| The inn was owned by Sally Stanford, whose legal name was Marcia Owens. Stanford was a prominent Madam of several brothels in San Francisco from the 1920s to the 1940s. Upon retiring from the trade, she bought the Valhalla Inn in 1948, and sold it in 1971 to C. Harold Hobbs. She was elected mayor of Sausalito in 1976.
The attribution of these SqInCr-mold chips is traced to the Staeffler Memorial California Card Room Guide (2019). Not in Staeffler (2010) or Pfaender (2023). Not listed in The Gaming Table (2017), which indicates that there is likely no Portland Card Co. (Portland, OR) order card for this chip. There was a "Valhalla Card Room" at 7 N. W. 3rd St., Portland, Oregon. This chip may have been more likely used there.
Graphic is a detail from a matchbox. The photograph of hotel is from 2020 (Golden Gate Sotheby's International Realty) |
