The lounge was on the ground floor of the Apache Hotel, now part of Binion's Gambling Hall.
The cocktail room opened on 3/30/35. Robert Testoline was the manager. The lounge featured Southwestern and frontier-themed murals, a desert-oasis motif centered on a fountain and decorative plants, and Art Moderne furnishings.
In the photo, two men stand beside a microphone at left. A woman sits behind a piano, while another woman stands before seated guests. At far right, a man walks past another group of patrons. On the wall, a poster of a man in a turban. "Ladies and gentlemen, you are at liberty to consult with me any time during the eve..." Elcaro was the stage name of Lt. T. Brady, whom the Evening Review-Journal described as "the first American to see action in the World War" and a man who "tells many unusual stories of his army experiences."
The photograph is stamped on the verso, "Vegas Studio & Camera Supply 116 Fremont Street Las Vegas, Nevada." The postcard below is also by Vegas Studio (Nell Oakes and Glenn Davis).
Photo: pho026096. Binion’s Horseshoe Club Photograph Collection (PH-00318) UNLV Special Collections & Archives.
Noted Tenor Will Feature Opening. Las Vegas Review-Journal, 3/30/35 p4; Army Man Talks Here. Las Vegas Review-Journal, 10/17/39 p2
Apache Hotel / Horseshoe Club / Binion’s Gambling Hall
Apache Hotel, Fremont & 2nd, right around the time of opening in March 1932. No signs on the building. Photo by Larry Ullom, from Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas.
Timeline
'05: Property bought by W.R. Thomas, begins building a hotel in ‘10, abandons the project, leaving exposed open basement through the 20s.
'31: P.O. Silvagni buys the property, begins building with new plans. A.L. Worswick, architect.
Apache Hotel era:
'32: Mar. 19 - Apache Hotel opens. The hotel opened with air conditioning, and an elevator. Apache was leased to R.R. Russell for 15 years. Silvagni opens a series of clubs in the basement in ‘32-34 - Apache Indian Village, Kiva Club, and ‘Pache Club. "Hotel Apache" neon sign added to the Fremont St side of the building above the 2nd floor some time in 1932.
'32: Oct. - Apache Casino, a separate business, opens on the ground floor by Pop Houskey, T. Thebo.
'35: Opening of Apache Cocktail Room.
'41: New Western Casino on the ground floor in Jul.; closed Spring ‘42.
'42: Forester Jewelers on the ground floor (10/1/42-7/28/44).
'45: S.S. Rex Club on the ground floor, opened 3/3/45. Partners include T. Cornero, Silvagni, W. Alderman. Sign by Nevada Outdoor Advertising. City orders partners including owner/landlord Silvagni out in Jun; G. McAfee licensed to take over the club in Jul. The "S.S." was dropped from the club name on paper post-Cornero, but the signs never changed.
'46: Rex Club sold to M. Bernstein in Feb; M. Sedway as manager; casino becomes Eldorado Club in Aug, Sedway continues as manager.
'47: Apache Hotel rooftop sign installed (c. late ‘47), and the 1932 sign is removed. Arthur Rozen and Ed Moss take over management at Eldorado Club.
'50: Eldorado closed in Dec. The club reopened as Clover Club circa Jan.-Feb ‘51 with Eldorado sign in place.
'51: May, Benny Binion buys and closes Clover Club. Eldorado sign removed from marquee that month as renovations to the club begin.
Horseshoe Club era:
‘51: Horseshoe Club opens on the ground floor 8/14/51.
‘52: “Benny Binion” name added to the Horseshoe sign c. May, after Binion is licensed.
‘53: Binion loses license in Dec. after federal conviction; casino is owned, on paper, by new partners Joe W. Brown, W. Dorsett, Robert “Doby Doc” Caudill; Binion name removed from the sign in late ‘53 or early ‘54.
'54: Apache Hotel expands for the first time with an annex building on North 2nd St. An alley separates the main building and the annex.
‘54: Dec. 10, Grand opening of Horseshoe's Million Dollar Display, and a new restaurant and bingo room in the annex building.
'57: Mar. 17, Binion released from prison, returns to Las Vegas.
‘58: Horseshoe Club leases Apache Hotel. Rooftop sign removed, replaced with a sign that says "Hotel," and the Apache name retired until 2019. Brown’s stake sold to Ed Levinson & Fremont Hotel partners, Levinson becomes president of Horseshoe.
‘59: Million dollar display removed, currency belonging to Joe W. Brown estate.
‘60: Jack Binion, age 22, approved as 2½% owner of Horseshoe
‘61: Neon facade installed on the building and expansion onto former Boulder Club property.
‘64: Binion family becomes sole shareholders of the Horseshoe, and "Binion's" is added to the marquee above "Horseshoe" in Sep.
‘69: Million Dollar Display re-introduced.
‘70: World Series of Poker begins.
‘88: Horseshoe buys The Mint in Jun; expands into the club in Jul; “Mint” lettering immediately removed from the signs; signs entirely replaced throughout Fall ‘88-early ‘89. Benny Binion statue sculpted by Deborah Copenhaver, at Casino Center & Ogden, unveiled in Nov.
‘90: Culinary Local 226 and Bartenders Local 165 union workers at Binion's Horseshoe go on strike, Jan. 27 to Nov. 7.
‘98: Becky Binion Behnen sole owner of Horseshoe.
‘99: Million Dollar Display sold, removed.
‘04: Horseshoe closed after cash seizure, 1/9/2004. Sold to Harrah’s. Harrah’s retains Horseshoe brand and World Series of Poker, sells remaining assets to MTR Gaming.
Binion’s Gambling Hall era:
‘05: Hotel-casino rebranded Binion’s Gambling Hall & Hotel in Mar.
‘08: Casino and hotel lease sold to TLC Gaming.
‘09: Hotels closed (former Mint tower and Apache).
‘19: Older hotel reopens as Apache Hotel.
Below: Series of photos of the Apache Hotel taken in 1932 before the opening of the Apache Casino in Fall 1932.
1932, view on 2nd Street, main hotel entrance.
1932. Small "Cafe" sign on the Fremont & 2nd corner. "Hotel" sign added to portico on the 2nd Street side.
1932. Larger "Cafe" sign on the Fremont St side. Photo by Burton Frasher Sr, Frasher Fotos # A5320. Pomona Public Library.
1932. "Air Cooled" see on the striped fabric awnings.
Circa 1932. Automobile club sign hangs from the portico on 2nd St.
Room at the Apache Hotel (undated). Bob Stoldal Collection via Review Journal.
Timeline sources include: Doug Swanson. Blood aces: the wild ride of Benny Binion, the gangster who created Vegas poker. Viking, 2014.
(1) Looking west from 2nd St. Kiva Club, Oasis Cafe, and Frontier Club. Neon lights of Union Pacific depot at the end of the block. Boulder Club, and Hotel Apache. (2) Mid-block, looking east.
“Glenn Davis, prominent Las Vegas photographer, has returned from Alaska, where he spent several months…” - Personals. Las Vegas Review-Journal, 10/2/41.
The photographer worked with Oakes Vegas Studio from '30 to '41 when the studio closed. He took these photos after the travel mentioned in the paper, and remained in Las Vegas through part of 1942 before relocating to the Pacific Northwest, and Alaska.
Photo from: Glenn Davis Photograph Collection (PH-00020), and L. F. Manis Photograph Collection (PH-00100) UNLV Special Collections
Outdoor game under the portico of Apache Hotel, July 1940. In the background across the street is El Patio Hotel, 115 N. 2nd St. Photo by George Strock, LIFE. (Same scene today is at the Binion’s Cafe door on Casino Center Blvd facing Fremont Hotel)
Apache Hotel, July 1940. Two men on horseback in the Apache Hotel ...
Hotel manager Robert R. Russell is one of the two men on horseback, in the lighter shirt and chaps. Russell is also see in other 1940 photos at the Apache.
The layout of the hotel interior, walls, mezzanine, check-in desk, and possibly even the elevator, were changed after Horseshoe Club merged the casino and hotel in the late 50s.
Previously unpublished photos by George Stock shot on assignment for “Vacations: Americans See Americans,” LIFE, 8/5/40
Hotel Sal Sagev, Overland Hotel, Apache Hotel, and the US Post Office. Photos taken in January or February 1938 by the staff at Salt Lake Tribune, via Salt Lake Tribune Negative Collection, University of Utah. (Thanks Neon Bible.)
