Turning Tables

I was once present for the sale of one antique saloon card table. The table was about 4 feet around. There was a secondary tabletop underneath and partitioned with two crossed boards, joined in the center like an “x” from leg to leg which formed a shelf. The table itself was of plain finished oak, no stain or shellack appeared present and the legs where unimpressive columns that tapered off to a flat bottom. The table itself was solid as ever and there was no wobble about it.

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A couple was meandering and browsing through the largish warehouse full of gaming equipment. They were seeking a table to furnish their game room. The man who owned the warehouse, an old collector of such things, was showing them around when the customer noticed the second wooden ply and cross frame that formed the shelving underneath the top of the dull, plain, antique saloon table. The collector began to appear delighted and beamed a smile at them and what came next is a series of statements that may or may not be true.

The only awareness I have that this even may have been a “thing” is because of this collector, but at the same time we must keep in mind he was selling a really old very real saloon table that has none of the style or decor of most other gaming tables from any point in history before or afterward. In fact, the room we were standing in was loaded with all sorts of them, fancy and desirable to any card game fanatic with all manner of game tables from poker to professional blackjack tables. All sorts of beautifully finished wooden and felt tables with drink holders, chip trays and all the “bells and whistles” lined about 1500 square ft of the storage/show area we were standing in.

The collector told him, “That’s where gun belts went while everyone was playing, kept everyone honest”. At the suggestion that this table may have been present during a sequence of cliched sounding events the interest seemed piqued in both of the customers, to which the seller added, “This is why they flip the table in old westerns, so people across the table’s guns get trapped under the table or scatter.”

“Ohhhhh” the couple proclaimed together as if to acknowledge that they get it, they understand, and it all makes sense now.

Before I heard the old collector make that suggestion, I assumed the table flip was simply to provide cover, fling drinks, let everyone know the shit is about to go fan-ward. I still have never attempted to confirm the gun belt trivia and it doesn’t really matter; He sold his plain wooden table.

Be well

-TedMD