That Collector Feeling

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

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

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

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

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

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.