Cottonchipper's Chip Log

My Latest Non-Chipping Project

2006-02-26T11:51:00.000-08:00

When I'm not fussing with my casino chip collection, I spend some of my spare time painting. I've been painting and creating other mixed media projects for about 30 years now and just recently started a new project that takes place in cyberspace.

It's a sort of mosaic made up of small versions of images of paintings and photographs created by artists and photographers all over the globe. I started the project a few weeks ago and have been thoroughly enjoying putting it together.

I've posted on several public forums where artists gather and the project is accumulating a pretty diverse selection of work. More about the project, including how to submit work to be added is contained in the work's "Artist's Statement".

Chip of the Day: Big Meadow Club

2006-01-07T06:42:00.000-08:00

From the Big Meadow Club, which was located at 205 Main Street in Lovelock, Nevada. Opened in 1953 and closed in 1960.

What a $39,345 Chip Looks Like

2005-12-23T06:09:00.000-08:00

Another record-setting auction just closed on eBay. This one for a mustard-colored Frontier Las Vegas crest & seal roulette chip from table #5. I e-mailed the seller and asked permission to post her pictures here, but never received a response. So, if you want to see what a chip like this looks like, you'll have to visit the auction before the pictures are removed.
The story is that the chip was found in a box in the basement of an 82-year-old granny somewhere. If it were me writing the check for $39,345 I'd sure be asking some questions about what else was in the box with this beauty.

Here's that auction link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=6232055491

That Collector Feeling

2005-11-23T05:53:00.001-08:00

My wife, who doesn't collect anything, and who still doesn't quite "get it", made me read the following passage from a book by Susan Orlean called The Orchid Thief, which was later used as a basis for the movie Adaptation. The story revolves around people who grow and collect orchids. I think it accurately describes how collecting works for some of us:

...He looked at Laroche. "You collecting anything now, John?"

"Nah," Laroche said. "I don't want to collect anything for myself right now. I really have to watch myself, especially around plants. Even now, just being here, I still get that collector feeling. You know what I mean. I'll see something and then suddenly I get that feeling. It's like I can't just have something--I have to have it and learn about it and grow it and sell it and master it and have a million of it." He shook his head and scuffed up some gravel. "You know, I'll see something, just anything, and I can't help but thinking to myself, Well, Jesus Christ, now that's interesting! Jesus, I'll bet you could find a lot of those."

Chip of the Day: Jessie Beck's Riverside

2005-11-12T15:56:00.000-08:00

Today's chip comes from Jessie Beck's Riverside, in Reno, Nevada. Open from 1970 to 1978 in the same site as the Riverside Hotel, which was open from 1927 to 1970. After Jessie, Pick Hobson took over the Riverside name at the same location from 1970 to 1986.

New Chip in the Mail

2005-11-10T05:36:00.000-08:00

Well, I wouldn't exactly say new. New to me, but actually pretty old.

One was from Cheyenne, Wyoming and apparently used as a promotion for Frontier Nights, which is the entertainment that takes place after dark during Frontier Days, which currently bills itself as the world's largest outdoor rodeo. Frontier Days started in 1896, and this chip comes from the 1930's.

The other chip comes from the Kentucky Club, in Covington, Kentucky. It's one of the few die-cut metal inlay chips I have in my collection, the others being the very common Mapes Hotel chips. This chip originated sometime in the 1940's or 1950's.

This type of die-cut metal inlay was also used on several chips from the Flamingo in Las Vegas back in 1947, which are some of the more expensive and sought-after chips in the hobby.

Index Finished and More Crest & Seals in the Mail

2005-11-06T10:06:00.000-08:00

I've finished the topical index for issues of the Casino Chip & Token News from Fall 2000 through Summer 2005 and put it online.

Yesterday, I received three roulette chips from the Lake Tahoe Country Club that I recently purchased. I'm excited to finally be concentrating on adding to my plain mold litho collection.

Casino Chip & Token News Topical Index

2005-11-05T04:04:00.000-08:00

I haven't written much here the last few days because I've been busy on a project I volunteered for.

While I was digging through back issues of the Casino Chip & Token News for an article I thought I remembered, it occurred to me that we need a good topical index of articles that have appeared in the CCGTCC club magazine.

I contacted Allan Anderson and found out none existed, so I volunteered to start compiling one. I'm over halfway done with the issues I have, which only go back to late 2001, but I've posted the index online for anybody who'd like to use it. Here's the temporary link. Allan plans to put the index on the magazine website when he gets time:

http://www.cottonchipper.com/cctnindex.html

The NASCAR Effect

2005-11-03T09:30:00.000-08:00

Listen, I enjoy watching NASCAR on television as much as the next guy (or gal), but why do I have to feel like I'm in the middle of the Texas Motor Speedway each time I drive to work? Is it my imagination, or have people started driving more like Jimmy Johnson and Dale Earnhart, Jr. since NASCAR has gained nationwide popularity?

I was almost creamed this morning by a young lady who was "drafting" so close to me that she couldn't stop fast enough when the line of cars in front of me stopped. And then there are those drivers who come right up on your tail before quickly switching lanes, passing you and then switching back.

The Intimidator would have been proud of some of these folks.

Cool Chip of the Day: Agua Caliente

2005-10-27T12:30:00.000-07:00

I won this Agua Caliente chip on eBay the other day with no real thought about where it was from. It's an attractive crest & seal, and that was primarily the reason I bid on it. Plus, I know the seller, who originally hails from Hobbs too.

Coincidentally, I also just received another item I recently purchased online: a second-hand copy of an illustrated version of Laura Hillenbrand's book about Seabiscuit. I only recently saw the movie "Seabiscuit", (yes, I'm a bit behind the crowd on this one) and wanted to read more about the story.

I sat down with my Seabiscuit book last night and noticed one of the illustrations included a postcard of the Agua Caliente racetrack in Tijuana, Mexico, which figures in the story of Seabiscuit and his owners and trainers. The chip I bought would have been in play around the same time in the Agua Caliente Casino in Tijuana. Cool coincidence, huh?

Chip of the Day: El Rey Resort

2005-10-26T05:38:00.000-07:00

Today's chip comes from the El Rey Resort in Searchlight, Nevada. The El Rey was located on Highway 95 and was open from 1946 to 1973. This chip was issued in the 1950's in the Christy & Jones shiny hat & cane mold. The El Rey, also known as the El Rey Club was run by a pimp named Willie Martello and burned down at one point in its existence. In the early days, it was known to offer prostitution in addition to gambling.

Cool Site of the Day: Vegas Today and Tomorrow

2005-10-24T06:52:00.000-07:00

If you love Las Vegas like I do, you owe it to yourself to visit Vegas Today and Tomorrow. This website has more cool stuff related to Las Vegas than you can imagine. It's an excellent place to stay informed about future hotel and condominium projects as well as learn more about the history of Las Vegas and see maps, statistics and general information.

One of my favorite features is a map showing current and future projects, so you can see where they will be located in relation to what's already there. There's also a Who Owns What Map that illustrates which casino conglomerates own which properties. And a list of Las Vegas casinos by size. Did you know that Sam's town is the second-largest casino in town with 150,000 square feet? I sure didn't.

There are many more cool pages, especially the pages detailing hotel, condo and mixed use projects in various stages of completion and the original dreams for projects that turned out differently or were never built.

New Chips From Las Ramblas (in a few years)

2005-10-23T14:42:00.000-07:00

I came across an advertisement in an in-flight magazine recently for another one of those condominium/hotel projects slated for Las Vegas, this one to be called Las Ramblas. Actor George Clooney is one of the "players" involved in this project, in the words of the official website. The project is set to be located two blocks east of the Strip on Harmon Avenue between the Hard Rock Hotel and the site of the planned W Hotel & Casino.

Lots of pricey projects are in various stages of development around Las Vegas. Let's hope they leave enough money in the budget for some quality chip designs.

Cool Site of the Day: oldpokerchips.com

2005-10-20T06:04:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite places to look at and covet old poker chips is Rich Hanover's oldpokerchips.com website. Rich collects some of the rarest types of chips, including my favorite: plain-mold litho inlay chips. When you visit Rich's site, be sure to click on the links that show his collection of plain-mold litho inlay chips. Eye-candy galore.

My Virtual Personal Chip

2005-10-19T05:37:00.000-07:00

Ever since this personal chip thing started, I've struggled with whether to have a chip of my own made. It's a pretty cool idea to use a chip like a business card, especially since that's what a lot of the early casino executives did. And having submitted a design for the last CCGTCC convention, I knew I could come up with a design.

And, even if I couldn't come up with a design on my own, I could always use Debby Meister, who has volunteered her skills to dozens of chippers wanting personal chips.

Still, the money kept holding me back. I'd much rather spend what it would cost to have personal chips made on actual casino chips to add to my collection than on having a personal chip made. And, the more the personal chip craze kept growing, the less and less I wanted to have one made.

The Chip Board, the online chip-collecting hangout, began to fill up with posts that weren't about collecting casino chips anymore, but instead all about personal chips. It seemed to me that collectors were spending so much time on trading personal chips with other collectors that I wondered if they were interested in casino chips anymore. I even whined about it in this blog.

I knew I was missing out on lots of fun from trading personal chips with other collectors, but the way I saw it that only added to the expense of having personal chips made. Not only do you have to pay to have the chips made, but then you've got the postage expense of mailing your chip to dozens of other collectors.

Still, my ego cried out for a personal chip of my own. What kind of chip collector was I if I didn't have my own unique individual chip? Eventually, the weight of my own obscurity was too much to bear.

I sat down at my computer and designed my own Virtual Casino Chip. At this point, I have no plans to actually pay to have this chip produced, but it's now my digital calling card when I post on The Chip Board. And, I no longer have to suffer from chip-envy when I see other folks posting pictures of their personal chips.

If you'd like to add my personal chip to your collection, just right-click and save a copy. That way, it will save us both postage.

Wine-ing for Another Vacation

2005-10-18T05:55:00.000-07:00

I just got home from a great trip to San Diego barely a week ago, and I'm already dreaming of where I want to spend part of my vacation next year.

My wife and I drink red wine on a regular basis and have talked about visiting the Napa Valley of California before, but watching the movie Sideways yesterday re-kindled the idea for us. If you haven't seen it, the movie is built around the story of a visit to the Santa Barbara wine country that a couple of guys go on just prior to one of the guy's wedding. Throughout the movie, there is a lot of talk about wine and a lot of local scenery is shown, including actual wineries and restaurants in the area.

We're not true vinophiles who drink all the different types of wine and can rattle off a dozen descriptive terms when we taste a new wine. We like reds, particularly cabernet sauvignon, especially from the Napa Valley. We haven't ventured very far out of this comfort zone, although we've tasted whites and blushes enough to know they're not for us.

The Napa trip will give us a chance to visit some wineries and taste some wines that we haven't before. Our dining choices locally are very limited, which means the wines we can order by the glass are also few. The tasting rooms at the wineries we plan on visiting will allow us to taste some wines that we wouldn't ordinarily invest the price of an entire bottle on. And, along the way we'll get to learn a little more about wine, how it's made and what makes a good wine. Maybe we'll even taste some whites and blushes too.

Who knows, maybe we'll even learn how to describe what we're tasting?

Platinum Collection on eBay

2005-10-17T11:15:00.000-07:00

Well, the auction for The Platinum Collection has begun on eBay and already has a single bidder who bid the minimum $1,000,000. It will be interesting to see if there are any other bidders and whether this bidder, who isn't listed as all bidders identities are hidden, will follow through with the transaction.

Chip Scavengers in Katrina's Wake

2005-10-06T14:23:00.000-07:00

People who have scavenged chips in wake of Hurricane Katrina are beginning to attempt to sell their chips to the collecting community. I won't post any links to any of the activity since it might lead to them being successful. There's no way to determine whether they came by the chips by finding them on the beach or by picking through the debris on the grounds of the casinos. Of course, if it was by the latter method, then their loot is stolen property.

Not that these chips are good to anyone but collectors, since the casinos will not redeem them unless they know with all certainty that the person trying to cash them in was in fact a player prior to the hurricane. But, stolen property is stolen property, regardless of the value it would have if still in the hands of the victim of the theft.

I just hope the collecting community doesn't reward a thief by paying a premium for some of the higher denomination chips that are turning up.

Economical Chip Storage

2005-09-27T04:45:00.000-07:00

When I started collecting chips, I stored them by putting each chip into a plastic 2x2 inch "flip". Then, I purchased plastic sheets with pockets to hold 20 of these flips and placed them into 3-ring binders. Pretty soon, I had almost a dozen binders and they were crowding out the books on the bookshelves in our home office.

In the early years of my collecting, I found that I pulled binders off the shelf fairly often to check to see if I had a particular chip, or to insert a new purchase. I filed my chips alphabetically, by casino name, and one of the problems using the binders is that I would have to shift chips around periodically when I needed to insert a new chip. I recently decided to do away with binders and remove the clutter from my bookshelves, while finding an easier way to file chips.

I wanted to file my chips in boxes or drawers, each chip still contained in a flip. I also wanted some type of drawer unit that would fit on a shelf underneath a computer table I have next to my desk, with only 13 inches of clearance. I looked at some metal drawer cabinets at The Container Store that would work, but the price was right around $100. I wanted something cheaper to start out with to see if I would be happy with this filing system.

I picked up a plastic 3 drawer storage unit at Wal-Mart for either 8 or 12 bucks (I forget). I cut some 1-3/4 inch strips to separate rows of chips from some pieces of 3/32" stiff black plastic that Cassidy Frames ships with their chip frame inserts.
Each drawer holds about 450-475 chips in double pocket plastic flips. Inside dimensions of drawers are 12 inches wide by about 12-3/4 inches deep by a little less than 2-1/2 tall.

This particular unit is made by Sterlite and seems pretty stable, although I don't have all three drawers full yet. They make a smaller unit with drawers 8-1/2 wide and 11 deep, but it doesn't seem as strong.

One Man's Clutter...

2005-09-23T04:11:00.000-07:00

Every so often, someone will make a post on The Chip Board complaining about what other people are posting on The Chip Board. It's usually prompted by a flame war over politics or something entirely unrelated to collecting casino chips. The poster will usually proclaim something like "Let's get back to chip collecting!!" and urge the moderator, Greg Susong to start filtering out postings that aren't strictly chip-related.

This complaining post is always met with a response that the board is open to discussions of any subject, an invitation to read Greg's message to new users, and advice to simply skip over posts that don't seem to be chip-related: If you don't like it, don't read it.

Having seen these complaining posts made repeatedly, and knowing what responses they bring, I've refrained from making my own post about something on The Chip Board that's been bothering me lately. I know I'll come off as a whiner here, but this is my forum, and if I can't whine here, where can I?

(PLEASE: If you want to rake me over the coals for my opinions expressed here, please do it here by posting a response at the end of this message. DON'T make a post about it on The Chip Board as I don't want to contribute to the clutter there.)

Okay, here's my whine: My problem isn't with discussions that aren't chip-related. In fact, it's with postings that ARE chip-related, but just not anything I think is worth taking up space on the board.

My problem is with "Your personal chip arrived" postings.

Over the past year, the creation and trading of personal chips has become one of the main focuses of the discussions on the board. As a collector who has decided NOT to have a personal chip made (yet), I sometimes skip over the messages soliciting trades of personal chips. I have no problem with people posting pictures of their personal chips and thanking whoever helped them design the chip and have it created. I think that's entirely appropriate, and I always enjoy seeing them. I also have no problem with people soliciting trades of personal chips. The Chip Board is the only logical place to do that.

However, once two collectors have made their initial contact by e-mail and agreed to trade personal chips, why do the rest of the readers of the board need to be informed of the progress of the mailing and delivery? There are messages on almost a daily basis proclaiming something to the effect of "Hey Bob, your personal chip arrived!" or "Thanks for the trade, Roger!"

Now, call me cranky, but if the two of you corresponded by e-mail to set up the trade, why can't you simply e-mail each other when the post office makes the delivery?

Each time I post a new topic on the board, I try to make it something that might interest other readers. I KNOW that readers of the board don't give a hoot what arrives in my mailbox each day, and I rarely tell them unless it's a casino chip I'm particularly proud to acquire. And in those cases, I always post a picture to share.

I know a lot of these postings are by relatively new collectors who are excited by anything chip-related that happens in their lives. I was the same way when I started out. Another reason I don't want to post this rant of mine on The Chip Board is it might discourage new collectors from posting and participating in the hobby. I don't want to do that. All I want is for them to maybe use e-mail a little more and stop using the board for their personal messaging service.

END OF RANT.

Large & Small Crown Chips

2005-09-18T07:09:00.000-07:00

I fell in love with small crown chips made by the T.R. King Co. a couple of years ago when Doug Saito was holding an auction of the small crown collection of Hank Boss. As with most of Doug's auctions, he did an excellent catalog with lots of nice pictures. I liked the simple mold design, and something about it seemed older and more genuine than some of the more plentiful designs.

I started picking small crown chips up when I could, on eBay and at the annual CCGTCC convention. There are a lot of them around that can be had fairly inexpensively, since T.R. King continues to manufacture chips using the small crown mold, which they began using around 1950. Of course, many of the chips they manufacture are for home poker sets, as anybody can order from them, not just casinos.

T.R. King also manufactured a chip using what is referred to as the large crown mold from about 1938 to 1967. Although there are many of these chips around too, there don't seem to be as many as the small crowns. This means you'll expect to pay a little more for large crown chips. Many of the more desireable large crowns are older Nevada chips, including some from Las Vegas, and they can get quite expensive.

One great place to view some large crown chips is the home page of Richard Fellman, self-proclaimed "Large Crown Nut".

Another Kind of Collectible Plate

2005-08-31T06:20:00.000-07:00

Having been blessed with the collecting gene, I've dabbled in all sorts of collectibles before committing myself to casino chips and related items. For a while, I even collected baseball cards.

As a kid, I wasn't particularly interested in baseball and as a result never collected baseball cards. I remember buying trading cards with the Beatles, monsters and cars on them, but most of those ended up attached to the fork of my bike with clothespins to make that clackety-clackety sound that sounded exactly like a motorcycle.

In the early 1990's I became interested in baseball cards and went through a buying flurry, acquiring enough semi-worthless cards to fill a box that now sits in my attic. One of the reasons I was put off was the realization (Duh!) that the card manufacturers were continuing to put out more and more special issue sets and special inserts in the regular sets. So, regular cards issue cards have lost some of their appeal to collectors. Couple that with the fact that ANY baseball card must now be "slabbed" by a grading company to be worth anything, and you have a couple of reasons that baseball card collecting sucks.

The card companies basically see their job now as to print money. Which is fine, but being one of the sources of that money is not something I want to participate in. Special inserts inside regular packs of baseball cards have been around for a long time, and included things like autographed cards and holographic images and stuff. But, I recently discovered the latest insert designed to keep packs of their cards flying off the shelves: the printing plate.

They're now inserting printing plates (allegedly) used to print the baseball cards right into the pack with the cards. What will they think of next? If this sounds unbelievable or you're not sure what I'm talking about, check out the auctions running on eBay to see some.

12 Questions For Mark Englebretson

2005-08-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

NOTE: I first became acquainted with Mark Englebretson a couple of years ago when I decided to create a website to show my small collection of Nevada casino matchcovers. Mark Englebretson contacted me and volunteered to let me use scans of some of his matchcovers. I was to discover it was sort of like the curator of the Smithsonian offering to lend me an antique or two. Although I've neglected the site lately, most of the better images featured on the matchcover site came from Mark Englebretson's collection. His love of small town Nevada casinos is contagious, as you'll find out from reading this interview.

How and when did you get started collecting ashtrays from Nevada casinos?

In the spring of 2001 my father passed away. We made the decision to sell his house as it was 500 miles from where we lived. It just didn't make sense to try and rent it and have it destroyed. Problem being was the multitude of stuff I had stored on his property. In addition, I had rented storage space and a two car garage stacked to the rafters with collectibles. It was obvious that something had to be done. I just kept putting it off. We hadn't discovered Ebay at this point. One night I was in the garage trying to find something and it was nearly dark. The light bulb that lit the garage was burnt out and I couldn't get to it to replace it because of all the boxes of junk. I ended up tripping over the first collectible I ever bought. A 1906 brass National Cash Register. I got all scraped up. I stood up and looked at it and said, "You and all your little collectible friends are going away."

Thus, began a 4 year vendetta against all this junk. It has taken over 12,000 Ebay auctions at this point and I am not finished. In the process, my wife Lynn found a box of casino stuff I had accumulated. There were a few ashtrays in there along with cards, dice, and etc. The ashtrays appealed to her. She looked on Ebay and found that they were a hot collectible. She said, "These are what I want to collect."

The point being was, I wanted to get rid of all the collectibles and lead a NORMAL life. That was not to be. The rest is history. A new bidder of "mark00753" showed up buying everything in sight. Four years later, I think our collection is one of the better in the United States. I was fortunate enough to have Paul J. Gregory (col.batguano) and LarryMiller (vin.diesel) as mentors. To this day they are two of my best friends and I thank them both for teaching me the hobby.

Do you have any idea how many different Nevada casino ashtrays you have owned at one time or another?

At one point I think it was around 2500. We decided to rationalize thecollection. We got rid of all the stackers and flared trays unless it was all a place had. I sold off most of our Las Vegas collection last year. We kept the rarest stuff. Now, I kind of regret doing that and have started reassembling aVegas collection but it will only be the very best trays.

I know you have quite a Nevada casino postcard and photograph collection too. How long have you been collecting postcards and how did you start?

Our Nevada postcard and photo collection is extensive. Originally, we started buying them because we thought they were great historical items. I have always been interested in the histories of the casinos and clubs. It just seemed that having pictures of them was a normal progression of casino memorabilia collecting. We now have around 4500 of them and still looking for more. It has been gratifying that the CCGTCC has used our pictures the last two years to illustrate the auction catalog.

So, you were using the postcards and photographs somewhat for the purpose of documenting the locations where the ashtrays came from?

At first, as I mentioned, they were just an adjunct to the other casino collectibles. Sure, it documented where the trays came from but I just liked looking at the old photos and going back in time. Since, I have such a heavy emphasis in our collections of small town Nevada they were of special appeal to us. To me, Small Town Nevada epitomizes the way it was in the early days of gaming in Nevada. I like the downtown Vegas stuff and early Highway 91 casinos. We really don't concentrate too much on the later Vegas items. On the strip I do have an interest in the El Rancho, Flamingo and Royal Nevada and avidly pursue items from those properties. We pursue collecting any photos of the small town, Reno, and Tahoe properties. As a collection matures it gets harder and harder to find items to add. Nonetheless, it is the thrill of the hunt!

Tell me about the Nevada Casino Ashtray Project and how that got started.

If common sense had prevailed it would have never happened. Originally, Paul J. Gregory and I had conversation about the need for a new Casino Ashtray book. Art Anderson's book was great but woefully inadequate. He even acknowledged the fact himself. However, it gave a great overview of the collecting field. Later, Roxy Held did a book but it was short of pictures and had other problems. A valiant effort but it just wasn't what was needed. I had no interest in doing a book. They are a financial drain and when new finds show up, which happens often in this hobby, what do you do to let people know?

Paul advanced the idea to do a website. I said great. You have the best collection of anyone. His response was, "I do not have the time to do it." Okay, so "E Pluribus Pinhead" steps up and says, "I'll give it a go." I am a Norweigian and prone to making unwise decisions which I blame on my heritage. This had to have been one of the worst of the worst I had made. For starters, I had no idea how to do a web site. I am a computer idiot. I called on my good friend, Floyd Smith, and told him of what I wanted to do. He agreed to do the site. I really do not think he knew what he was getting involved with. Recently he asked if we were seeing light at the end of the tunnel. My response..."Not Really."

The site is pretty extensive but there is so much more to post. Floyd's time is limited and he has been doing it pretty much gratis. The end goal is to have "The Nevada Casino Ashtray Project" be the definitive reference site for Nevada Gaming History. It's not just the trays but the history of these places we will post as best we can. I encourage anyone that has personal remembrances of these early places to please help. This history is getting buried and cremated on a daily basis. Reno and Vegas are pretty well documented but small town and Tahoe is going begging.

I have to mention our contributors list. If you look at it, it represents many of the "Best and the Brightest" in the collecting field. I am eternally grateful for all the help they have provided for this site. It would not have been possible without their contributions. At times, I was ready to tell Floyd to hit the "delete" button and can the project. Thanks to the emotional support I got from many I persisted. I am 52 years old and hope to maintain the site for a few more years. I am looking for someone to take over the "Project" and make sure it perpetuates. It is an incredible project that I am very proud of and I do not want to see it die. I realize that most casino collectors are into chips but I want them to know some of the history of the places they have chips from. It is a rich and colorful history that needs to be preserved.

What other areas have you been involved in collecting? Don't I remember you mentioning glassware or pottery?

As I mentioned before, I collected anything that appealed to me. You name it, glassware, pottery, old bottles, Beam bottles, Mettlach Steins, railroad junk. Nothing was off limits. My railroad collection specific to Chicago and Northwestern, Great Northern, Northern Pacific and The Milwaukee Road was awesome. When I sold it off a number of collectors were in awe of the items I had. It was nice to get them into permanent collections. One thing I have found about the railroad collectors is that their children are learning the collecting field. Many of the super rare items I sold will probably not see the open market for many years. I am happy about that. In a way it is sad that it is gone but I just couldn't see the point of having all this world class stuff in boxes.

Is your wife, Lynn as active in collecting as you are?

Lynn is my guiding light in collecting as we now know it. She respects my knowledge and allows me to squander thousands of dollars on this junk. We are not extremely rich people. We are comfortable but nowhere in the league of many casino collectors. In a way, that makes the items more special to us. If I had the resources to make money "no object" I do not think the collecting experience would be nearly as satisfying. Spending the "grocery money" really isn't a problem but I have drained my "Hobby Fund" down to nothing many times. It is just the thrill of the hunt. As I mentioned before, when a collection matures the items you do find are so special. I blame Lynn for sending us down this road!!! If it weren't for her I would be finishing up selling off all my junk and back to a normal life as a noncollector. I am happy that she got us into this collecting field. I have met some of the best people I have ever known. It is one special bunch of folks. I am honored to have made the acquaintances that I have.

And, I understand you've moved into collecting casino chips too. Does this mean you're leaving ashtrays behind?

"Leaving ashtrays behind", surely you jest. They are still our passion, always will be. As before, we love the postcards, drink glasses, and other miscellaneous casino stuff. Chips, sadly to say they are not my passion. I love them but have a reason for not getting too deep into them. Of course, Lynn looked at my database the other day and noted how much we have invested in them, which was more than I realized. So, I guess we must have some love for them. I just feel in any collecting field, if I can't collect the best stuff, I am collecting junk. I certainly cannot afford multi-thousand dollar chips but I am happy with my collection. I think the most I have paid for a chip was $222.00.

In the course of doing the Nevada Casino Ashtray Project I was referred to one individual that has been a guiding light. That person being James Campiglia. Mitch Heller told me one day, "Just call him, he ain't God." So, I did. From that a beautiful friendship evolved. He has helped so much with this project he is a "God" in my estimation. Earlier this summer Lynn and I got to spend three days with him in Deadwood along with Steve Wells. Two of the very best and I am honored to have made their acquaintance.

How can new collectors get started in collecting casino ashtrays?

As with any other collecting field...Get out there and learn. Avoid the pitfalls of paying way too much for the stuff. Currently on Ebay there are three bidders bashing heads and paying way too much for trays. It makes me wish I had a ton to sell. I have offered to mentor but only one has responded.

As with anything, education is all important. With casino ashtrays there isn't much available. However, I AM!!! I encourage any new collectors to e-mail and ask questions. I am more than happy to help all I can. It is a fascinating collecting field. The history is rich and colorful. My Email is:mark@communicomm.com

Your Nevada Casino Ashtray Project is a great source for new collectors. What about the published guides?

The website allows us to post new finds as they show up. It really makes any books redundant. I still tell new collectors to get a copy of Art Anderson's book, "Casinos and Their Ashtrays." It has a lot of history and pics of some pretty rare stuff from Paul Gregory's collection.

You're known for your love of small-town Nevada. How did that develop?

Small town Nevada appeals to me because of being a bunch of hard scrabble joints that didn't survive. So many of them had such a small bankroll that they went bust when one player got hot. Even in Vegas the Birdcage went down over a couple $25,000 Keno tickets and never reopened. Eddie Sahati broke the Twin States Club...they were only open from May 15th to June 30th, 1947.

I guess thinking of the people that frequented them, the smells of stale whiskey, smoke, and I suppose sweat makes them special to me. There are a few of them still open and that is great. The average age of a casino in Nevada is about 3 1/2 years. The Lucky Club in Yerington just celebrated their 70th. Go figure, they did something right.

I know you've visited a lot of these small towns yourself. Are there any places that are favorites?

Bar none, Wells. Then Ely and Lovelock. Well, all of them are special if you like the small town stuff. Most places are gone. Burnt to the ground and God knows what else happened. Some very special places. All history but we have the chips, trays, and pictures to remind us of an era that has gone away.

Wells has Front Street and it still looks pretty much as it did years ago except it is all quiet now. The buildings stand as remembrances of a long ago time. The stories they could tell. The Bulls Head Bar in the Wells Hotel and the ghost of "Giovanna" the fabled Dance Hall Girl, plus all the rest. They are still there.

In 2002, enroute to our first CCGTCC convention, we stayed in Wells. It had been a hell of a day. Early June and 6 inches of snow between Evanston, WY and Park City, UT. Then, tornadoes and hail and torrential rain across the salt flat to Wendover. We had supper at the 4 Way in Wells. Lynn wasn't feeling well so I went out driving around by myself. I found Front Street just as it was coming dark. It was lightly raining and cold. I just parked and sat there looking. I was kitty corner from the Wells Hotel. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a face in the upstairs window and then gone...Giovanna???... Who knows, but it was very real. Gene Kaplan has said that is not unusual... Check out his history of Wells Gaming on the ashtray site. It is long but a definite read.

Ely... Not much left but still one of my favorites. The Hotel Nevada is going strong. I highly recommend it. Mini Theme Suites for $39.00 a night... So nice and quiet. Two years ago Lynn and I were taking pictures of what was left of Ely. I met this old guy there... He just was wandering around and asked what we were doing... so I told him... His response was, "Hell, I can tell you all I know." I said do you drink cold beer? His response was, "Yeah, and lots of it."

We went to the Hotel Nevada and he told me Ely stories until he got so gassed he wasn't making sense. I told him we would be having breakfast in the AM and that he was invited. The next morning he was there and made apologies for drinking too much and said that he had laid awake most of the night thinking of other stuff to tell us. He told us more and then as we were walking out to get in our vehicle to leave, he gave us both a big hug, and said come back and see him. When we were there this summer we found out that the old gentleman had died.

Lovelock... Ya gotta love the "Big Meadow", just a parking lot today... I have the pictures. Delta Club... I have the Pictures... All gone. Pretty much of all the rest all gone....As I said before, the small towns will always be my favorites... Everybody knows about Bugsy and Wilbur Clark and all the rest of the Vegas stuff... I still persist in trying to find out the stuff about the small town guys. I have been fortunate enough to have contact with the granddaughter of the owner of the Golden Bubble in Gardnerville... Then the new owner of the Christmas Tree on the Mt Rose Highway. Then, the granddaughter of Rod Knight at the Hotel Pequop and the Wagon Wheel in Wells. Just fun stuff... Hopefully these will become articles for the club magazine.

Software Gimmick Rant

2005-08-26T07:22:00.000-07:00

I've had my new Dell for just a few weeks and I love it except for one thing: The Software Renewal/Upgrade Gimmick.

The gimmick goes something like this: You read the description of the PC you're buying and all of the cool software it includes. You think about how convenient it will be to have a version of PaintShop Pro already installed, since you don't even know if it's possible to move your old version of Adobe Elements from your old machine, since it was purchased online and downloaded years ago. Oh, and look! The new Dell will come with MusicMatch already installed too! How convenient!

Then, the new PC arrives, you dump your old PC off on someone less fortunate and proceed to open these new programs.... Only to discover that you have some frickin' 30-day trial version, or you have the Constant-Nag-To-Upgrade version. Suddenly, your bargain PC starts costing you $45 every time you turn around, just to keep the dad-blasted software working!

Whatever happened to getting what you paid for in the first frickin' place. (I know, I know....read the small print)

New & Upcoming Chip Releases

2005-08-25T06:05:00.000-07:00

The Peppermill in Wendover just released a new set of house chips, including the $1, $5, $25 and $100 denominations...

The Aladdin released a new house chip with the Planet Hollywood logo. It looks similar to the chip they released earlier, except that the earlier chip had "Coming 2006" on it.

Over the past couple of months, the Aladdin also released a bunch of $5 chips with the Planet Hollywood logo on the back and entertainers on the front for Velvet Revolver, Loggins & Messina, Colin Hay, Charlie Murphy, Mike Epps, Hank Williams, Jr., Journey, Intocable and Pepe Aguilar.

Over at the Palms, recent releases have included chips for Deuce Bigalow, Poppy Montgomery for Stuff, Dennis Hopper and Ann Margaret for Cinevegas and the continuation of the Calendar Girl Series. There will be an upcoming release at the Palms for a $10 West Coast Choppers chip on September 8th.

The Western recently released a $1 house chip based on the same design used for the higher denomination chips when Barrick Gaming took over a while back.

Harrah's has recently purchased the Imperial Palace and will operate it for a while before tearing it down, so there may be some new chips coming from there.

One way to keep up on forthcoming releases is to keep an eye on the Nevada Gaming Control's Chip & Token Report, which can be viewed online.

Long Range Report

Look for chip releases within the next few years from:

The Palazzo, under construction next to The Venetian.
The Cosmopolitan being built on the strip next to the Bellagio.
"W" Hotel to be built near Hard Rock Hotel.
MGM Mirage's CityCenter Project to be built near the Bellagio.