Search Results
Photographs of Rummel Motel sign, Las Vegas (Nev.), February 23, 2017
Date
2017-02-23
2017-09-18
Archival Collection
Description
The Rummel Motel sits north of The Strip at 1809 Las Vegas Boulevard South. Information about the sign is available in the Southern Nevada Neon Survey Data Sheet.
Site address: 1809 S Las Vegas Blvd
Sign owner: Yeh Chia-Hong
Sign details: The motel was founded by Marvin Rummel in 1945 (VintageLasVegas, n.d.), although the Clark County Assessor lists the original construction year as 1951 (Assessor, n.d.). Undated vintage postcards, one describing the motel as "new" (Rummel Motel, 1809 So. 5th St. U.S. 91 - L.A. Highway Las Vegas, Nevada original vintage postcard, n.d.) show that a two-story building was later added to the back of the motor court (VintageLasVegas). The addition may explain the discrepancy in construction dates. The Roles family purchased the property in 1958 (VintageLasVegas; Noted bowler, hotel owner dies, 2002). Ralph Roles also operated the Del Mar Motel (the Del Mar's sign, designed by Betty Willis, is now at the Neon Museum). A vintage postcard from 1958 shows that motel was endorsed by the Automobile Association of America and another automobile club (Garofalo, 2011). The motel was severely damaged by fire on April 30 2017 (VintageLasVegas; Hershkovitz, 2017) and is currently closed.
Sign condition: The condition is 2, fair. The lower portion of the cabinet is dented and access panels are damaged or missing. The upper portions of the cabinet display numerous metal patches. The plastic on the reader board has holes. The remaining neon tubing appears to be intact. All incandescent light bulbs are missing.
Sign form: Pylon sign
Sign-specific description: The sign is supported by a rectangular blue metal pylon. A blue metal-framed reader board and orange metal upper cabinet are cantilevered out from the pylon toward the street. In the center of the upper cabinet is an amoeba-shaped area which is painted black and outlined by white skeleton neon. Inside the black amoeba are individual cursive letters which spell out "Rummel Motel" in white paint traced by white skeleton neon. Atop the upper cabinet is a smaller orange metal cabinet which is wing-shaped. Above the wing is a blue metal circle. Inside the channel of the circle are six concentric circles of empty light sockets. On the outside of the circle is a semi-circular metal frame which holds five white skeleton neon five-pointed stars.
Sign - type of display: Neon, incandescent and reader board
Sign - media: Steel and plastic
Sign - non-neon treatments: Incandescent light bulbs and a reader board
Sign environment: This is located on Las Vegas Boulevard South just north of the Las Vegas Strip
Sign - date of installation: The current sign dates back to at least 1958, but probably is not the original motel sign. A vintage postcard shows that before the two-story addition, the motel had a simple double pole sign with the name "Rummel Motel" enclosed by an open oval (Rummel Motel, 1809 So. 5th St. U.S. 91 - L.A. Highway Las Vegas, Nevada original vintage postcard, n.d.). The colors, lettering style and oval shape of the former sign appear to have inspired the design of the sign seen in a postcard from 1958 (Garofalo, 2011). The latter sign, with heavy modification, is the sign seen on the property today. The sign as currently configured is recognizable in a postcard from the late 1950's or early 1960's (Las Vegas motels then and now, n.d.).
Sign - date of redesign/move: The circa 1958 sign (Garofalo, 2011) was supported by double poles. The pole on the street side of the sign can still be seen on the upper cabinet, but it no longer reaches to the ground. The pole on the motel side of the sign ran from the ground toward the center of the sign, and then doglegged inward toward the motel to support the sign from the side. That pole appears to be the same one now enclosed by the pylon. The shadow of the pole can be seen inside the current reader board, which was a later addition attached below the circa 1958 sign. Automobile club shields at the bottom of the circa 1958 sign have been removed. A black metal directional arrow pointing toward the motel from the street side of the sign has also been removed. A circular white or light yellow metal cabinet with concentric rows of incandescent lightbulbs in the interior and a semi-circle of neon stars on the exterior has been moved from the top of the former directional arrow to the top of the wing-shaped cabinet. The circa 1958 wing-shaped cabinet was flush with the street side of the sign and contained skeleton neon which advertised, "HEATED POOL". The current wing-shaped cabinet contains no neon and has been pushed to the center of the sign. The lower cabinet of the circa 1958 sign was painted orange and black, which is now all orange. The amoeba shape was painted blue and is now black. Below the amoeba were skeleton neon letters which spelled out, "NO VACANCY" and "24 HOUR ROOM SERVICE". The neon is now gone. A small black metal cabinet attached at the bottom of the sign contained what appear to be either painted or skeleton neon letters which state, "COOLED BY REFRIGERATION". That portion of the sign is now gone.
Sign - thematic influences: This sign showcases 1950's and 1960's Googie trends. This also conveys earlier motor court designs in the building and the sign.
Survey - research locations: Clark County Assessor, Parcel No. 162-03-310-007, Retrieved from http://www.clarkcountynv.gov/assessor/Pages/PropertyRecords.aspx?H=redrock&P=assrrealprop/pcl.aspx Garofalo, M. (2011 November 2). Still standing-Rummel Motel. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/vintageroadtrip/6304823598/ Hershkovitz, R. (2017 April 30). Fire damages vacant downtown Las Vegas motel. Las Vegas Review Journal. Retrieved from https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-las-vegas/downtown/fire-damages-vacant-downtown-las-vegas-motel/ Las Vegas motels-Then and now. (n.d.). Rummel Motel. Retrieved from http://stefanidrivesvegas.com/8.html Noted bowler, motel owner Roles dies. (2002 July 30). Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved from https://lasvegassun.com/news/2002/jul/30/noted-bowler-motel-owner-roles-dies/ RoadsideArchitecture. (n.d.) The Rummel Motel. Retrieved from http://www.roadarch.com/signs/nvvegas3.html Rummel Motel, 1809 So. 5th St. U.S. 91 - L.A. Highway Las Vegas, Nevada original vintage postcard. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/Rummel-Motel-1809-So-U-S/dp/B00P9LEQCS VintageLasVegas. (n.d.). Rummel Motel. Retrieved from http://vintagelasvegas.com/post/160953547509/rummel-motel-1809-s-las-vegas-blvd-built-by
Surveyor: Mitchell Cohen
Survey - date completed: 2017-09-18
Sign keywords: Pylon; Neon; Incandescent; Reader board; Plastic; Steel
Site address: 1809 S Las Vegas Blvd
Sign owner: Yeh Chia-Hong
Sign details: The motel was founded by Marvin Rummel in 1945 (VintageLasVegas, n.d.), although the Clark County Assessor lists the original construction year as 1951 (Assessor, n.d.). Undated vintage postcards, one describing the motel as "new" (Rummel Motel, 1809 So. 5th St. U.S. 91 - L.A. Highway Las Vegas, Nevada original vintage postcard, n.d.) show that a two-story building was later added to the back of the motor court (VintageLasVegas). The addition may explain the discrepancy in construction dates. The Roles family purchased the property in 1958 (VintageLasVegas; Noted bowler, hotel owner dies, 2002). Ralph Roles also operated the Del Mar Motel (the Del Mar's sign, designed by Betty Willis, is now at the Neon Museum). A vintage postcard from 1958 shows that motel was endorsed by the Automobile Association of America and another automobile club (Garofalo, 2011). The motel was severely damaged by fire on April 30 2017 (VintageLasVegas; Hershkovitz, 2017) and is currently closed.
Sign condition: The condition is 2, fair. The lower portion of the cabinet is dented and access panels are damaged or missing. The upper portions of the cabinet display numerous metal patches. The plastic on the reader board has holes. The remaining neon tubing appears to be intact. All incandescent light bulbs are missing.
Sign form: Pylon sign
Sign-specific description: The sign is supported by a rectangular blue metal pylon. A blue metal-framed reader board and orange metal upper cabinet are cantilevered out from the pylon toward the street. In the center of the upper cabinet is an amoeba-shaped area which is painted black and outlined by white skeleton neon. Inside the black amoeba are individual cursive letters which spell out "Rummel Motel" in white paint traced by white skeleton neon. Atop the upper cabinet is a smaller orange metal cabinet which is wing-shaped. Above the wing is a blue metal circle. Inside the channel of the circle are six concentric circles of empty light sockets. On the outside of the circle is a semi-circular metal frame which holds five white skeleton neon five-pointed stars.
Sign - type of display: Neon, incandescent and reader board
Sign - media: Steel and plastic
Sign - non-neon treatments: Incandescent light bulbs and a reader board
Sign environment: This is located on Las Vegas Boulevard South just north of the Las Vegas Strip
Sign - date of installation: The current sign dates back to at least 1958, but probably is not the original motel sign. A vintage postcard shows that before the two-story addition, the motel had a simple double pole sign with the name "Rummel Motel" enclosed by an open oval (Rummel Motel, 1809 So. 5th St. U.S. 91 - L.A. Highway Las Vegas, Nevada original vintage postcard, n.d.). The colors, lettering style and oval shape of the former sign appear to have inspired the design of the sign seen in a postcard from 1958 (Garofalo, 2011). The latter sign, with heavy modification, is the sign seen on the property today. The sign as currently configured is recognizable in a postcard from the late 1950's or early 1960's (Las Vegas motels then and now, n.d.).
Sign - date of redesign/move: The circa 1958 sign (Garofalo, 2011) was supported by double poles. The pole on the street side of the sign can still be seen on the upper cabinet, but it no longer reaches to the ground. The pole on the motel side of the sign ran from the ground toward the center of the sign, and then doglegged inward toward the motel to support the sign from the side. That pole appears to be the same one now enclosed by the pylon. The shadow of the pole can be seen inside the current reader board, which was a later addition attached below the circa 1958 sign. Automobile club shields at the bottom of the circa 1958 sign have been removed. A black metal directional arrow pointing toward the motel from the street side of the sign has also been removed. A circular white or light yellow metal cabinet with concentric rows of incandescent lightbulbs in the interior and a semi-circle of neon stars on the exterior has been moved from the top of the former directional arrow to the top of the wing-shaped cabinet. The circa 1958 wing-shaped cabinet was flush with the street side of the sign and contained skeleton neon which advertised, "HEATED POOL". The current wing-shaped cabinet contains no neon and has been pushed to the center of the sign. The lower cabinet of the circa 1958 sign was painted orange and black, which is now all orange. The amoeba shape was painted blue and is now black. Below the amoeba were skeleton neon letters which spelled out, "NO VACANCY" and "24 HOUR ROOM SERVICE". The neon is now gone. A small black metal cabinet attached at the bottom of the sign contained what appear to be either painted or skeleton neon letters which state, "COOLED BY REFRIGERATION". That portion of the sign is now gone.
Sign - thematic influences: This sign showcases 1950's and 1960's Googie trends. This also conveys earlier motor court designs in the building and the sign.
Survey - research locations: Clark County Assessor, Parcel No. 162-03-310-007, Retrieved from http://www.clarkcountynv.gov/assessor/Pages/PropertyRecords.aspx?H=redrock&P=assrrealprop/pcl.aspx Garofalo, M. (2011 November 2). Still standing-Rummel Motel. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/vintageroadtrip/6304823598/ Hershkovitz, R. (2017 April 30). Fire damages vacant downtown Las Vegas motel. Las Vegas Review Journal. Retrieved from https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-las-vegas/downtown/fire-damages-vacant-downtown-las-vegas-motel/ Las Vegas motels-Then and now. (n.d.). Rummel Motel. Retrieved from http://stefanidrivesvegas.com/8.html Noted bowler, motel owner Roles dies. (2002 July 30). Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved from https://lasvegassun.com/news/2002/jul/30/noted-bowler-motel-owner-roles-dies/ RoadsideArchitecture. (n.d.) The Rummel Motel. Retrieved from http://www.roadarch.com/signs/nvvegas3.html Rummel Motel, 1809 So. 5th St. U.S. 91 - L.A. Highway Las Vegas, Nevada original vintage postcard. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/Rummel-Motel-1809-So-U-S/dp/B00P9LEQCS VintageLasVegas. (n.d.). Rummel Motel. Retrieved from http://vintagelasvegas.com/post/160953547509/rummel-motel-1809-s-las-vegas-blvd-built-by
Surveyor: Mitchell Cohen
Survey - date completed: 2017-09-18
Sign keywords: Pylon; Neon; Incandescent; Reader board; Plastic; Steel
Mixed Content
Transcript of interview with Jackie MacFarlane by Claytee White, February 4, 2010
Date
2010-02-04
Archival Collection
Description
Jacqueline "Jackie" Tilman MacFarlane was born in her grandmother's Las Vegas home at H Street and Clark Ave. Her father John Franklin Tilman was a construction worker at Boulder Dam (now Hoover) in early 1930s. Jackie recalls her family having to move several times the Great Depression and living in rural Nevada. Eventually the family came back to reside in Las Vegas. After graduating from high school, she took a waitress job at the Spot Cafe (Main & Charleston) and then at the Askew Drive-In. It was there that she met her future husband, David MacFarlane, an Air Force cadet. David continued to work at Nellis Air force Base as a civilian until he retired in 1987. Jackie describes raising her children in Fair Circle neighborhood during the 1950s and 1960s; a time when Las Vegas was just a "small town of 50,000." She felt safe and always found work in the casinos. Her work career included being a change girl at the Mint of Fremont St. and working as the front office cashier at the Desert Inn and then working at the Sands Hotel and Casino. Eventually she became a night auditor at Sands Hotel and Casino and then at Sahara Hotel and Casino from 1970-1977. She remembers working nightshift, coming home to get the kids and husband off to school and work. After leaving Sahara, she began selling Vanda cosmetics as a home business, something she still does today.
Text
Transcript of interview with Dean Whitaker by Claytee White, April 5, 2010
Date
2010-04-05
Archival Collection
Description
William Dean Whitaker was born in 1925 and raised in a suburb of Los Angeles, California. Dean, as he is known, talks briefly about his parents and his brothers, for his youth quickly ended when he joined the Air Force and became an aviation cadet once he had turned 18 years old. The year was 1943 and World War II was raging. He became a member of the 398 th Bomb Group and flew twenty missions before being captured by the Germans. In this oral history, Dean talks with vivid recollection of the day he was captured and details of being a POW in Germany. Among his anecdotes are those of his mother's unwavering belief that he would return home, the humanity of a German soldier, and of meeting Gen. George Patton. Included are photos and excerpts from his personal history of his life during the war. Dean and his wife Lucille moved to Las Vegas in 1990.
Text
Marie and James B. McMillan Papers
Identifier
MS-00482
Abstract
The Marie and James B. McMillan Papers (1928-2010) primarily contain documents pertaining to the families and careers of Marie and James B. McMillan. Included in the collection are photographs, biographical materials, newspaper clippings, award certificates, programs, obituaries, scrapbooks, trophies, legal and military documents, and political campaign documents. Marie McMillan is a former Las Vegas, Nevada flight instructor and one of the first women to work at the Nevada Test Site in Nye County, Nevada. James B. McMillan was the first African-American dentist to practice in Nevada, as well as a prominent Nevada civil rights leader.
Archival Collection
Valerie Wiener Papers
Identifier
MS-01148
Abstract
The Valerie Wiener Papers (approximately 1920-2024) document the life and career of former Nevada state senator, Valerie Wiener. Materials document her political career serving in the Nevada State Senate and working as the press secretary for Harry Reid's congressional offices. The collection also includes materials that represent Wiener's work as a communications specialist through her consulting businesses and her nonprofit work. Other materials in this collection document Wiener's personal life including her childhood and family, educational experiences, and her spiritual practice.
Archival Collection
Sandstone Ranch Collection
Identifier
MS-00871
Abstract
The Sandstone Ranch Collection is comprised of bank statements, letters, correspondence, and photographs relating to the Wilson family from 1907 to 1941. The collection includes information about the financial aspect of the Wilson Ranch, later renamed the Sandstone Ranch, located outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. The collection also includes information about the personal lives of those working on the including contracts about grazing cattle, selling cattle, and appropriation of water.
Archival Collection
Dorothy Dorothy Papers
Identifier
MS-00352
Abstract
The Dorothy Dorothy papers (approximately 1913-1986) document the life of singer, songwriter, columnist, pilot, and farmer, Dorothy Dorothy. Materials contain genealogy records, correspondence, business and organizational records, local history, sheet music, artifacts, and two boxes of photographic prints. Also included are materials relating to her active involvement with animal rights campaigns.
Archival Collection
Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV 1st Commencement and Academic Hooding Ceremony
Date
2021-05-07
Archival Collection
Description
Commencement program from University of Nevada, Las Vegas Commencement Programs and Graduation Lists (UA-00115).
Text
Economic Opportunity Board of Clark County (Nev.): memos, agendas, and meeting minutes
Date
1967-01-20 to 1967-06-28
Archival Collection
Description
From the Clark County Economic Opportunity Board Records -- Series I. Administrative. This folder contains memos, agendas and minutes from meetings of the Clark County Economic Opportunity Board from January 1967 through June 1967.
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