Wooden Nickles, And Other Play Money

Here's a commemorative wood that is 85 years old - 1938 High Point, NC "Pageant of Progress" wood issued to commemorate 50 years of manufacturing development.




North Carolina's first experiment with souvenir wooden money came in 1938. It was then that Pageant of Progress, Inc., located in High Point, NC, decided to create a wooden nickel to mark the Piedmont's 50 years of manufacturing growth. Furniture manufacturing was central to the area's development, as was the textile industry. High Point, with its central location and good access to transportation, was a key center for the region. Its importance to NC's growing furniture industry was solidified in 1911 when the Southern Furniture Manufacturers' Association decided to base its headquarters in High Point. At the same time (i.e., circa 1938), bus manufacturing was also becoming a major industry for the area after years of involvement with street cars/trolleys which were being phased out across the country.

Here are a pair of commemorative wooden nickel "flats" from 1939 - they were issued to help mark the 50th Anniversary of South Dakota.






South Dakota was admitted to the Union as the 40th State on November 2, 1889. it was admitted at the same time as North Dakota (39th State). (For more of the South Dakota/North Dakota story, see: What If? 1939 South Dakota Statehood 50th Anniversary.

Here's a "Two Wooden Nickels" souvenir piece from 1939 issued to support the 300th Anniversary of Hackensack Valley in New Jersey.





The 1939 anniversary year is traced back to 1639 and the founding of Hackensack as a trading post. The post was established on land deeded to early settlers by the indigenous Lenni Lenape Native Americans.

Hackensack is located within Bergen County New Jersey, in the state's northeast corner.

Here's a wooden "flat" from 1936 that was issued by the local Chamber of Commerce as part of Springfield, Massachusetts' 300th Anniversary of founding.




Springfield is a city in west-central Massachusetts; it is the County Seat of Hampden County. In 1636, William Pynchon, along with six other men, purchased land from the local Native Americans and established a trading post (primarily for fur trading) at the confluence of the Agawam and Connecticut Rivers; the Agawam River is known today as the Westfield River. The land occupied today by Springfield was included in Pynchon's purchase.

In 1952, an attempt was made to secure a US commemorative half dollar to mark the 1852 incorporation of Springfield as a city. For more about it, see:

- What If? 1952 Springfield, Massachusetts Centennial

In 1937, Georgetown, Ohio issued a commemorative wood in recognition of the 150th anniversary of the creation of the Northwest Territory; Ohio was one of six present-day states to be formed (all or in part) from the Northwest Territory.




Georgetown was not the center of Northwest Territory celebrations, but it created a Celebration Committee and promoted its connection to Ulysses S. Grant, the victorious US Civil War General and 18th US President. Grant spent about 16 years in Georgetown as a young boy; Grant lived with his family in Georgetown from 1823 to 1839. The Grant family moved to Georgetown when Ulysses was one year old.

The back of the wood depicts the two-room schoolhouse that Ulyssess attended while living in Georgetown.

This wood is a bit more "graphic" than many contemporary woods - it did not simply follow the John B. Rogers Producing Company template that brings a "sameness" to many of the "woods" of the day.

To read about an unsuccessful proposal for a 1937 Northwest Territory commemorativr half dollar, check out:

- What If? 1937 Northwest Territory 150th Anniversary

Excellent!

This is another set of wooden nickel "flats" from my home county of Butler, Pennsylvania. These demonstrate that the popularity of these "flat" woods continued into the 1950's.
1950 marked the sesquicentennial for Butler County, Pennsylvania.

The common reverse inscription reads: THIS WOODEN SOUVENIR / (UNBROKEN) IS EXCHANGEABLE IN TRADE IN ANY STORE / IN BUTLER AND IS REDEEMABLE FOR FACE VALUE IN / UNITED STATES COIN UNTIL 2:30 P.M., E.D.T., / JULY 10, 1950, AT EITHER / THE BUTLER SAVINGS AND TRUST COMPANY / THE MELLON NATIONAL BANK AND TRUST COMPANY / OR THE UNION TRUST COMPANY / BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA / C.E. SPANG / GENERAL CHAIRMAN / THOMAS R. NICHOLSON / MAYOR OF BUTLER / SAM MAHAN / BUTLER COUNTY COMMISIONER

Excellent examples!