$1.00 Lt Blue (1940)
$5.00 Yellow (1940)
$10.00 Black (1940)
T-MOLDS:
$5.00 Yellow (1946 & 1948)
$10.00 Black (1946 & 1948)
Examples of the $10.00 chips of both T-mold (1946) and harp mold (1940)
The Spokane Club was a private club that operated in Spokane from the early 1900s. As with most private clubs, gambling was generally tolerated. Also with the private clubs, patrons weren’t always restricted to members only, which made the gambling strictly illegal. Gambling continued for decades. I haven’t done much research into Washington gambling, but no doubt with so long a history there must be stories to tell!
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R.E. Bell, Lindsay Soft Water Inc, Spokane, Washington
T-molds ordered in 1958. Only the chocolate $10.00 chips found.
$1.00 Pink
$5.00 Orange
$10.00 Chocolate
$25.00 Red
Research into R.E. Bell hasn’t helped much. His name was Russell E. Bell and he did indeed work for Lindsay Soft Water Company, which, if you haven’t figured out, wasn’t a gambling club. I suspect being in Spokane he might have been a member of the Spokane Club and ordered these chips to be used there. He ordered more chips than is usually necessary for a home game. The different colors give me some pause, but perhaps Taylor wouldn’t sell someone else the same chips as the original Spokane order.
I would tentatively put these in the Spokane Club.
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Art Cosgrove, Center Street, Peru, Illinois
T-Mold ordered in 1947:
25c Scarlet
$5.00 Black
$25.00 Orange – none known
Examples from the Chip Guide:
.. 
After researching it, it looks like the chips were sent to Art's house, but probably used in a club in neighboring La Salle, Illinois called Tinney's Silver Congo. Art's brother William, aka Tinney, operated the club from the late 1930s through the 1950s and Art worked as a "clerk" there. The Silver Congo was raided many times and had quite the local reputation.
Around the time of the chip order above, Cosgrove’s Silver Congo was involved in a lawsuit brought on by a partner of a man who spent company money in various La Salle clubs, including Tinney’s. However, in the end, the litigants had a change of heart…
I wonder what was behind the “just say I changed my mind”?
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Becker & Long, Havana, Illinois
Harp molds (1942):
Red (non-denom) – none known
Lt Green (non-denom) – none known
Becker and Long has a lot of history already out there with many chips. Unfortunately I have never seen these chips.
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C. Neilson
Unknown molds, nondenominated. None are known.
Ordered in 1954:
Dk Blue
Black
Red
Yellow
Nothing known of these or Mr. Neilson.
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Lazzio, Rockford
Unknown mold (1961) – No chips found
$1.00 Gray
$5.00 Chocolate
$25.00 Black – looks to be the same as Spokane $25.00 chips if they are T-molds (harp have slanted denominations)
Not much information from the card, but there is enough to make some assumptions. In the early 1960s, the Lazzio family was ripe with activity in Rockford, Illinois. Charles Lazzio had the Spotty’s Tavern, Joe Lazzio ran Joe’s Smoke Shop and Sam Lazzio had his Sammy’s Tavern. It’s impossible to say which Lazzio used the chips at which club.
The Lazzio boys had a long history in Rockford and by the 1960s, their names popped up just about anytime the city fought back against organized crime – whether it was gambling, racketeering or murder.
One funny news flash goes back to 1947 when Joe was starting out at his local club…
Undone by a cop with a piece of chewing gum on a stick!
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And that wraps up our walk down the “Indian Head” Taylor designs. The lesson to learn is to look at the details before assigning a chip to a club!
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