I got the following info from a friend. He had already checked Preserving Gaming History web site and knew the Harp mold was an Illinois chip. The flower mold chips were up in the air as to an ID, at that time.

“Tale of two ID’s”.
Makes for a good story.

Enough of that:

Thought I’d forward you the email I got from the chips’ seller which has some info about the Spur Inn in Spur, TX since the yellow flower mold might be from there. I had contacted this eBay seller about buying a set of the Blue Horse Shoe chips and asked if they had any chips from Dallas and that’s when they brought-up the Spur Inn chips.

Here are the emails the seller refers to and a pic they sent:

Spur Inn, Spur, Texas. Unknown year the picture was taken. No doubt in my mind they had gambling. Now, where are the chips!

The seller’s names are Robert & Nancy Burfield of Ozark, MO (mobanx2@yahoo.com). I didn’t tell them about the harp mold ID since I know that sometimes people can get upset when they find out the truth about a chip that they thought was something else--the sellers may have been OK with the new info, but in the middle of a transaction I figured I’d just let it slide.

My note: I called the sellers. They had done their homework and were telling the truth as they knew it. They had bought both molds of the Spur Inn chips on line several years ago in one lot. They had searched out and found the 80 some year old operator of The Spur Inn bed and breakfast, still open in Spur, Texas. She told them about private poker games at the Spur Inn and then moving the game to private residences after some heat. She had some chips and would try to find them. No luck on that yet.

The sellers put 2 & 2 together as many of us would. To them it was a good ID.
Whoa!!! Not so fast! That is why we have the Preserving Gaming Web Site. They were happy to get the correct ID. They have some for sale at a reasonable price. Robert & Nancy Burfield of Ozark, MO (mobanx2@yahoo.com)

Enough of what the Spur Inn chips are not:

Illinois:

I do not have the purple flower mold. The sellers only had 4 of them.

Figured you’d like some info about the Spur Inn in Karnak, Illinois. The chips were delivered to Thomas H. Willingham, the son of a Paducah physician. Thomas appears to have lived all his life in Paducah, dying there in 1986 at age 77. The chip delivery address was a cigar store in Paducah owned by Dexter Howell. A possible reason for the chips being delivered to Paducah in March 1946 is that the Spur Inn at Karnak was in the process of being rebuilt after a fire in December 1945:

My note: We have no proof the flower molds were used in IL, except the fact they were both purchased in one lot from the same seller. The hot stamps are close. I am calling the flowers as IL until I see something saying they are not.

Karnak? Wonder if that is where Johnny Carson got his alter ego name?

Re-opens around the time of chip order:

Apparently the Spur Inn employed a lot of people from Paducah (from 1948):

an ad from 1946:

ad from 1947:

Sykeston (MO) Herald—26aug1948 (Karnak is in Pulaski County):

Cape Girardeau and the surrounding cities were a literal hot bed of illegal gaming clubs. There are many chips from the area including The Thunderbird, East Cape Girardeau IL.

The small key has always been controversial since it was found in 2000. Many believe it to be a Las Vegas chip. I believe it to be an Illinois chip. No doubt the T mold is Illinois.

I have chips from The Colony Club and the El Patio Club mentioned in the article. Off the top of my head The El Patio and Frog City Club in Cairo, IL, are the only 2 arodies from IL. Ed Hertel did have both arodies for sale or trade. Not sure if he still has some.