Search Results
II. Sinatra Living, 2015 to 2017
Level of Description
Scope and Contents
The Sinatra Living series is comprised primarily of project planning files from 2015 to 2017 from the 2017 UNLV Solar Decathlon team for their solar home, Sinatra Living. Records include meeting notes, research files, and various computer-aided design files. Also included are the team's submission to compete in the Solar Decathlon as well as final reports for each competition. The archived websites in this series includes the UNLV team page from U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon website, Sinatra Living website, and the competition team's social media profiles with Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Archival Collection
Collection Name: University of Nevada, Las Vegas Solar Decathlon Records
Box/Folder: N/A
Archival Component
Photographs of Bonanza Gift Shop, Las Vegas (Nev.), March 6, 2017
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Site address: 2440 S Las Vegas Blvd
Sign owner: Haim Gabay
Sign details: The Bonanza Gift Shop opened in 1981 marketing as the world's largest gift shop. Though in 1963 a portion of the property opened as an Honest John's Casino. In 1971 the Big Wheel opened next to Honest John's Casino. After 1974 Big Wheel changed to Centerfold Casino 1975-1977. In 1977 the Centerfold Casino changed to Jolly Trolley Restaurant, Saloon and Dining Depot. From 1977-1981 Jolly Trolley remained at the location; it seems at one point Jolly Trolley took over the entire shopping center and casinos. Between 1977 and 1981, a 24 Hour Adult Book Store was taken over by Jolly Trolley that allowed Bonanza Gift Shop to purchase the whole property. The sign's design and theme has stayed the same from 1963 to current. The gift shop was sold for $50 million in 2016 to Haim Gabay.
Sign condition: 3- the paint is peeling off, and the signs have holes in them. The incandescent light bulbs and marquee are not working to full capacity; some portions do not light up at all.
Sign form: This is considered an architectural sign with the reader boards-marquee built into the building. The sign at the end of the corner is considered a cantilever construction.
Sign-specific description: The sign is mainly rusty red and a gold-yellow that surrounds the building with multiple "Bonanza Gift Shop" logos in a old west type font. Also there is a reader board surrounding the building as well.
Sign - type of display: The Display used is a reader board, neon, incandescent, and fluorescent lighting.
Sign - media: Plastic, Steel and Fiberglass
Sign - non-neon treatments: Plastic for reader board
Sign animation: Chasing
Notes: Incandescent light bulbs that surround the building and logos
Sign environment: The property is on the west corner of Las Vegas Blvd and Sahara. The stores surrounding the establishment are Naughty Town, Walgreens, Essence Cannabis, Strip Gun Club and Diversity Tattoos.
Sign - date of installation: Estimated 1963 or earlier
Sign - date of redesign/move: 1963 Honest John's cantilever construction. 1971 Big Wheel opened up and added the projection sign. In 1974 the Big wheel changed to Centerfold Casino and in 1977 name changed to Jolly Trolley. In 1981 the Jolly Trolley projection and cantilever construction sign changed to Bonanza Gift Shop.
Sign - thematic influences: The sign dates back to 1963 and resembles the golden nugget decorated shed concept along with the cantilever construction sign similar to golden nugget's 1946 sign, except circular rather than organic. The actual sign uses color psychology to attract consumers to the gift shop. The theme is definitely western themed.
Survey - research locations: https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/bonanza-gift-shop-in-las-vegas-sold-for-50m-records-show/ about new owner purchase. Vintage Las Vegas http://vintagelasvegas.com/search/Bonanza+Gift+Shop helped with dates of property change. Author Paul W. Papa's book "Discovering Vintage Las Vegas: A Guide to the City's Timeless Shops"
Surveyor: Gisselle Tipp
Survey - date completed: 2017-08-12
Sign keywords: Architectural; Plastic; Steel; Incandescent; Chasing; Reader board; Neon; Marquee; Fluorescent; Roof Sign
Mixed Content
Porter, Irene E., 1943-2012
After Irene Porter's father's retirement from the Air Force, the family moved to Las Vegas where her aunt and uncle were involved in the gaming industry. After she married, she and her husband Dick moved to Boston. They moved back to Las Vegas due to the bad economy in Boston. Irene worked for the Clark County Planning Department as a secretary but moved up to doing the work of the director, but without the title nor the pay of that position, so she went to work in the planning department of the city of North Las Vegas and became its director of planning.
Person
Transcript of interview with Alice Ward Boyer by Joanne Goodwin, June 26, 1996
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Alice Ward Boyer arrived in Las Vegas from Oklahoma in 1937. Her brother and former husband came earlier to escape the dustbowl depression and get settled. In the middle of the summer, just at dusk, she emerged from the train at Kingman, Arizona with her two small children to meet her family and drive through the darkness to her new home in Las Vegas. Although she missed the trees of the Plains, she soon became accustomed to her desert home. Her recollections revive the older Las Vegas when community life characterized the small town. At the heart of her story is the Mesquite Club. The non-partisan civic activities of the Mesquite Club are part of a national history of women’s club voluntarism in the nineteenth and twentieth century United States. Founded in 1911, this pioneer Las Vegas women's club played an essential role in the development of the growing town. When few cultural or social services existed, the club raised funds for the first public library, developed parks for the city, and provided services and funding for the aged and youth. The Mesquite Club, along with the Parent Teacher Association, scouts, and church activities formed a network of community relations commonly found in developing towns and cities, but not ususally associated with Las Vegas. Alice Boyer joined the Mesquite club in 1944. She first served as the chair of the Garden Committee, then "went right up through the chairs," and was elected President of the club for 1958-59. (See Table of Offices Held). Speaking about the Mesquite Club founders, Alice Boyer said, “They were very forward-looking women. They knew that the town would grow and they wanted the best for the town.” As one of the second generation of members, she has found the club to be a continuing source of congenial social life and civic community building. Born in rural Oklahoma, she spent her early years on a ranch. Her parents met there shortly after "the run to open Oklahoma" around 1892. They met, married and had twelve children, nine of which survived. Alice came right in the middle. She spent her early years riding horses, wearing “overalls," and spending as much time as possible outside. The family moved into Clinton, Oklahoma for better schools for their children when she was in the fifth grade. Alice graduated from high school just as the Great Depression began and worked briefly at a newspaper before marriage. At the time of the interview, Alice Boyer’s vivaciousness, gracious manner, and sharp memory belied her 82 years. This interview has been produced with the assistance of the Mesquite Club and the History Department of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. It is part of a series on women community builders in Las Vegas. The transcript has been edited only slightly for clarity while the syntax and style of the narrator were retained.
Text
Photograph of the Board of Clark County Commissioners, Las Vegas, March 1940
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Image
A semi truck pulls westbound on East Gowan Road in front of Lois Craig Elementary School in North Las Vegas, Nevada: digital photograph
Date
Archival Collection
Description
From the UNLV University Libraries Photographs of the Development of the Las Vegas Valley, Nevada (PH-00394). Part of the collection documents the entire 19 mile length of the north/south Eastern Avenue / Civic Center Drive alignment. This photograph was captured in the section of Civic Center Drive between Alexander Road and Cheyenne Avenue.
Image
Photograph of the Clark County High School girls' basketball team, Las Vegas (Nev.), 1912
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Image