Random USA
I'm using up a few arbitrary scans of vintage slides that fall into the "Random USA" category. Hopefully you'll enjoy them!
First up is this photo from "sometime in the 1950s", showing the Nevada Club in Reno (Nevada, that is!), one of the "new" post-War casinos. Looking inside, we can see scores of old-fashioned slot machines. If you like to play Keno, there's a $25,000 limit (about a quarter of a million dollars in 2021 money).
One website wrote, Without warning on December 29, 1997, the Nevada Club, a fixture for decades on Reno's Virginia Street, closed its doors forever. One of the oldest casinos in the state of Nevada, the club opened in 1946 and lived long enough to celebrate its golden anniversary.
Next is this nice photo from Dallas, Texas (from sometime in the 1950s). I believe that the tall building with the spire is the Republic Center. Note the other building with the Mobil Oil pegasus on top - one of the Junior Gorillas said that this pegasus is a sort of unofficial mascot of the city. I wanted to get a contemporary view of this same scene, but Dallas is packed with newer high-rise buildings, to the point where all I could find was walls of stone, steel, and glass.
And lastly here's what you might have seen when entering the Sunshine State inn 1958. A modest (but modern!) "Information Station" awaits, to answer all of your questions. "What's the best way to get to Walt Disney World?". "Son, that won't exist for another 13 years! Why don't you go to Cypress Gardens? They have pretty gals there!".
I'm still out of town, but don't let that stop you from commenting!
13 comments:
Major-
I've always been a fan of that style of font where the stroke width at the tops of the characters are wider, tapering down towards the bottom. The 'Nevada Club' sign is a beauty.
Thanks, Major.
Wow, everything about that first pic is super cool! I love the signage, the skinny stone wall below the windows, and the women both "caught" in mid-step.
I also like the architecture on that Florida "Information Station." It looks like there were six of them, spread out along the state line. I don't know if the buildings were all identical, or not. I found this pic online, showing the other side of that "Welcome" sign, which read "Hurry Back To Florida":
https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/30141
And here's a postcard for sale on ebay (this is NOT my auction!) that lists the locations of all six stations:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/333704669754
Thanks for sharing these, Major!
After revisiting these photos, I searched and found out that the tip of the spire on that taller building (second pic) used to have a "half-billion candle power" rotating beacon of light, which was visible up to 120 miles away:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/124868300611?hash=item1d12bb0f43:g:sKAAAOSwSjleu9Uu
You can get an idea of just how bright the lighting was around the Nevada Club by the fact that there is very little motion blur in that image. Film speeds were slow, so there had to be a lot of light to be able to snap that picture. If that yellow dial underneath the blue neon “BAR” is a clock, it’s either 1:15 in the morning or we’re on the set of Streets of Fire.
I found several pictures of other Florida Welcome Center locations, and they all share the same basic design. Makes sense from a cost perspective. The US military used to replicate designs across multiple installations around the world, and you could tell when certain buildings were built based on the design. I’ve seen multiple hospitals and barracks and chapels and housing units and hangars and BX/PX facilities that are all the same, although we seem to have gotten away from that in recent years.
Here’s a 1958 home movie that starts with a clip at the Jacksonville Welcome Center.
I like these posts of “vintage cities”, it’s good to see how things were before modern architecture and traffic destroyed everything.
Tokyo, those are fascinating facts, and the Nevada Club is a beauty.
JG
The Dallas picture was taken on Pearl Street (around the intersection of Pearl and Bryan, but I can't read that part of the street sign). The building on the left is, indeed, the Republic Center (built in 1954) and the Pegasus adorned building is the Magnolia building, built in 1934 for the Magnolia Oil Company. I could find no mention of the Robinson Motor Company, but the cars in the foreground are in a parking lot, not a dealership (they are across the street from it). We are looking southwest. Now comes the interesting part. My wife's grandfather ran several parking lots in downtown Dallas as real estate investments in the 50s. She thinks this might well be one of his lots. (His name was Franz Gerlach) Her family has been in Dallas for most of it's history.
My take on the picture: it was about 1955. A visitor parked in the lot, got out and noticed Dallas' current tallest building was right next to it's former tallest building (or they just liked the spire and the horsey) and they snapped the picture on a whim.
By the way, the Magnolia used to have two pegasuses (pegasusi?) but one was removed early on. The remaining original pegasus was restored and now sits in front of the Dallas Omni Hotel.
@ Stu29573-
I love these stories. I was able to find info on the Morris Robinson Motor Co. mentioned in a 1959 lawsuit, and also THIS.
Cool!
It looks rather nicer in the postcard doesn't it? Lol!
Stu, that is a wonderful story! What are the chances?
Chuck, on the topic of reused plans, the Cal State Universities reused dormitory designs across many schools. It was possible to live in the same brick dorms in Fresno, Sacramento, San Luis Obispo and probably other schools as well.
JG
There was a place called Random
In the good old USA
But nobody ever went there
‘Cause nobody knew the way
They say somebody built it
But nobody knows who
And I know I’ve never been there
Nor has anyone I knew
It isn’t in the atlas
Or on your GPS
Nobody’s ever given it
As their permanent address
If you try to go to Random
Better not go there alone
At least if you go in tandem
One of you will make it home
Stu, that is such a great story.
I wonder if you have to deal with Union Denial, Union Anger, Union Bargaining, and Union Depression before you can buy a car with Union Acceptance.
Stu, that is SO COOL!
I have a question for you intelligent folks out there:
Tokyo mentioned [what it said on the back of that postcard] that the beam can be seen [up to] 120 miles away. With the curvature of the earth, is that really possible? (If they meant 'from space' - I would think it could be seen from farther away than that...)
LOVE today's post! So much interesting info, fun links and, Melissa - who always adds the frosting to the cake!
Thanks, Major, and everyone!
I still make it a point to stop for an OJ or grapefruit juice when I pass the FL Welcome Center on I-95. It's always the definite sign that "vacation has begun"
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