Name/Title
$1 wooden buffalo nickel token for Pagano's, c. 1950sEntry/Object ID
2021.102.1Description
Acc. No. 21.102.1
Subject Category: Businesses of Alameda
Date or Period: c. 1950s
Object: wooden token
Description: Untreated wooden disk of a light-weight wood, with printed in red, on one side, the image of a buffalo, and 'United States of America Wooden Nickel', and on the other side, '$1 Pagano's Hardware'.
Diameter: 1 1/2 inches
History of Object: Wooden token for Pagano's Hardware. Pagano's Hardware was established in 1950 by longtime Alameda resident Andy Pagano (May 16, 1916, Alameda - 25 March, 2002, Oakland), at 1100 Lincoln Ave. Andy was a WWII veteran, and member of the Elks, Kiwanis, Historical Society, Italian American League, Navy League, Legion Post No. 9, and Optimist Club. He was also a former Citizen of the Year and Grand Marshall of the Mayor's 4th of July Parade. The business was sold in 1994, to David Giovannoli and partner Tom Tognetti, who opened up a location at South Shore Shopping Center, and subsequently moved from Lincoln Ave. to 640/650 Central Ave.
The Central Ave. location closed in 2024.
Wooden tokens became popular in the 1930s, and are often mimicking one or the other side of the Buffalo Nickel / 'Indian Head' nickel, which were minted between 1913 and 1939.
Acquired from: unknown
Catalog Date: 9/22/2021
