In our blog a few days ago, we filled you in about the illegal casinos that once existed in French Lick and West Baden Springs. And while there's really no photo documentation of what the inside of these casinos looked like — it was illegal, ya know, so photo proof doesn't really exist — we are lucky enough to have a few relics to offer a glimpse into the world of underground gaming that was a booming business here a century ago.
One of the coolest things is a bag of about 350 chips from the old Brown Casino. They were passed down through the family of an associate who works here at French Lick Resort. These once belonged to his uncle, who used to play poker at the Brown Casino before it was closed when the area's illegal casinos were shut down in 1949.
There's about a dozen varieties of colors and patterns, and the "B C" on the orange chips make it unmistakable they came from the Brown Casino, or Brown Club as it was also known as. Officially, it was called the Brown Hotel, but for obvious reasons, none of the illegal casinos called themselves casinos.
There are hardly any known relics that still exist from the Babylon Club, but this pair of dice is one of them.
Among the other Brown relics: a card/chip holder, roulette wheel, and a "Chuck-a-luck" game, also known as birdcage, which was a game of chance using a trio of dice.
And from the Gorge Inn came this croupier badge, which used the person's identification number instead of name. Similarly, croupiers would address their regulars without saying their full names. For example, they'd call customers "Mr. D" or "Mrs. W" instead of Mr. Davis or Mrs. Washington.
Something else that's survived the years are china sets from the old casinos. Many of the illegal casinos operated under the guise of calling themselves cafes, clubs or inns. So they were places you could go to have a nice dinner first, then stay a while for some fun and games afterward.
These next pieces are all part of the resort's collection, and you'll be able to see many of them on display coming up in May as several pieces of our history will be displayed throughout the resort for Preservation Month.
Each casino featured its own distinct design on the china in their establishment, including the Gorge Inn's signature "G I" insignia and the "E C" representing the Elite Club.
This is marked with the letter "B" instead of "EC." It's believed this was from Ed Ballard's collection and was created specially for him. Ballard is the man who owned and controlled much of the casino business here, and he was also the owner of West Baden Springs Hotel from 1923-1934.
