I purchased this 25 cent trade token on
ebay earlier this week. There are other denominations 5 cents, 10 cents, 50 cents and $1.00. There are two varieties known on some of these: a single star in the center or a star flanked by two arrows.
Now a little information on this family of merchants. The story begins with John Caspar Gantz (1833-1923). Born in Germany and emigrated to the United States before 1860. He and his wife were the parents of 8 sons, 1 daughter. He sold boots and shoes.
Gantz's business was destroyed along with several others by two fires one in 1882 the other in 1884. His loss in the first fire was $1,800 and included the business house. The second fire caused him $10,000 in loss. Not one to give up, he rebuilt and an 1895 advertisement he sold boots, shoes, clothing, hats and caps, gloves and gents furnishing goods.
August (1863-1936) likely worked in his father's store. At the time of his death, his occupation was listed as banking.
Frank (1864-1941) also likely worked in his father's store early on. He was an assistant cashier at the First National Bank of Stewartsville in 1917. He later owned and operated the Gantz Lumber Yard.
Carl (1866-1946) operated a drug store in Winston, Missouri.
Alfred Fritz (1868-1950) operated a store in Stewartsville. In an 1895 ad, he sold watches, clocks, jewelry, lamps, silverware, stationary, etc. Eventually, he transitioned to a drug store/pharmacy.
Caspar (1869-1960) operated a drug store in King City, Missouri starting in 1892 and continued doing so for over sixty years.
William Frederick (1871-1959) and Max B (1873-1960) ran a general store in Stewartsville together for fifty years.
Oscar Arthur (1875-1961) left home at age 16 to help run his older brother Carl's drug store in Winston. In 1894, he went to King City to work with his brother Caspar.
It is my educated guess that the trade tokens are from the William F. and Max Gantz store. I have no way to verify this at the moment.
Below is a cover Gantz Pharmacy 
A photo of the Gantz Bros. Store in Stewartsville
Alfred Fritz is wearing the tie. The others are probably related to him The building where the Gantz Bros. store was located was in use as a bakery when part of the south side wall collapsed in 2013. The remaining structure was torn down.
Posted 10/10/2016 5:59 pm
