re-sealed deck of playing cards from THE PRESIDENT Riverboat Casino

As (I believe?) is rather commonplace in casinos everywhere, decks of playing cards which have been used on the gaming floor are marked somehow (a punching thru the entire deck, or clipped corner thereof, or something) then reboxed, re-sealed, and made available to casino patrons as a "souvenir". That is in fact how I ended up with this deck, from what once (last...) was THE PRESIDENT RIVERBOAT CASINO in Davenport, Iowa, on the mighty Mississippi River. I don't exactly remember the occasion I was aboard to have ended up with it, but it was likely during its first few years there.

In 1991, new state laws in IA took effect suddenly legalizing "riverboat gambling" and THE PRESIDENT and one other vessel (the much smaller and much more newly built "DIAMOND LADY") were ready to go on opening day -- each on their respective sides of the locks and dam between Davenport and Rock Island, IL.

I still remember the day when THE PRESIDENT made its much-celebrated arrival in the Quad Cities -- making a great media spectacle on a beautiful sunny afternoon as it slowly came upstream and underneath the Centennial Bridge to its newly constructed dock/landing with its real steam calliope going full-tilt, the unavoidably *happy* (and *loud*!) music from that echoing throughout all of downtown Davenport (no doubt) and Rock Island. (on the opposite riverbank, where I myself lived, worked, and heard it at the time) As history would continue to play out, Davenport was THE PRESIDENT's final port.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_(1924_steamboat)

Over the next decade or so, as the 'gambling laws' continued to change (as well as the economy in general) and all the promised windfalls didn't actually happen entirely 'as envisioned', THE PRESIDENT ultimately closed and disappeared from the Davenport riverfront, right abouts the same time I myself left the Quad-Cities for my own unrelated life changes.

I have to admit being rather saddened now, while doing a quick search before making this posting, to learn of the ultimate fate of THE PRESIDENT after it left Davenport. Seems as though after several further years (more?) spent 'discarded' somewhere back downstream in a backwater, the vessel was cut up into "truck-sized" pieces that now, maybe, still fill what would otherwise be considered a large scrap metal yard someplace else in southern IL or MO. Once more, remembering very literally how BIG that boat was...I can only shudder (sob?) at the thought of chopping it up like that. Think about trying to reassemble an onion after it's been run thru a blender... :-( :-( :-(

http://steamboats.com/museum/thepresident.html

...and I wonder where that calliope went...I doubt if *that's* still laying there amongst the rest of the scrap iron... :-( :-( :-( :-( :-(