Robert Eisenstadt's
Antique Gambling Chips &
Gambling Memorabilia Web Site
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| Agua Caliente hotel
entrance is in the left post card, and the
casino entrance is shown in the right
post card, with the wishing well in front. They were
separate buildings at the resort (as shown on the sketch
maps near the bottom of this page). Note that
it is the gothic Mission-style structure of the hotel
entrance that adorns the crest and seal casino chips, as pictured
above on the $5 chip. |
Aerial view of Agua Caliente. All the buildings
are part of the resort complex.
Note the airplane in flight.
| NOTE: this page
is getting crowded, so I have decided to add more pictures on this
separate page: Click here for more Agua Caliente picrtures |
Chip Sample pages from the U. S. Playing Card Co. (who manufactured
and sold these chips) Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio.
(those are actual chips, which were holed
and stitched to the page. The
white labels show who ordered the chips, where
they
were shipped to, the date of the order, and sometimes
the quantities ordered. Not
every chip in an order
was shown)
These Agua
Caliente chips are for sale
|
|
Agua Caliente, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico |
¶ yellow roulette chip for
table #15. ¶ 1929, shipped to Agua Caliente Co, Tijuana, Mexico. Note the USPC Co shipping-sample record above. ¶ large, famous hotel-casino-race track resort, frequented by the elite of Hollywood. Opened 1928; closed 1935, when gambling was outlawed in Mexico. Prospered largely because drinking and gambling was outlawed in the US during Prohibition, and Tijuana was just a stone's throw from the US-Mexico border, so very close to San Diego by car and Los Angeles by air. The Agua Caliente resort remarkably had the world's richest golf tournament prizes and the richest racehorse purses in the world. It was the most lavish resort in the Western US, and rivaled the best in the world (gardens, health spa, Olympic swimming pool, hot springs, etc). The resort also had its own private radio station and airport facility [and railroad link]. It's guests were among the most famous and rich celebrities in the world. No exaggeration! |
$20 |
|
|
BL -- Personal chip of one of the owners of the famous Agua Caliente Hotel Casino, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico -- Baron Long |
¶ yellow, only 9 chips left. ¶ shipped to the Baja California Co., Tijuana, Mexico, May 22, 1928, the very same date, and the adjoining invoice number, as the JC chips. ¶ This BL chip, and the CJ chip below, are two of my most awesome discoveries! The BL chip was the private chip of one of the famous three "Border Barons" who built, owned and ran the Agua Caliente, Tijuana, Hotel-Casino -- Baron Long. He was a prominent hotel-night club owner in the U.S. as well, as evidenced by this match book cover. (That was his birth name! Probably why the three owners were called "The Border Barons." The term was applied just to the three owners of the Agua Caliente. The third one was Wirt G. Bowman; no personal chips found for him.) ¶ The US Playing Card Co. records (pictured above) show that both chips (BL and JC) were shipped on May 22, 1928 to the Baja California Co., Tijuana, Mexico, which was owned by the "Border Barons." (The "Border Barons" were the three men who built, owned and ran Agua Caliente in Tijuana and lesser gambling establishments along the California-Mexico border in the 1920's-30's. Two of them were James Crofton ("JC" chip) and Baron Long ("BL" chip)). Prof. Paul Vanderwood, the author of "Satan's Playground: Mobsters and Movie Stars at America's Greatest Gaming Resort [Agua Caliente]" (the book is available at Amazon.com), has written me and confirmed that the JC- and BL-initial chips were personal chips of the two Border Barons. He says, "The Baja California Co. would be the name under which the Agua Caliente enterprise was legally incorporated. ... ... The Border Barons founded and incorporated the Baja California Co. ... ... On the chips, "JC" is most definitely the baron, James Crofton, who was in charge of the casino operation at the spa. "BL" was Baron Long [his birth name!], also one of the entrepreneurs.... ... Both men were vain promoters beyond belief. And they did hold big stake, poker games for friends and others in their homes. Or, as I said, they organized and clandestinely staged illegal games on the U.S. side--clandestinely, ha. They paid law enforcement a nice sum to look the other way." |
$95 |
|
|
JC -- Personal chip of
James Crofton, one of the three "Border
Barons," owners of Agua Caliente |
¶ yellow, only 5 chips left; also have
this in purple (2 chips left). ¶ shipped to the Baja California Co, Tijuana, Mexico, May 22, 1928, the very same date, and the adjoining invoice number, as the BL chip above. ¶ This was the the private chip of one of the famous three "Border Barons" who built, owned and ran the Agua Caliente, Tijuana, Hotel-Casino -- James Crofton. See what is written above for the BL chip. Also be sure to note, above, the picture of the USPC Co. records for this JC chip. ¶ Note: I found only about a dozen of each chip --BL's and JC's -- in July 2010. |
$149 |
|
|
$5 Agua Caliente casino chip |
¶ the $5 orange-yellow pictured here. ¶ large, famous hotel-casino resort, frequented by the elite of Hollywood. Opened 1928; closed 1935......shipped to Agua Caliente Co., Tijuana, Mexico, Nov. 26, 1928 (see US Playing Card Co. shipping record in picture above). |
$40 |
|
$5 Agua Caliente Jockey Club |
¶ "Agua Caliente Jockey Club," on one side;
"$5.00" on the reverse. ¶ good condition, though hot-stamp inscription is worn some from use. ¶ the Jockey Club, a gambling venue, was owned and run by the Agua Caliente Hotel-Casino complex. It was attached to the Jockey Club building, which was next to the Grandstand at the famous Agua Caliente Racetrack. |
$40 |
|
|
$25 Agua Caliente casino chip |
¶ $25 black ¶ fine condition. ¶ see US Playing Card Co. shipping record picture above, showing 1929 date. |
$75 |
|
$100 white Agua Caliente
casino chip |
¶ $100 white ¶ excel condition ¶ 1929, per USPC Co. shipping records. |
$95 |
|
$100 green Caliente casino
chip |
¶ $100 green ¶ excel condition ¶ 1929, per USPC Co. shipping records, |
$95 |
| Please feel free to
browse my web site
and to email me: chipe@ix.netcom.com |
Agua Caliente Chips
I Need:
mainly any chip from
roulette tables 5, 7, 9 and 13; and the $500 chip
not mine
| I collect gambling
chips. I already
have these chips from Agua Caliente, so I need what you
do not see on the list: AC casino chips (all crest and seal inlays) -- I have the orange $5 chip (sorry $5 one sold) , the $25 black serrated chip, the black no-denomination chip, $100 white, $100 green; need the $500 one. (All 6 casino chips and the owners' 2 personal chips are pictured at bottom of this page.) AC roulette chips -- I have now: table #1 -- pink table #2 -- pink, yellow table #3 -- pink, brown table #4 -- yellow table #5 table #6 -- pink table #7 table #8 -- pink table #9 table #10 -- brown, pink table #11 -- brown table #12 -- brown table #13 -- white table #14 -- pink, red, blue table #15 -- yellow (I have it for sale too), brown table #16 -- blue, brown, yellow |
Agua Caliente Chips
I Have For
Trade
| I have these traders: AC casino chips -- $5 orange crest and seal chip. And $25 black one. AC roulette chips (ones with an asterisk(*) are singles I'd trade because I have more than one chip for that table #): table #1 table #2 -- pink*, yellow* table #3 -- pink*, brown* table #4 table #5 table #6 table #7 table #8 table #9 table #10 -- brown, pink* table #11 -- brown table #12 -- brown table #13 table #14 -- pink*, red, blue* table #15 -- yellow (I have it for sale too), brown* table #16 --- blue, brown*, yellow* CJ chip -- yellow, and purple (I have them for sale too) BL chip -- yellow (I have it for sale too) |
Real Photo Postcard of the "Old Tower of Agua Caliente,"
famous chimes tower landmark on entrance road to the resort.
It's location is shown at the lower-left corner of the postcard-map
below: click
here.
To see a terrific artist's rendition of this tower on another
postcard, click
here.
To see the Tower today, click
here.
Early photo of entrance
side to Agua Caliente Jockey Club (Club House and Grandstand
bleachers, and racetrack were on opposite side, seen just
below this picture).
Action side to Agua Caliente Jockey
Club: Club House and Grandstand (two separate buildings)
Real
Photo Postcard of the Agua Caliente Hotel Entrance,
c. 1930's.
For another real photo postcard view of the entrance,
but more close-up, click here.
Real Photo Postcard of Agua Caliente
Casino entrace, patrons exiting
Guest Bungalows ("private villas") of Agua Caliente
resort complex (shown on maps below).
Click here
to see a real photo postcard of the bungalows.
Interior of casino (in the foreground) and the famous Gold Bar room
in the rear (beyond the low yellow "fence")
| Above
are 2 of the some 100 wonderful 1928 black and white
photos of the Agua Caliente complex found at this web site: click
here and here.
The photo on the left is of the "pool building lobby," and the one
on the right is called simply "interiors"ceiling. Other photos in this collection include such varied subjects as the Agua Caliente gym, golf club shop, golf club locker room, fountains, entrances, arches, stairways, casino bathroom tile and marble detail, ceilings, barber shop, bungalows, etc. The photos provide a real feel for the splendor of the resort. |
Match book cover showing Baron Long's ownership in prominent
hotels.
Brief Histories
and Facts of Agua
Caliente
(You
are in for a real treat if you click the YouTube video
links near the bottom of the box just below.
You'll see two clips from
the "In Caliente" musical comedy movie and Phar Lap's
most famous horse race, the 1932 Agua Caliente Handicap.)
| Paul J. Vanderwood,
author of "Satan’s Playground: Mobsters and Movie Stars
at America’s Greatest Gaming
Resort" (available at Amazon.com): "Satan’s
Playground [Agua Caliente environs] is
the extraordinary story of clever and unscrupulous
bordello, casino, race track and cabaret owners
nicknamed Border Barons who under the pressure
of 1920s Prohibition [and anti-gambling laws in
California, even at racetracks] reestablished themselves
in bawdy Mexican border towns like Tijuana. There
American high and low society relished their offerings,
and the Barons became celebrated, multi- millionaires.
The gem in the Barons’ crown was an elegant gambling spa known as Agua Caliente, heralded as the Monte Carlo and Deauville of the Western Hemisphere. Movie czars and stars, sports notables, diplomats, maharajas, ranking politicians and famous aristocrats mingled there in luxurious surroundings along with more ordinary patrons anxious to see and be seen with such luminaries. Mobsters also dropped in on the scene. Bugsy Siegel visited and imagined a similar plush resort on what became the Las Vegas Strip." All this came to an end with the repeal of Prohibition and the relaxing of gambling at California racetracks, the development of gambling in Nevada, and, finally, the criminalization of gambling in Mexico in 1935." Agua Caliente Historical Society (http://aguacalientehistoricalsociety.com/agua_caliente_1929-1935): "The Agua Caliente racetrack (1929-1935) was built at a cost of $2-million, a huge amount at that time. At the first race meet, Agua Caliente hosted the world's richest race, the $140,000 Agua Caliente Handicap, won by 1928 Preakness winner, Victorian." Wikipedia: "The Agua Caliente Casino and Resort opened in June 1928 in the Mexican city of Tijuana, Baja California. It was a lavish resort that included a casino, [world famous health] spa, championship golf and tennis facilities, its own airstrip, and lots of entertainment. Stylistically, the resort was an amalgam of Mexican colonial, California mission, and neo-Islamic designs that ranged from mosaic minarets, to cozy guest bungalows, to steaming Turkish baths. It was designed by 19-year-old architect Wayne McAllister and built by Baron H. Long, Wirt G. Bowman and James N. Crofton [, the famous "Border Barons"]. Some sources note the fourth partner was Abelardo L. Rodríguez, Military Commander and Governor of Baja California, and future Mexican President. The $2.5 million Agua Caliente racetrack opened in December 1929. Drinking, gambling and horse racing were illegal in the neighboring U.S. state of California, so many wealthy Americans and Hollywood celebrities flocked to Agua Caliente. The actress Rita Hayworth was discovered there while performing in a show. The films "In Caliente" and "The Champ" were filmed on location there. The highlight of the opulent casino was the Gold Room [pictured above], where patrons could only bet using gold chips, with a rumored $500 minimum wager. Bugsy Siegel cited Agua Caliente as his inspiration for building the resort on what became the Las Vegas Strip." Lawrence D. Taylor in the Journal of San Diego History (https://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/2002-3/frontier.htm): "The Agua Caliente resort cost approximately $10,000,000, an enormous sum of money for that period. The first stage of the project comprised a 500 room hotel, casino, health spa, and café, inaugurated on June 23, 1928. The second stage consisted of an "olympic size" swimming pool, health clinics, 18 hole golf course, putting course, horse racing and greyhound race tracks, gardens and tropical aviary, bungalows, laundry, and workshop areas completed at the end of December 1929. The resort also had its own private radio station and airport facility [and railroad link]. " Time Magazine's Sports section, Jan. 4, 1932: "Four hours by car, an hour and a half by plane from Hollywood, Agua Caliente is the most elaborate pleasure resort in North America. .. .... Agua Caliente's golf tournament—first prize $15,000—is the richest in the world. Even more of an attraction than these for Hollywood plutocrats has been the racetrack, which was constructed at a cost of $2,500,000 by removing part of a mountain. The Annual Agua Caliente Handicap, which was to have been run on March 20 and for which the great Australian horse Pharlap was entered this year, is the richest—$150,000 —horse race in the world." [The Agua Caliente track was the site of several industry firsts, including starting gates, safety helmets, and “pick six” wagering.] aguacalientehistoricalsociety (http://aguacalientehistoricalsociety.com/agua_caliente_1929-1935): "The rich Agua Caliente Handicap lured the famous New Zealander, Phar Lap for its 1932 renewal. Phar Lap made the 12,000-mile journey from Australia to the United States earlier that year. Phar Lap ran into the history books as one of racing's top horses with his dramatic win, as he circled the entire field from dead last with ¾’s of a mile to go and held off American Derby winner, Reveille Boy. " [Click here to see a newsreel of that famous race at the Agua Caliente Racetrack, courtesy of YouTube! ] Click here (or here) to see the trailer to the Pat O'Brien-Dolores del Rio-Busby Berkeley Hollywood movie "In Caliente" (1935), which was filmed on location at the Agua Caliente and shows a brief scene of the casino near the start of the trailer. .... ... Another clip from the movie -- great fun but not of the Agua Caliente casino, for sure! -- Dolores del Rio's energetic "Muchacha" number, a' la Busby Berkeley. It must be a stage show within the movie: click here and enjoy! (Clicking that link lands you on a page where you choose one of two video clips: scenes from the Dolores del Rio "Muchacha" number in the 1935 movie "In Caliente," and Newsreel of the racehorse Phar Lap winning the Auga Caliente Handicap.) (Or click here for the Dolores del Rio clip.)... .... Here is another YouTube clip: good first few minutes of still pictures (ariel view of the resort; close-ups of everything including the famous Gold Bar room), piano music and Spanish words. I urge you to vamoose at the 3:22 minute mark to avoid the boring remainder of the clip -- the filling of the resort's Olympic swimming pool! Tijuana Tourist site (packed full of information, maps, pictures and history) explains it this way: "By the time prohibition took effect in 1920, enterprising gringos had been coming "down" to Tijuana to get together with other enterprising Mexicans in order to make money off of other gringos who more and more were coming to Tijuana not as "excursionists" looking for Mexican culture, but as extraterritorial sinners who wanted to buy, legally, what was illegal "on the other side" - a process which had begun with bullfights and gambling, then advanced into horse-racing and prostitution. ... ... This period coincided almost perfectly with the "Roaring Twenties," but dragged on into the middle thirties. Although alcoholic beverages became legal once again in the United States in 1933, Tijuana was somewhat insulated against the great depression by the continuing gambling and horse-racing activities. At least until 1938 [?], when casinos were banned by Presidential decree. Between these two bookend years, the beginning of the dry law in the States in 1920, and the ending of "legal" gambling in Tijuana in 1938, this little border city experienced its "golden age." |
Agua Caliente Casino
and Roulette Chips
thanks for the scans: Roy Klein, $500 one; Richard
Hanover, the first five; Me, the two yellow ones!
not mine -- Roy Klein's roulette chips.
1929 ariel view of the Agua Caliente resort. "A"
is the Auto guarage; "B" is Bungalows for guests; "C" is Casino entrance;
"D" is Dog Track
(the famous horse racing track wasn't
built at this time, and will be a short distance below
the Dog Track (off this photo); "G" is Golf course; "H" is
the Hotel entrance;
"P" is where the luxurious Pool
and Spa will be, and to the left (off this photo) is the
Aviation field; and "T" is one of two San Diego & Arizona
Rail Road Train depots at the resort.
| Black and white photo "from
February 1929 featuring Agua Caliente,
Tia Juana [spelling then], Mexico, showing
the Casino and Hotel with two Maddux Planes in the
air. This photo originates from the archives of Chicago
Sun-Times and Chicago Daily News. It measures 8” by
10” and is in excellent condition," went for $300 in July
2010 eBay auction. ... ... The dog track is at the
lower-right (the $2.5 million dollar Auga Caliente Racetrack
is near-by farther to the east). At the left, below the "Baths,"
is one of the resort's golf courses. The middle picture (the colored "Aeroplane View" postcard, taken from an actual black and white real photo postcard) presents a different angle. The buildings on the bottom (note the Minaret) are the Spa, Bath House, Swimming Pool complex). The large building on the left is the Hotel. Uppermost is the Casino building and the guest Bungalows. The bottom colored stetch above is from this fine web site -- all about past and modern Tijuana. |
|
| I am particularly fond of this
rare post card, mainly for the perspective it sheds on the resort
complex. Look at the two post cards at the top of this page.
This post card brings everything together. The couple
in the foreground is walking into the (unseen) casino entrance.
Note the famous casino "wishing well" behind them. Now,
note in the background the famous hotel entrance. This post
card gives a feel for being at the resort and shows the rather short
walking distance between the casino and the hotel. |
| Above collage is
from this great site: inoldlasvegas.com/strip. All
these pictures are from postcards showing Agua Caliente views. I've
numbered them from 1 to 13: (1) "A Corner of the Patio and Corridor" of the
hotel; (2) "Dog Races"; (3) casino "Gold Bar"; (4) "Campanile, Chimes Tower
and Golf Club"; (5) Patio Dining area of the casino where La Fuento del
Estrella (Fountain of the Little Star) is; (6) hotel entrance; (7)
casino entrance; (8) "Swimming Pool;" (9) "Swimming Pool and Bath House"
and Minaret; (10) Bath House and Pool; (11) hotel entrance, again;
(12) racetrack; and (13) "Interior of Casino and Famous Gold Bar". Among the interesting things mentioned at the inoldlasvegas site are: ¶ "In 1927, wealthy nightclub owner Baron Long and owner of the famous U.S.Grant Hotel in San Diego, formed a 4 man partnership to build a giant casino-hotel complex, named Agua Caliente," less than 20 miles from San Diego CA. ¶ "The architect hired to design Agua Caliente was an astoundingly young nineteen year old named Wayne McAllister. After designing Agua Caliente, McAllister gained fame for designing nightclubs and restaurants in Southern California. MacAllister was the creator of the circular drive-in restaurants in So Cal such as the 'Pig 'n' Whistle', Simon's, Herberts, and Van De Kamps. He also designed Lawry's Restaurant, the Cinegrill, and the Biltmore Bowl auditorium (an early location used for the Academy Award ceremonies). McAllister also designed the 1949 Bob's Big Boy Restaurant and the drive-ins in its chain. .. .... Most importantly, Wayne McAllister would later go on to play an important role in Las Vegas development thru his knowledge of roadside architecture and casino design. McAllister would design the first Strip casino-motel ever built (the El Rancho) in 1940. That same year he designed Downtown Las vegas' El Cortez Hotel. In 1949 he created plans for the most modern casino in Las Vegas (The Desert Inn) and two years later designed the Sands. In 1955, he was again hired to create the Downtown Vegas' first high-rise hotel, the Fremont Hotel and Casino. ... .... Just as Las Vegas took its name from a watering spring [Meadows], so did Auga Caliente [hot water (springs)]. ... .... [Agua Caliente] was a rarity in architectural design for public entertainment. ... [It] opened as the one of the most lavish public entertainment facilities of its time. Auga Caliente included a casino, luxurious guest bungalows, a spa, Turkish baths and two ballrooms, all designed in a combination of Mexican Colonial, California Mission stylings. The resort [had] an airstrip, championship golf and tennis facilities. ... .... Two years after the casino opened, McAllister designed the $2.5 million dollar Auga Caliente Racetrack. The racetrack hosted the world's richest race with its $140,000 grand prize and was known throughout the world for being the home for some of the most famous horse races in history with Phar Lap and Sea Biscuit. The racetrack opened four years before Southern California's Santa Anita Racetrack and was considered the most important track in the west. ... ... Auga Calient was a tremendous success and hugely popular with wealthy Americans and celebrities. Quite unexpectedly, Mexico's President, Lázaro Cárdenas, outlawed gambling in 1935. The resort was closed and became the property of the Mexican government." |
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