Big old early 20th century token?

[aaron.cieply]

My brother and I had a great time under the porch of a late 1800s home.

This is one of the coolest finds and was actually my first find.

Any info on it would be much appreciated

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[aaron.cieply]

My brother and I had a great time under the porch of a late 1800s home.

This is one of the coolest finds and was actually my first find.

Any info on it would be much appreciated

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[idahotokens]

Aaron--Great find! There are quite a few tokens with the "Ain't It Hell To Be Poor" slogan on them, although I don't know of any study of them that would enlighten us very much. I think most of them were given out as lucky pocket pieces to advertise a business. Some could be exchanged for a cigar, so those were obviously advertising. The 1910 Boston, MA City Directory lists William P. Thompson as an engraver at 179 Summer. Note the middle initial difference; errors on tokens are about as common as errors in directories. I also don't know what the "SC" initials after his name represents, nor the significance of "Wood Pecker". The street address where he worked is right near Boston's South Station, but everything there has changed since 1910.
John in the Great 208

 

[aaron.cieply]

Wow. Thank you so much for this great info. I really appreciate it! What a fun hobby eh? I love these messages boards where we can help each other and share in the joy of the search!

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[Professor of Engineering]

Very nice token with clear wording, congratulations!

I bet there is some cool history to be learned from this one!

 

[Loco-Digger]

That's a great token find. It's definitely sweet conversation piece. Congrats

 

[trapperart]

Congrats on a nice token

 

[A2coins]

Congrats welcome to tnet Lots more good stuff will come Thanks for the post!!!!!!!!!

 

[idahotokens]

Aaron--how about posting pics of your piece on tokencatalog.com ? Maybe folks there would know more info about it. Or with your permission, I could post it. The site needs the diameter.
John

Wow. Thank you so much for this great info. I really appreciate it! What a fun hobby eh? I love these messages boards where we can help each other and share in the joy of the search!

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[aaron.cieply]

Great. Go ahead and post them. Diameter is 1 1/4"

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[idahotokens]

Aaron--I'm in the process of adding it to tokencatalog, but just noticed that on the reverse, under POOR, is tiny lettering that probably indicates who made the piece. I can't make it out - could you please put a magnifying glass on it and transcribe it for me? Thanks!
John

 

[idahotokens]

Boston, Massachusetts (Suffolk County), U.S.A. [CA1]

B R 32 [CA1]

COMPLIMENTS / OF / WM. R. THOMPSON, SC. / "WOOD PECKER" / 159 SUMMER ST. / BOSTON IT'S / HELL / TO BE / POOR TC-458633 *** Image courtesy of Aaron Cieply*** 1910 Boston, MA City Directory: William P. Thompson - Engraver - 179 Summer.