Well – I will resurrect this thread as it seems a good place to talk about monograms and poker chips
I recently obtained from “that auction site” a wonderful set of chips, cards and carousel – Chips (which are plastic and are essentially complete) and cards have a three letter monogram on them. Who knows why these were made – Fathers Day, Birthday, Christmas, even a wedding present – I may never know! I am revising my "build" date to late 1940’s/early 1950’s due to nuances with the printing process, ZIP codes and markings on Ace of Spades (H is 1926, 1946, 1966).
Pictures here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/46064258@N08/albums/72157671760679221
In my mind they make a statement of what the home game at a comfy upper middle class residence looked like in the 1940’s and 1950’s – and gives us take a look at how far it has come.
Based on conversations with the seller, and the magic of the internet – I was able to determine who the original owner was. I can let you know if you need to know. His initials are TLM, and the monogram is T
ML.
Key lesson I learned is that there is an art and rules to monograms. I suppose I knew this – but it was critical in my research and it took a while to sink in . Some good write-up here and there are variations I never dreamed of –
http://www.markandgraham.com/pages/monogram-guide/
Summarized below for most cases in the chip and card world like this (with subtle variations if the monogram belongs to a married woman):
1. Two letter monograms are almost always: First Name, Last Name
2. Three letters
all same size are: First, Middle, Last
3. Three letters with Middle
LARGER letter are almost always : First,
LAST, Middle
In any case - In when buying monogrammed chips with more than two letters – be aware of the order!