Token Smith Wald Riesel

[daddyflea]

I live in Riesel TX and I found this Token which says "Smith Wald Riesel" The Riesel is on the bottom and Smith Wald which is two words is on the top. On the Back it says "Good for 10 Cents. Cents is a special Character which I can not find on my Computer. Does anyone know what this Token was for? My best guess was made by a local person who thought it may have been good for a Railroad fare.

 

[chuck ky]

it would be a store token good for 10 cents in trade. look the name up in some old city directories and you should be able to find when it was in business. I think having the city name brings more value to the token

 

[daddyflea]

it would be a store token good for 10 cents in trade. look the name up in some old city directories and you should be able to find when it was in business. I think having the city name brings more value to the token

I already tried that and can not find anyone that remembers a store with that name. Internet had nothing.

 

[Blind Squirrel]

Howdy Daddyflea--

I'm sure that you know that Texas Tokens are very collectable. You have a good one there. Check out this link and maybe you can learn some more about yours:

http://tokencatalog.com/display_records.php?SearchString=&UnlistedOnly=UnlistedOnly&SearchStringEveryWord=&SearchStringAnyWord=Reisel&action=DisplayRecords

Best of luck and...

Happy Hunting!
Blind Squirrel

 

[daddyflea]

Thanks Blind Squirl I knew they were collectable but not sure where I can find info or offer mine for sale. I just will not sell coins unless there is big money involved, but Tokens is a new Ball Game.

 

[bsaggie]

There was William Wald listed in the 1940 census living in Riesel, TX whose occupation was listed as "proprietor - cafe". In the 1930 census he is listed as a farmer. On Ancestry.com I happened to find his granddaughter and contacted her. Turns out her mother (William's daughter) is still alive. She showed her mother the picture of this token. While her mother doesn't remember ever seeing one, she thinks it probably did come from her dad's cafe or "beer joint". She said he had to close it down during WWII because all the men were off to war and he had no business.

I poked around on the Internet some more and found this coaster for sale on a beer memorabilia website. The description dated it to 1939.

So it seems almost certain that the token came from the "Smith & Wald" cafe/beer joint sometime in the late 30's to early 40's. I haven' been able to track down who the "Smith" is. There are several Smith's in the 1940 census, but non are listed as having an occupation related to cafes or bars.

 

[daddyflea]

There was William Wald listed in the 1940 census living in Riesel, TX whose occupation was listed as "proprietor - cafe". In the 1930 census he is listed as a farmer. On Ancestry.com I happened to find his granddaughter and contacted her. Turns out her mother (William's daughter) is still alive. She showed her mother the picture of this token. While her mother doesn't remember ever seeing one, she thinks it probably did come from her dad's cafe or "beer joint". She said he had to close it down during WWII because all the men were off to war and he had no business.

I poked around on the Internet some more and found this coaster for sale on a beer memorabilia website. The description dated it to 1939.

So it seems almost certain that the token came from the "Smith & Wald" cafe/beer joint sometime in the late 30's to early 40's. I haven' been able to track down who the "Smith" is. There are several Smith's in the 1940 census, but non are listed as having an occupation related to cafes or bars.

I can not thank you enough. Now there are two. I found a second one at the same place. Unfortunately I could not find anyone old enough to remember that.

 

[mudpuppy]

That was some great work there bsaggie! Also a great pair of finds there daddyflea! Congratulations to you both!
A guy just never knows what to expect to learn when he comes and reads this Forum!

Hey bsaggie, if you are still reading this thread..I really hope you are, you sound like you got some skills here for research....take a look at these if you can give me any idea...I cant find a thing on the internet about them...it would be cool to try to find out who they were issued to...I know its a long shot...I found the pair in an old lake here in West Michigan last fall, just south of Ludington..it got a lot of use back in the old days from both Chicago and Detroit, I am assuming its from one of the two......

I dont know if they are from OakPark IL, or MI..theres a lot of Oak Parks...not a lot of Peddlers badge info...most badge collectors/dealers go for old west sheriff badges and whatnot..

Please forgive me for the jump in here on your post daddyflea...I dont want to lose bsaggie since He's new here...so I hope to catch him here reading..
Mud

 

[daddyflea]

That was some great work there bsaggie! Also a great pair of finds there daddyflea! Congratulations to you both!
A guy just never knows what to expect to learn when he comes and reads this Forum!

Mud

You are right he has some research skills. I have been told these tokens are highly collectable. For me not so much. no offense grab his ear while you can.

 

[bsaggie]

Thanks guys for the compliments. Flea is a friend of my brother and sister-in-law and the token is from where they and my mother-in-law live so I thought it was an interesting mystery to try and solve.

Mudpuppy, in taking a quick a look around, they are definitely peddler badges. They were issued to people soliciting/peddling to show that they were licensed to do so by they city. It looks like they came in various categories, "auto peddler", "cart peddler", "foot peddler"... depending on the city issuing them.

I would tend to agree with you that it's from Oak Park, IL rather than Oak Park, MI. Oak Park, MI during the mid 30's wasn't much of a town due to the depression. The citizens actually petitioned to dissolve the village government and return it to a township twice during the early 30's (both attempts failed). So I would think it was unlikely they had the money to purchase custom brass badges to give to peddlers. I found a collector that has his collection of mainly chauffeur license badges on-line and he has a number of badges from Oak Park, IL, including a couple of "Auto Peddler" badges from 1939/40 and 1942. The one from 1942 is very similar to the ones you found. (www.chauffeurbadges.com/86.html)

I'll keep poking around and see what else I can come up with.

Brian