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Hotel Viking-Copenhagen

Started by brandm24, November 08, 2022, 11:35:24 PM

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brandm24

I thought this was an interesting token but I'm not sure if it's a good-for or just for advertising purposes. Any info on it would be appreciated. Thanks.

BruceHotel Viking 1.jpgHotel Viking 1.jpgHotel Viking 2.jpg   
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FosseWay

The other side reads "It brings you luck", so I'd classify it as both an advertising token and good luck charm.

There are three features on the text side that are out of the ordinary for "stereotypical" advertising tokens:

- the presence of Chinese or Japanese
- the use of the English form of the city's name rather than København
- the presence of the Telex number (I presume "MI 4550" is some similar pre-digital communication system but don't know what).

This shows that it's marketed to foreigners, especially people from the Far East, and generally to people who are staying there for a practical purpose rather than a holiday to enjoy local culture. In the latter case, it is/was quite common to use the local name for places and things, even if the rest of the text is in e.g. English, as a way of evoking an exotic atmosphere for guests. 

Above all, the telex number shows this is pretty recent. Wikipedia tells me that it appeared after the Second World War and declined in use from the 1980s on, when fax machines became more prevalent. This period is a lot later than most purely advertising tokens I'm familiar with. The recent ones I've seen tend to have some form of explicit "denomination", such as a discount on a future purchase.

brandm24

Thanks for the good information. I had a feeling that it was just advertising more than anything else as it didn't seem to have any value attached.

Bruce
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chrisild

Isn't there a Wikipedia article on pretty much everything? ;D That would include the address(es) Bredgade 63-65. According to that entry, "In the 1970s, Hotel Viking was based at No. 65." Hmm, I would have guessed the token is older than that. Here is another Viking Hotel token; no telex number this time. Maybe "MI 4550" was the hotel's phone number especially at  a time when "self dialing" was not possible yet?

Fun fact: Bredgade ("broad way" or street) is the old name of the street. In the 17th century it was renamed and became Norgesgade – except that people continued using the traditional name. 8) So around 1880 it officially got the name Bredgade back.

brandm24

Kind of a mystery token then. I like it.

Speaking of different names for the same road. One of the major north-south highways around here is a state highway designated Rt.130 which is called that by everyone. The maps call it Crescent Blvd. I doubt that more than 20 people from around here ever heard of Crescent Blvd. Many many other examples but too many to talk about. :)

Bruce
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