Remember when Tory Burch copied the Romanian cojoc worn by Queen Marie and called it African and when Dior said that Bihor rhymes so well that they have to copy the traditional designs?
Swanky Club, 920 N Boulder Hwy. This restaurant-nightclub in Henderson had the first buffet service in Clark County, and its first nightly female impersonators.
The club was constructed in '42 while the Basic Magnesium Plant was being built nearby. In 1946, owners Jack & Doris Mallory called it the Swanky Club. It was a lunch, banquet and meeting place for many Henderson organizations by day, and a bar, dance hall with evening entertainment by night. Throughout summer-fall 1946 Swanky Club advertised female impersonators: Billy Earle, James Ray "and his fans," Gene Bays "Prima Donna," and Three Gay Knights, aka The Four Gay Knights.
Swanky Club's dinner service was a smorgasbord buffet, operated by Bob & Pearl Pfluger, which launched just months earlier than the Chuck Wagon buffet at El Rancho Vegas.
In the 1940s when few businesses dotted the highways, Swanky Club had no address. Their ads said they were on "Boulder Highway at Pittman" or "Boulder Hiway across from the B.M.I." The area was empty enough that Jack Mallory landed and parked his Aeronca Chief 2-seater plane in the desert of his nearby home.
Bob Pfluger was the owner of the club when it was destroyed by an overnight fire and explosion on 7/15/58. The Mallorys bought back the property, rebuilt with a trailer court and 6-unit motel on the 8-acre parcel, and reopened Swanky Club on 7/29/59.
The club closed in '84. The adjacent motel closed after a fire in '85. Henderson Fire Dept. used the club for controlled fires before it was completely demolished. It was replaced by Cattle Baron Casino ('90) aka Joker's Wild Casino ('93).
Photos: (1) Circa '49/50. Dennis McBride Photograph Collection (PH-00263). (2) Postcard, undated. (3) Postcard, 1960s. Photo by Stough Photographers. Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas. (4) '76, courtesy of Dennis Connolly.
Swanky Club Destroyed by Fire, Explosion This A.M. Review-Journal, 7/15/58; Club Owners. Review-Journal, 7/29/59; Swanky Club: Introduced First Chuck Wagon in Clark County. Review-Journal, 10/31/64; Club fire was false alarm for onlookers. Review-Journal, 10/31/85.
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