The Fare Box
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,,,IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII111111III11111III .11111111 THE.I .1111.l FARE1 IIIIIIIIIIIII I BOXI 111111111111 .1 .11 .1 .1 . .1 .1111111111,,,11,1 A monthly News-hotter for Transportation Token Collectors 11111111111111111111111 . 111111.I. .IIII 111111 .11111111 II . .IIIIII .. .. .i111111111111IIIIIII. ..1 al .i all1111111111111111111111111111111 . .. .. .. .. .. .. .... .. .. ..... .. .... ..... .. .. .. ... NEW ISSUES EDITOR EDITOR $flH'HI NI11raliHiIt J JR; 634 ~Ashbury Street . jiL COFFEE, P. g. 4ox 1204 ,San Francisco, ~california 94117 (4oston, 14assachusetts 02104 Now Issues Service Parking Tokens jOI-I]V t. NICOLO$I$ DWINU I;. RFII$kfie 3002 ;Galindo Street P. 0. Box 1302 Oakland, (California 94601 Los Altos, California 94022 Volume 33, Plumber 1 JANUARY, 1979 Our379thIssue WALTER J. STUCKE and CLARENCE E . ZIEGLER We begin another year with an unhappy note . Walter J. Stucke, AVA #1616, of Chicago, joined us in 1976 . He was already retired at that time . I did not know him well, but his brief tenure with us resulted in some interesting correspondence, and I shall miss him, as will all of the Chicago members . He died last October at age 64 . Clarence Ziegler, AVA #1598, of' Port Huron, Michigan, also joined in 1976 . Clarence was a very active collector of all manner of tokens, and his frequent full page auc- tions in TANS JOURNAL are familiar to most of us . Ibny are the phone conversations I had with him, and more the letters I received from him . 1- could always count on re- ports of real estate tokens, taxicab charge coins, as well as other types of tokens in which I had an interest . His was a vital presence and a dear friendship . We shall miss him poignantly . He died in December, and he was only 50 . January 31 . This is the last issue you will receive if _your 1979 AVA dues have not been paid by March 1 . If you have been putting this off, please send your $7 .50 now to R .K. Frisbee, AVA Treasurer, 211 King Street - Denver, CO 80219 . This issue marks the Thirtieth Anniversary of the assumption by the A .V.A. of publication of THE FARE BOX . Prior to that, for 18 months, The Fare Box had been a private venture by R .L . Moore of San Francisco . But Mr . Moore was forced to give it up, and the A .V .A . stepped in and took over . There was some problem for our then president, Max M. Schwartz, with regard to who would be the new Editor . But a couple of brash teenagers came forward and offered to do it . One of these kids was Meade Peebles, then a student at the University of Virginia . Peebles found that being co- Editor required too much of his time and he gave it up a few months later . He is now the Advertising Manager of the Washington Post in our Nation's Capital . The other co- Editor was a Yale student who managed to find the time, usually, even after he went on to graduate school at Harvard . He liked Boston, decided to stay there, and is still after three long decades editing The Fare Box. It has been a delightful experience and a lot of fun, although I confess that some months I'm not too much in the mood, especially when there is practically nothing to publish . But we usually find some- thing and, as they taught us at Harvard, Haec olim meminisse iuvabit . A communication from AVA member John Gilmartin (Box 5143 - Long Island City, NY 11105) : "Members who may be planning to attend the National Antique and Coin Show F.. ti in] free download from: www.vecturist.com a, Tan aiti !979- at Madison Square Garden in N .Y .C . from Feb . 11 to 25, kindly note a member dealer will he doing the show and can give you a free pass or get you into the show for free . We also have discount tickets for your friends or family . Besides the antiques, which very interesting, there is a coin and stamp section with comic books, political buttons, medals, and of course we will have some TT's, CWT's and PT's . Any member who wants more information mast write me immediately for furtherr details ." The Editor recently purchased the only known example of Ohio 700 A . This token has always intrigued me . I had never even seen it or a rubbing of it until I bought it last month . It is old and primitive looking, and I have no idea about its use . I iid write the public library in Fairborn, Ohio, but have received no word back . If any member can supply any information at all on the token it would be much appreciated . Below is a 2x enlarged photo of the token . Together with this issue we are ending you the Index to Volume 32, which should be put with your December 1978 issue . The Index is not part of the issue itself . Joel Reznick, our Convention Coordinator, called recently to report that he will have T-shirts with a large A .V .A . trolley car seal on them, available for purchase (at S5 eacn) at the Philadelphia Convention in August . They will come in all sizes . Joel is also arranging for a new striking of our A .V.A . seal lapel pin, this time with a blue-enamel background . more on these later . On Page 3 of this issue I have run a listing of Taxicab Charge Tokens, and I hope this will stimulate other members who may own some of these things to report them . I am running photos of some of these below, so you will have a better idea of what they look like . on page 124 of the October Fare box we ran pictures of 3 types of the Pillar Point, Calif ., wooden nickels . Bud Carmichael now reports a 4th type, which was at the sports & Boat show in San Francisco this month . The new type has COOL> on tap line, . FOR vl ON on 2nd line, and ANY TRIP AT on 3rd line . Ira the December issue we stated (in Ralph Freiberg's notes) that the new round cardboard tokens of Los Angeles would be distributed by Joel Reznick at a nominal cost to members . But I was mistaken when I added in that they would be sent folded or flat . Actually you will have the choice of getting them flat (full sheets), or the individual tokens punched out . Or as Ralph puts it-, you can have your eggs sunny side up (full sheets) for a little extra, or scrambled (loose tokens) . More on t!iiss when Joel has the complete set . There are enough for everyone who want them . free download from: www.vecturist.com -J1, .;v;any ~919- -rage 3- = TAXICAB CHARGE TOKENS = By J .M . Coffee Over the years I have been vaguely aware of the existence of metal tokens which were used probably in the 1920's and 1930's mostly, to charge payment of cab fare . I refer to then as "tokens" rather than "coins," in keeping with the technical defin- ition of a coin as government-issued money and nothing else . 'Chose taxicab charge tokens were used in the same wavy as were department store charge tokens, and probably around the same era . I know of none of them in use at present . I have compiled a small listing of the tokens now known to me, and I hope that other collectors when they see this listing will send in rubbings or photos, together with exact descriptions, of any others they know about . I suspect there are many of these in existence . They make an interesting collection in their own right, and are certainly allied to our interest in transportation tokens . CALIFORNIA San Francisco T760 (Reported by McKienzie [A,C,D], and John Nicolosi (3]) LIMOUSINE SERVICE CO. PHONE PROSPECT 23 IDENTIFICATION TAG A o WM Ov PC In Charging Give Driver Number (numeral) and Your Name (46x23mm) (This piece is chrome plated and may be brass underneath, rather than T,174 . The shape of the piece is similar to NY 999 A, pictured on Page 392 of Ataood .] PATTERSON AUTO RENTAL CO . SUTTER 282 151 POWELL ST . S .F . B o WM Ov PC In Charging Give Driver Number (numeral) and Your Name (46 .-23M~11 TAXICAB CO . OF CALIF . TEL . FRANKLIN 4500 IDENTIFICATION TAG C o WM Ov PC In Charging Give Driver Number A (numeral) And Full Name (early taxicab)(46x23mm)(phone number only is red enameled) REWARD IF RETURNED TO TAXICAB CO . OF CALIF . SAN FRANCISCO THE KEY TO EFFICIENT LIVERY SERVICE D o WM Ky PC Phone Franklin 4500 Taxicab (numeral) (key shape GOx27mm) (part of reverse is brown-enameled) MICHIGAN Detroit T225 (Reported by Ed Dence) WOODWARD TAXICAB CO. TELEPHONES GRAND CITY 33 A o K 32 PC V .11 . Cohn Pres & Genl . Mgr Chg . No. (numeral) 742 744 Woodward Ave . (pierced in loop on edge of token) MISSOURI Kansas City T440 (Reported by J .M .C .) Y:ILLO-7 CAt, CALL GRAND 5000 YELLOW CAB (EARLY TAXICAB) A 0 _ : 32 PC If round Please Return to Yello'z Cab . ::ansas City, lio . Identification No . (numeral) Property of Yellow Cab St . Louis T910 (Reported by Clarence Ziegler) COLUMBIA TAXICAB COMPANY ST . LOUIS (t4fg's name) A o K Ky PC Columbia Service Phones Lindell 5500 Delmar 200 (numeral) (key shape 60x27mm)(numerals are blue-enameled) COLUMBIA CAB COMPANY PHONE DELMAR 5400 B o WM Hx PC (numeral) (Mfg's name : Gus Fox Co . Cin . 0 . in tiny letters) (the hole is in a loop extending out from token)(26mm) LACLEDE CAB CO .