Membership Card, The Pines Club

Among my grandfather's scant band memorabilia was this membership card, for the Pines Club. My father told me that the Ambassadors often played this club, although the town is unknown. There is a possibility that the club was in Toledo, Ohio, although back in the 1930s, the distance between the Mansfield area and Toledo would have been considered significant.

My father also related a story to me that he believes happened at the Pines Club. Apparently, the Pines Club was a fairly shady place, and one night, one of the Fensch brothers (my grandfather, his older brother Edwin, and younger brother Oscar often played gigs together) lighted a firecracker in the club (the brothers were big-time pranksters). Immediately following the explosion, a bunch of revolvers were drawn. Luckily, none of the brothers were shot!

Who knows what kind of immoral activity could have been going on at the Pines? One possibility is that the Pines could have been serving hooch (this was during Prohibition). An even greater possibility is illegal gambling. As I mentioned earlier, after some research, I found that there was a place in Toledo called the Pines Club, and that it was known for having illegal gambling. I found this out via the web — there was a photo of poker chips from the club. Whether or not it's the same place, it's a great story.......

Here is a link to the photo of the poker chips. The name on the chips is possessive, as if "Pine's" was the last name of an owner, however, a few other websites don't indicate the possessive. The typeface on the chips is very similar to the face on the membership card.

http://chipster.net/ohpinx.htm