It was nice finding and ID'ing these chips, which no collector had before, I guess. Next to your gangster and bootlegger-owned chips, you can put one that was owned by a real American hero -- Leopold Leopold Meyer. Here are the chips and a link to the auction (for the full story):
Seven 1929 U.S. Playing Card Co. "LML" monogram chips of the famous Texan millionaire businessman and philanthropist Leopold Leopold Meyer (1892-1982)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6229439057
It was fun identifying them:
The person selling them to me was a friend of the family who got them from Mr. Meyer's penthouse after he died. The chips say "LML." The "M" in the center is most prominent so if the letters were a person's monogram, likely the "M" is the last name. Meyer's full name is Leopold Leopold Meyer. (He was named for his grandfather and his godfather, both of whom were named Leopold.)
Below is a photo of the chip sample/order card of USPC the chip manufacturer:
Thus we know the chips were shipped to Foley Bros. Dry Goods Co., Houston, Texas, in 1929. Leopold Leopold Meyer was a top executive of Foley's, as per his biography listing here:
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/MM/fme44.html
If you click to my auction ( http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6229439057 ), you'll see what an amazing career he had, as a businessman , and especially as a philanthropist in Houston, Texas.
Robert
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