Men Please Do Not Apply
1937-1970 Card dealing was a male-dominated profession in Nevada’s casinos until 1937, when Harolds Club, in Reno, put the first woman at a 21 table to deal. Co-owner Harold Smith previously had been hiring women,…
Quick Fact – Good Luck Charm
1969 Elvis Presley was one of the first headliners at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. His performances began a record-breaking run of 837 sold-out shows at the spot over the ensuing seven years. In his…
California
Gambling: Bookmaking
Governing / Regulatory Bodies: Internal Revenue Service
Hy Goldbaum
It Really Happened
McNeil Island Corrections Center (WA)
West Hollywood--California
Bookies’ Bookies Not So Good With Numbers
1945-1955 In the late 1940s, three bookies — or commissioners, as they preferred to be called — operated on Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California under the name, Golden News Service. Hy Goldbaum, George Capri…
Quick Fact – Women, Oh, No!
1905 A Las Vegas, Nevada newspaper commented on the increasing popularity of gambling among ladies: “Gambling made fashionable among women is a rather serious matter. It is bad enough among men, but when the mania…
Allen Smiley
Club Savoy (Las Vegas, NV)
Games / Races: Craps
It Really Happened
Jack Durant
Louis "Russian Louie" Strauss
Norman Khoury
Dirty Dealings in Las Vegas
1949-1953 Only months after Cleveland bar owner, Norman Khoury’s 1949 acquisition of Club Savoy in Las Vegas, Nevada, Allen Smiley, an associate of the then-deceased Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, unexpectedly approached him. He introduced Khoury to…
Quick Fact – Preacher Shill
1958 Reverend Maurice D. Tulloch, 50, a Kansas man, gave up his Baptist ministry for shilling in a Nevada casino. Feeling as though his life was suffocating him, a month earlier he’d walked out of…
Bluebell Girls
Dunes (Las Vegas, NV)
El Rancho Vegas (Las Vegas, NV)
Entertainment
Governing / Regulatory Bodies: Nevada Gaming Commission
It Really Happened
Law Enforcement / Judicial System: NV Attorney General Roger Foley
Bare Bosom Brouhaha
1958-1961 The debut of topless showgirls in Las Vegas roused disapproval — not surprising given it occurred early in the “Leave it to Beaver” era. The Stardust was the first to abandon bras and tops,…
Artists / Designers: Philip Paval
Edward "Ed" Levinson
Fremont Hotel and Casino (Las Vegas, NV)
It Really Happened
Marilyn Monroe
Nevada
Publicity Stunts / Promotions / Advertisements
Sandra Giles
The Lady Of Chance … Au Naturel
1956 The Fremont in Las Vegas commissioned a large oil painting that depicted a “lady of chance” to grace a wall in its casino. The hotel’s press agent, Shelly Davis, asked aspiring actress Sandra Giles…
Quick Fact – Bluebell Girls
1958 Sixteen glamazon, primarily English dancers from Paris’ Lido Club troupe were imported to open Las Vegas’ Stardust hotel-casino. The Bluebell Girls’ show broke all attendance records; about 1,400 people left the gaming tables and…
Did You Know?
Entertainment
Ethnic Groups: African Americans
International Hotel (Las Vegas, NV)
Las Vegas Hilton (Las Vegas, NV)
Natalie Cole
Quick Facts
Quick Fact – Natalie Cole
1976 Natalie Cole made her Nevada performance debut at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino (formerly the International Hotel) on a double bill with Bill Cosby in April.
Frank Sinatra’s Hissy Fits
1967 & 1970 Apparently, the beloved crooner had a temper, which he sometimes unleashed when casino operators denied him additional, excessive amounts of credit when gambling. In one instance when Frank Sinatra lost control, he…
Quick Fact – Dancing Waters
1955 A dancing waters routine at the new Royal Nevada hotel-casino upstaged big-money entertainers — Carmen Miranda, Danny Thomas, Liberace and others — in Las Vegas, Nevada. The five fountains of colored water (30 tons…