This beautiful reproduction poster featuring “Vegas Vic” has been re-mastered from a 1950’s Union Pacific Railroad advertisement for their service to Las Vegas.
The vibrant colors and detail of this classic image have been painstakingly brought back to life to preserve a great piece of history.
The high-resolution image is printed on 13" x 19" archival photo paper, on a large-format professional giclée process printer. The poster is shipped in a rigid cardboard tube, and is ready for framing.
The 13"x19" format is an excellent image size that looks great as a stand-alone piece of art, or as a grouped visual statement. A wide variety of frames are readily available at your local craft or hobby retailer, and online.
A great vintage print for your home, shop, or business!
HISTORY OF VEGAS VIC
Although the Pioneer Club no longer operates as a casino, the 40-foot (12 m) neon cowboy that was its mascot still exists. In 1947, the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce hired a West-Marquis firm to draw visitors to Las Vegas. The company then created the first image of Vegas Vic and his friendly "Howdy Podner" greeting. Due to the popularity of the cowboy, Young Electric Sign Company was commissioned to build a neon-sign version by the owners of the Pioneer Club. They then commissioned Pat Denner, who modeled it after the image in use by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce. The neon version was complete with a waving arm, a moving cigarette, and a recording of "HOWDY PODNER!!!!!" every 15 minutes. Vegas Vic was then erected on the exterior of the Pioneer club in 1951 on the southwest corner of First Street and Fremont Street replacing the sign that simply said Pioneer Club with an image of a horse drawn covered wagon.
In 1966, Lee Marvin was filming The Professionals and staying at the Mint Hotel. Marvin complained that Vegas Vic was too loud, so casino executives silenced Vegas Vic and it was left that way for nearly two decades. The speaking was restored in the 1980s, but as of 2006 no longer works. The arm stopped waving in 1991.
When the Fremont Street Experience was under construction in 1994, several feet were cut off the brim of Vegas Vic's hat to make him fit properly under the curve of the canopy of the Fremont Street Experience. After the Pioneer Club closed in 1995, Vegas Vic fell into disrepair. The Neon Museum at the Fremont Street Experience stepped in and offered to restore and maintain the sign if the building owner paid for the electric bill to operate it. Under the proposal, the building owner would retain ownership of the sign but has since acknowledged that the Federally Registered Trademark for Vegas Vic is owned by Pioneer Hotel, Inc.. If the building is sold, the sign would become the property of the Neon Museum who would then maintain it from that point on. The building owner ultimately declined the offer and eventually restored the sign themselves.
The red circle on his pocket is supposed to represent a Durham Tobacco tag that is dangling from a yellow string attached to the bag that is stowed away in his pocket (Vegas Vic represents a time when a cowboy rolled their own cigarettes from a bag of tobacco).
Vegas Vic was the first of what would become three neon cowboys at Nevada casinos. Wendover Will was erected a year later in 1952 at Stateline Casino and River Rick was erected in 1981 at the Pioneer Hotel & Gambling Hall in Laughlin. River Rick is virtually an identical copy of Vegas Vic, outfitted with a different color scheme.
