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Pioneer Club sign

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Artist/Creator (1)	Young Electric Sign Company (YESCO)
Artist/Creator (1).Nationality	American
Artist/Creator (1).Role	electric sign company, designer
Title/Caption	Pioneer Club sign
Site/Creative Center	25 East Fremont Street, Las Vegas (Nevada)
Date of Work	Opened 1942. Closed 1995
Description of View	Overview of Pioneer Club and 'Glitter Gulch' block on Fremont Street
Notes	Project Description: The Pioneer's sign, also known as Vegas Vic, is a towering neon cowboy. It's size, unapologetic commercialism and Western theme make it a classic Vegas sign. In the early 1960s, the Pioneer placed an anodized aluminum screen over its stucco facade. Since that time, it has removed the screen and returned to its Old West roots. ;Project History: Guy McAfee opened this hotel and casino in the Beckley Building, an existing three-story building. It was a Mission Revival structure with arches and a tile roof. A vertical sign in Old West typeface was mounted well above the roofline. On a sidewalk canopy were pictures of a miner, mule and Conestoga wagon and large lettering. After 1942, they also added a cactus. In 1946, the Pioneer Club added neon wagons, western vistas and cactus to their sidewalk canopy. This was in response to the growing proliferation of electric signs on Fremont Street. The nearby Boulder Club was the first to hire YESCO [Young Electric Sign Company] to produce a large marquee, and the Eldorado Club's miner striking gold was advertised as the largest electric sign west of the Mississippi. Vegas Vic, a cowboy used in promotional materials for Las Vegas first appeared in neon across the street from the Pioneer on a steel frame. It outlined the head and shoulders of a cowboy whose neon thumb pointed to the Pioneer. The text read: 'Here it is! The famous Pioneer Club!' In 1951, a 60-foot-tall full figure of a cowboy was fabricated by YESCO and placed on the side of the Pioneer Club. Its sheet metal arm gestured toward the club and a recorded voice spoke to pedestrians. In the late 1950s, the Pioneer Club was as a gambling bazaar. Sliding glass door room dividers left the interior was essentially open. By extending the neon tubing out under the sidewalk canopy, they extended the boundaries of the casino itself.
Technique/Process	architecture, electric lighting
Century	20th Century
Subject	American architecture American art 20th Century architecture Cities Streets Gambling casinos Hotels (public accommodations) Architectural lighting Exterior lighting Decorative lighting Electric lighting Neon lighting Signs (declatory or advertising artifacts) Neon signs Cowboys Cowgirls
Publisher	ART on FILE
Publisher.Location	ART on FILE. 1837 East Shelby St. Seattle, Washington 98112 (United States). www.artonfile.com
Set/Project Title	Las Vegas Style: Fantasy Architecture and Signs
Reference Number	Art on File LV-22-03-02
Collection Title	Architecture (Art and Art History Department images)
Collection Information	Collection administered by Visual Resources manager, Architecture Library (402) 472-1193
Copyright Information	http://contentdm.unl.edu/ah_copyright.html

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