If you ever get the chance to spend some time around a Rolls Royce, take a moment of that time to open and close the hood. Don't look at the engine, just listen to the sound of the hood closing. How should I best put it? The hood of a VW doesn't produce the same sound. It is the sound of the hood closing, amongst other things, that makes a Rolls Royce feel like a tank. And you get the same kind of feeling when you put six decks of cards into one of those shoe and put the roller behind the cards and listen to the ratchet mechanism produce a sound that's unlike anything you've ever heard any other dealing shoe do. This shoe sounds like a musical instrument and feels like it's made for people who drive up to a casino in a Rolls Royce. And once the cards and the roller are in, you place the cover on top of the shoe and lock it in place, which is yet another handling procedure that makes a serious sound that makes this shoe feel like a tank. If there is such thing as a Rolls Royce of dealing shoes, perhaps this one is it.There is another uncommon feature. This roller doesn't simply roll down the slanted ramp. There are two metal rails running down the ramp and the roller has four miniature brass wheels, an uncommon feature that makes the roller look like a miniature vehicle running down a track. The roller is also weighted with led inserts at both sides. The wheels don't really spin as well as they should, but I'm sure they worked fine at the time.
The detail that distinguishes this shoe as a chemin de fer shoe is the plaque at the side. The plaque also bears the name G. Caro. marked cards
One bad thing about this shoe is that it might be totally useless nowadays. The reason is the interior width of the shell, which is narrower than any of the dealing shoes made today. In other words, you cannot put standard poker-size cards inside this shoe. All the cards shown in my photos are old French cards that were noticeably smaller than standard playing cards produced today.
The detail that distinguishes this shoe as a chemin de fer shoe is the plaque at the side. The plaque also bears the name G. Caro. marked cards
One bad thing about this shoe is that it might be totally useless nowadays. The reason is the interior width of the shell, which is narrower than any of the dealing shoes made today. In other words, you cannot put standard poker-size cards inside this shoe. All the cards shown in my photos are old French cards that were noticeably smaller than standard playing cards produced today.
