1950-1956 A novel, animated gambling device began to appear in Nevada casinos in 1950. It debuted in the lobby of Reno’s Mapes hotel-casino in the fall and “got a big play from visiting Shriners,” reported the Nevada State Journal (Nov. 12, 1950). They were one-armed bandits, or life-sized outlaws whose torso was a slot machine…
1940-1941 In a series of raids in December 1940, Washoe County deputy sheriffs confiscated gambling-related paraphernalia from three Reno, Nevada locations: 1) Bank Club casino 2) Washoe Publishing Company (WPC) (room 311 in the Lyons Building) 3) Western News Company (WNC) (room 15 in the Fordonia Building). The equipment taken included teletypewriters,* Teleflash** units, telephones, switch boxes,…
1931 Robberies plagued Reno. The Capitol bar and the Henry Club, both offering games of chance, were hit inside of eight days. A rumor circulated that notorious gangsters were headed to the Northern Nevada city. It was May; gambling had been legal for two months. Consequently, owners and operators of The Biggest Little City’s gaming and…
1957 Inside the Golden Bank Casino on a Saturday afternoon, security personnel saw Merle Naughton, 40-year-old salesman, yanking and pounding on slot machines. When they told him to leave, he did. He went across the street, where he stood and yelled profanities at them. A while later, he went back inside the Reno, Nevada club…
1947 When the luxurious 12-story Mapes hotel opened in Reno, Nevada on Saturday, December 27, 1947, it boasted two casinos. One was on the river side of the main level, the other in the southwest corner of the Sky Room, mainly for dining and dancing, on the top floor. Both spaces boasted a “modernistic design,…
1945-1946 In the Bank Club, a co-proprietor of a local gambling saloon, Andrew Jackson “Jack” Blackman, shot to death James Lannigan, a small-time thug, on October 30, 1944, an action for which he was acquitted. In the Palace Club, bouncer Frank Richardson brutally assaulted Alfred E. Cushman on November 11, 1945, leading to a legal resolution…
1929 When the only types of legal gambling in Nevada were poker, five hundred, solo, whist, parimutuel betting on horse races and slot machines with restrictions, owner Eli Francovich* installed in his Wine House club in Reno a mesmerizing, colorful wheel of fortune bedecked with $1, $5, $10 and $20 bills. Because it drew more…
1945-1946 Alfred E. Cushman entered the Palace Club, in uniform, shortly after 5 p.m. on Sunday, November 11, 1945. Prior to that, the recently discharged U.S. Army veteran participated in the Armistice Day parade in Northern Nevada. After the procession, he drank eight to 10 beers then shared three or four quarts of whiskey…
1950-1979 The Harolds Club casino, in Reno, Nevada, held an annual winter holiday party for employees at its Harolds Trapshooting Club in the neighboring town of Sparks, on the Pyramid Highway. The fêtes, which featured dancing, live music, food and alcohol, lasted 24 hours, so every worker could attend. Photo from Wikimedia Commons: by AnelGTR
1952 “Someone very dear to you is being held and will be killed if you don’t give me the money.” This was the content of the note, a bluff, Frederick Charles Will, handed to the manager of the American Trust Company branch in San Francisco on July 28. Walter Blomberg, whose wife was at home…