Club Bingo
On US 91, Las Vegas Nevada
Featuring Bingo, Craps, Roulette, "21"
Bar and restaurant, Serving the Most Excellent Food in the State of Nevada.  Music to your Dancing pleasure in our Famous Bonanza Room.  See the LIVE WATER-FALL and Gaze at the Natural Wonders Surrounding a Gold Strike as Depicted in Paints.

The "painting" on the card shows a world before political correctness and Project 21, in which pre-adolescent racist caricatures were free to shoot dice. If you find this painting to be offensive, don't worry; odds are that you, like most Americans, can claim an ancestor from one of the groups lampooned in this Thomas Nast-like portrayal of Gilded Age urban gambling.  The date is unknown, but it probably was created between 1890 and 1920.
     Clearly, methods of promoting Las Vegas were to progress greatly in the next few years.  This postcard, postmarked November 5, 1949, also demonstrates that as of that date "the Strip" had not filtered into popular parlance, as it still promoted the Club Bingo on "US 91."

If you have any idea what the text of this card says, you've got me beat.  Why are most of the words capitalized?  Since when is "music" a verb?  Why would anyone want to see natural wonders standing around a mining painting?  The questions are endless.  As far as the painting goes, I don't know where to start.  Just one question: Are Bilbo and the dwarves hiding in the barrels?  This painting is very Tolkien-esque. -dgs