This is an old BLOG I put up quite a while ago, on another site. I have been getting response to it, but can't find the BLOG anymore, so, reprinting it here ......................
I first saw her in 1956, small town atmosphere, with some big town attractions. Harold's Club, a one of a kind, Pappy Smith, Harold, Lincoln Fitzgerald, Bill Harrah, Ernie Primm, Danny Fagan all are great memories, of a past that has been demolished, in most cases.
I don’t think I would want to visit Reno now, the small town is gone, freeways, mega casinos, it just would not be the same.
I used to walk to work on occasions, a few block walk down South Virginia, past the Riverside and the Mapes, next block, The Nevada Club, Lincoln Fitzgerald, Thelma Ganz. Bettye Johnson, Danny Fagan, Jimmy Jones, all friends or trainers, as I was learning to become a “dealer” or in those days we were called “clerks,” the only classification the IRS could find for us.
The days of keep your own tokes, put them in a drawer on the table, take a break, and take your tokes with you …………… no more ……………… the IRS wanted their share. Those were the days of $25 or $27.50 per shift, plus tokes, and they were great jobs. In the right spots, tokes could add up nicely.
Tokes were good at Harold's, female dealers, tight fitting western trousers, western shirts, cowboy boots …………… and ……………….. unheard of …………….. club policy, talk with the customers, explain the game to them, be friendly …………. unheard of in a casino. But it sure worked for the Smith family, largest in the state at that time, 7 floors, a gun collection, silver dollar bar, all sorts of attractions, a carnival atmosphere, but it worked.
Look at Vegas now, much grander scale, but what the Smith’s did way back then.
The Smith’s came from a carnival life, and added them to the casino, and won. And, they had fun doing it, and they believed in advertising, at that time, one of the most ambitious campaigns going. All over the world, “Harold’s Club or Bust.”
I saw Harold put the cover on a wheel, big game going on, students from the University of Nevada. They had a system ………… they were up to well over $120,000.00 (which was a ton of money in those days) …………… they started losing …………… when they got back to $100,000.00 Harold covered the table, closed the game, told them to quit …………. with their $100,000.00 not bad.
They finally lost it back in Vegas, but Harold got millions in advertising out of it. I was there the morning he put the cover on the table ………….. it was in every paper in the world …………. Nevada students win $100,000 at Harold's Club………… was Harold cagey or not?
All of the other clubs in Reno thrived off of Harold's advertising, they didn’t have to do much, Harold's was doing it all for them ……………… Harold’s Club made Reno, and the state of Nevada, what it is today ………… and the building was torn down, as was the Nevada Club ………….. now a plaza with benches and fountains ……….. all now, just a memory.
