Image
Copyright & Fair-use Agreement
UNLV Special Collections provides copies of materials to facilitate private study, scholarship, or research. Material not in the public domain may be used according to fair use of copyrighted materials as defined by copyright law. Please cite us.
Please note that UNLV may not own the copyright to these materials and cannot provide permission to publish or distribute materials when UNLV is not the copyright holder. The user is solely responsible for determining the copyright status of materials and obtaining permission to use material from the copyright holder and for determining whether any permissions relating to any other rights are necessary for the intended use, and for obtaining all required permissions beyond that allowed by fair use.
Read more about our reproduction and use policy.
I agree.Information
Digital ID
Details
More Info
Rights
Publisher
Format
Transcription
GOLDEN <br> NUGGET <br> GAMBLING HALL <br> 1905 <br> <br> <br> GOLDEN NUGGET <br> CASINO <br> GOLDEN NUGGET <br> <br> <br> One of the things every western boom-town has had in common is an elaborate gambling hall called the Golden Nugget. <br> <br> <br> This fact dominated the thoughts of Guy McAfee in the early 1940s as he mulled over plans for a casino in the heart of the newly blossoming boom-town of Las Vegas. <br> <br> <br> The Golden Nugget had been a landmark on the colorful Barbary Coast of early San Francisco and later became the hub of activity in Virginia City, northern Nevada’s historic mining town. <br> <br> <br> So it was proper that Las Vegas should have its own Golden Nugget and, if its builder was to be true to tradition, it had to be more magnificent, more spectacular than any other gambling hall in the city. <br> <br> <br> McAfee’s dream come true on August 31, 1946, and still stands today as the brightest star in the Casino Center firmament. <br> <br> <br> McAfee, a well-known businessman, philanthropist and sportsman, spared no expense in making the Golden Nugget an exact replica of its Barbary Coast ancestor. <br> <br> <br> Marble floors were laid, the walls were beautified with wallpaper imported from Europe and genuine crystal chandeliers valued at $8000 each were hung throughout the casino, which was further decorated by handsomely-grained, hand-carved Honduras mahogany woodwork. <br> <br> <br> A shimmering edifice of neon was erected on the marquee of the casino, topped by the date “1905”, the year the San Francisco Golden Nugget was completed. <br> <br> <br> McAfee’s pride and joy was a 50-foot mahogany bar that still remains as one of the Golden Nugget’s major attractions. Movie magnate Louis B. Mayer, a personal friend of McAfee’s had the bar made by a crew of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio artists and craftsmen specially for the Golden Nugget. Its value is estimated to be in excess of $100,000. <br> <br> <br> The figures at each end of the bar are those of Pan, the half-man, half-goat Greek god of the field and forests, and a nolod, nine of the daughters of King Zues who guarded the waters of the forest. <br> <br> <br> The statues support a large lattice canopy which is faced with a mauve front section adorned by two portraits from the Golden Nugget’s collection of pictures by Elnar C. Peterson. Peterson also painted the mural on the walls of the Golden Nugget restaurant. <br> <br> <br> The lasting impact of McAfee’s ability to diagnose the tastes and preferences of visitors to Las Vegas is evidenced annually by the incessant stream of Golden Nugget patrons. To date, more than 175,000,000 people have been attracted to this unique gaming palace to take part, if only for a moment, in a fondly remembered lush and lusty era in the settling of the West. <br> <br> <br> Since its opening the Golden Nugget has never closed its doors except for a mourning period following the death of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. <br> <br> <br> The comfortable, intimate Golden Nugget dining room is a regular stopping place for connoisseurs of fine food and enjoys a strong local patronage. <br> <br> <br> The country’s most popular country-western music stars have appeared on the stage of the Golden Nugget lounge, the only showplace in Las Vegas that presents top-drawer entertainment daily from noon to the wee hours of the morning. Among the artists who have performed at the Golden Nugget are such western headliners as Judy Lynn, Hank Thompson, Jimmy Wakely, Bob Wills and Leon McAuliff. <br> <br> <br> Sportsmen throughout the country make the Golden Nugget their fall headquarters to take advantage of the Golden Nugget’s Deer Hunting Contest, the oldest and largest of its kind in the world. The contest, which began in 1950, draws more than 25,000 applicants annually. <br> <br> <br> The Golden Nugget is also the first gambling hall ever to conduct a contest in which all the prizes consisted of real gold. <br> <br> <br> The Million Dollar Golden Nugget reflects all that is glamorous and exciting about the world of gambling. The only sure thing in this kingdom of chance called Las Vegas is that any visit to the Golden Nugget will be a memorable one. <br>