Woodrow Wilson's Dancing Academy

[brandm24]

This is an interesting casino token issued by the early 20th century establishment called the Big Casino in remote Tonopah, Nevada. Tonopah is in mid-state between Las Vegas and Reno and close to the California border. Even today the area is remote and lightly populated.

The Big Casino was opened in 1904 and served as a brothel, dance hall, hotel, and all around entertainment establishment (not all of it legal). It was prosperous and served the workers from the areas silver mines. It was described this way in a "List of Brothels in Nevada" on Wikipedia.

                    There were three gaming tables, a bar and a dance hall. The dance hall had maple floors and an oak
                    rail between the bar and the dance floor. Along one side of the dance floor were booths, each with a
                    table and chairs and a door that could be closed. There was a balcony with rooms leading off this where
                    the house prostitutes took their clients.

Even in those early days the casino could place bets with all the prominent racetracks and even on sporting events. Some events were even staged in their building including the 1907 World Light-Weight championship fight (Gans / Herman) As prosperous as the business was, the beginning of the end came in 1910 when anti-gambling laws were passed in Nevada. The casino ignored the new law and as a result were stripped of their liquor license in 1912 by the Nye County authorities.

By 1913 the Big Casino was in financial ruin and the U.S. Circuit Court in Carson City forced the company into receivership. The unintended result of the action was that the U.S. Government was now operating a brothel. The establishment was jokingly renamed the "Woodrow Wilson's Dancing Academy" making fun of the fact that Wilson the US President at the time was a straight-laced man.

In 1920 after the financial concerns were satisfied it was converted into a hotel called the Big Casino Hotel. The new business lasted only two years. A fire in April, 1922 leveled Tonopah's red-light district taking the business with it.

This token is 21mm and made of brass. It's the only denomination that I came across.

Bruce
                   

[brandm24]

When I saw this token it brought back some memories for me. In the 1980's I spent a couple of weeks working at the Tonopah Test Range. Nevada was so remote and lightly populated that the US Government used several locations there for conducting research on nuclear weapons, including underground detonations. This was one of them.

They no longer carried out tests at that time, but the old RCA Corp. had several radar sites on the base that were maintained and upgraded by the company. I was a member of a team that carried out the modifications. The town of Tonopah was situated about 15 or 20 miles from the base and was where the RCA teams stayed.

I generally enjoyed traveling to different work sites but not this one. As you can imagine, the security was extremely tight and made you feel a bit edgy. The main gate was guarded by heavily armed military personnel who thoroughly inspected your vehicle before you were allowed on the base. While at the work site you were required to stay there until ready to leave at the end of the day. They regularly checked in on you to be sure no one wandered off. The checks were carried out by armed patrols as well as from helicopter fly-overs. Naturally, everyone on the team was well behaved.

I can't say the token brought back fond memories, but it got me thinking about the interesting experience I had there.

Bruce

[Figleaf]

Your personal story reminded me of one of mine. The young lady who didn't know yet she was going to consent to be my wife worked at the Dutch central bank. Security was a daily hassle for the employees. It included highly trained armed guards with closet shaped chests and unpleasant dogs. One day this lady had business on the floor where the offices of the directors were. There was a young man there, who in heavily accented English, asked where the exit was and where he could take public transport to the Central Station. This was highly irregular, as all visitors were required to be accompanied by a member of the bank staff, so my young lady took it upon herself to escort him to the exit. She was talkative, so she found out that the young man a) was French, b) believed he was in the national art museum and c) had not been noticed or stopped by security, though he had noticed them and - being wary of their beasts tried to keep a social distance from them.

Another story that came up also. One of my bosses, an American, started his career at the Treasury, where he eventually reached the exalted status where he could ask for car transport if his business required it. When he did this the first time, a long, winged, ghastly pink car with fake spotty white fur lining and a large, but empty bar was offered. Upon enquiry, he learned that the Treasury could impound vehicles and other equipment of smugglers, tax evaders and other financial offenders if the objects had been used to commit the crime. The government owned a considerable fleet of such somewhat tasteless cars, big pleasure boat and even the odd airplane. The cars were used for lower grade staff, who wanted to hide on the floor of the car and asked to be dropped off a block from their destination.

Peter

[brandm24]

I suppose humans have always carried on social distancing but it just wasn't called that. Fortunately, your future wife didn't see it that way. Seeing a lost soul and obvious art lover wandering about required her to swing into action and provide comfort and assistance. It sounds like her kindness paid off.

Your story reminds me of one in particular that I had while making a delivery to an armored car facility in Philadelphia many years ago. You entered the building through a parking garage and had to announce your presence on an intercom and someone would come and escort you to where you were going. I hadn't yet done that but didn't have to as at that very moment an exiting guard held the door open for me as he went about his duties. Never questioned me about who I was or why I was there. After entering and making contact with the man I was to see asked me how I'd gotten in. When I told him he looked quite taken aback.

Bruce

[brandm24]

I did a little more research on the Big Casino and did find a second denomination token.

I also came across an interesting fact about how the prostitutes were paid. There were from 25 to 30 girls who worked there at any one time. They were paid 49% of the cost of the drinks they sold and 50% of what was charged for dances and "other services."

Bruce

[Figleaf]

They are too much alike for the denomination change to be a consequence of inflation. Are they the same diameter? I presume they were used as prizes for gaming machines and one-armed bandits, probably to comply with a ban on cash prizes. From my visit to Reno, decades ago, but still when such a ban did not exist, I remember that while most such machines worked on quarters and spit out quarters as prizes, a few took paper dollars and promised paper dollar prizes. Maybe that sort of reason is behind the two denominations, give or take a few more decades?

Peter

[brandm24]

Yes, the two tokens are the same size.

My thought was that they were good for food or drinks because of the word "merchandise". Apparently, the Big Casino was an all around entertainment center. A hotel, brothel, casino and restaurant all under one roof. I don't know how the prostitutes were paid, but I imagine it was on a cash only basis. As prostitution was illegal in Nevada and in Nye County at the time, they wouldn't want to leave a paper trail of any kind.

Bruce

[Figleaf]

Ploof goes my "different machines"  theory, disappearing into the disproven theories bin. Time for a new proposition. How about this one: the 5 cent is close enough in diameter to a circulating 5 cent coin. So it was used as a replacement of the coin to obviate the need to go to the bank all the time and perhaps even attract attention from the powers that be. As a bonus, the casino earned money from its tokens as a free credit while held by its customers and from non-redeemed tokens.

So why did it need a quarter token of the same diameter at the same time? Perhaps the gambling machine parts weren't as precise as they would be today. When a bigger prize was paid, the machine would be clanking along a long time to pay out. During that time, the client could not play and - even worse - the machine could get stuck, creating a source of conflict between client and casino ("I won 100 pieces and it had paid only 5 when it got stuck", "So what are those bulges in your pants?" "On the right, previous winnings, on the left, looking at the dancing girls"). Having a nifty switch for paying out in 25 cent tokens reduces those risks by 80%. Being the same size as the regular tokens, the machines could handle the 25 cent tokens without modifications. Also, if the client put them back into the machine, that's another win for the casino.

Note that the tokens specify "in merchandise", meaning "not in cash". There are French and UK gaming tokens with similar or same text. The common explanation is that there was regulation against cash prizes. Winners could exchange the tokens for candy, gum, beer or cigarettes at the cash register. In practice, the cashier would exchange them for cash when the client was a regular. I don't know if there was similar legislation in the US.

Peter

[brandm24]

I like your second theory better, Peter.

The circulating nickel at the time was the Liberty Head which was 21.2 mm...same as the token. The design changed in 1913 when the Buffalo Nickel was introduced. Even though a bit late for this discussion it too was 21 mm The token then could have replaced the need to keep a supply of nickels on hand, not the easiest thing in such a remote area. There was a bank in Tonopah at the time  so I suppose it could have been done.

Gambling in most of the US was outlawed in 1909 - 1910, including in Nevada. Apparently the state was particularly aggressive in enforcement of the laws, but under political pressure did begin to ease regulations within a year or so. They began to allow what they called nickel-in-the-slot machine gaming. I take that to mean only 5 cent bets would be allowed unless the term was used in a generic way to describe all machines. Even more interesting is the regulation that winners could be paid in drinks, cigars, or in CASH but only in amounts of $2 or less. It didn't specify how larger winners could be paid.

Your arguments are sound, Peter.

Bruce

[brandm24]

The apparent lack of diameter differences between the 5 cent and 25 cent tokens got me to thinking. I went back to recheck what I had found earlier and discovered that I'd made a mistake. GASP!..... SAY IT AIN'T SO. 

After the initial shock wore off I found that the actual size of the 25 cent variety was 24.3 mm and equaled that of the circulating US quarter at the time, the Barber Quarter. Furthermore, I also discovered that there was a 50 cent token issued by the Big Casino. The diameter of that one was 30 mm and was also the same diameter of the currently circulating Barber half dollar. So all three mimicked the official coinage of the time. It adds additional credence to your above scenario, Peter.

BTW, the series of US coins described as Barber issues were all designed by the mint's chief engraver Charles E. Barber. He held the position from 1879 until his death in 1917. Interestingly, He was born in London so wasn't a native American.

Bruce