NEVADA MOTEL
(1937 - Unknown)
STORY
The Nevada Motel was the first example of an auto court in Las Vegas to advertise itself as a "MOTEL." The property opened in 1937 and the sign is from c. 1950.
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The character atop this sign – and many others around Nevada – is "Vegas Vic," designed by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce is 1945. The most famous "Vegas Vic" is still located on Fremont Street, originally standing in front of the Pioneer Club. "Vic" was intended as an "icon that [the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce] could brand Las Vegas with, "appearing in print, on billboards, and on numerous souvenirs representing the city's western mystique, even if, in reality, Las Vegas started off as a railroad town. Las Vegas' Helldorado festival, beginning in 1934, further perpetuates the popular image of Las Vegas as a "western town." Originally intended as an annual production to entrice dam workers to stay in southern Nevada, once the Boulder Dam (later, the "Hoover Dam") project was being completed, the festival grew as a celebration of "the flavor of the Old West." Today, it remains a great source of community pride.
The word "refrigeration" at the bottom of the sign refers to "air conditioning." When this property would have been active, "Las Vegans depended on ice, evaporative cooling and stubborn persistence to get through the summer."
KEY NARRATION
Sign Facts
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Nevada Hotel opens 1937.
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Sign is circa 1950.
Guest Education
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Vegas Vic is the character atop the sign.
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He was a character created by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce to promote the "western town mystique" (Las Vegas in the early going was a railroad town, not "western.")
Additional Details
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The most famous "Vegas Vic" is still on Fremont Street (he was the from the Pioneer Club, a casino that closed before the Fremont Street Experience.
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Helldorado has been around since 1935, helping advance the "western mystique."
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GUEST ENGAGEMENT: What does the word "Refridgeration" on the sign refer to? (Answer: Air Conditioning.)