Official Name: Ann Meyers' Queen of Hearts Hotel and Casino
Former Name: Casbah Hotel and Casino (1963-1990)
Original Business: 100-room budget hotel and casino
Years Active:

• As "Casbah Hotel": 1963-1990

• As "Queen of Hearts": 1990-2007 (closed)

• Demolished: February 2, 2010

Original Address: 19 East Lewis Avenue, Las Vegas, Nevada (corner of First Street and Lewis Avenue)

Designer: Unknown (likely commissioned in 1990 for rebranding)
Research note: Sign designer not documented in available sources. Likely YESCO or Federal Sign given 1990 timing.

Physical Specs:

• Wall-mounted sign (not super pylon)

• Pink/hot pink neon lettering for "Queen of Hearts"

• Script font for "Ann Meyers"

• Heart symbols as decorative elements

• Yellow incandescent letters for "HOTEL" below

• Playing card iconography (hearts suit theme)

Museum Acquisition:

• IN NEON MUSEUM COLLECTION ✅

• Both the original Queen of Hearts Hotel sign AND a portion of the Casbah sign now reside at the Neon Museum

• Sign donated after 2010 demolition, now on display at Neon Museum on Las Vegas Boulevard just north of Bonanza

• Located in main boneyard with ground lighting (unrestored status)

Current Location:

• Original site: Now Las Vegas City Hall (opened 2013)

• Sign preserved at: The Neon Museum Boneyard

The Casbah Era (1963-1976)

The hotel was originally built by Danny Jackson in 1963 as the "Casbah Hotel and Casino." Jackson died shortly after opening, and the property was operated by his family members until 1976.

The Casbah opened in 1964 as a modest residential hotel at First and Lewis, distinguished by its golden elephants out front — an exotic Middle Eastern theme common in 1960s Vegas (see also: Sahara's Casbah Lounge).

The property quickly developed a "seedy reputation" — known as "hooker haven" even before Ann Meyers purchased it.

Ann Meyers Ownership (1976-2004)

In 1976, Ann Meyers purchased the hotel from the Jackson family on August 20, 1976, 48 hours after her first viewing. She was unaware of the hotel's notorious reputation.

"When I looked at the five rooms out of the hundred and signed the contract to purchase this I had no idea it was 'hooker haven.' I had never experienced, never met a hooker before in my life. And it was extremely difficult for me to cope with, especially considering I had two little girls and I had no more money. I had to move into the place. I had no more money to go anywhere else."

Meyers lived in the hotel for six months because they couldn't afford to live anywhere else.

Rebranding: Casbah → Queen of Hearts (1990)

In 1990, to improve the hotel's image, Meyers changed the name from Casbah to "Ann Meyers Queen of Hearts Hotel" and introduced "four-star service" to budget lodgings, which resulted in increased business revenue.

Strategic Positioning: Budget-friendly hotel competing with mega-resorts by offering personal service (Mom & Pop model).

The Troubled 1990s-2000s

Despite rebranding efforts, the hotel continued facing challenges:

By the 1990s, undercover surveillance video by Las Vegas Metropolitan Police showed the Queen of Hearts as a haven for crack cocaine dealers.

Metro Police were called 680 times during 1994 and 1995 to the hotel, which sat across the street from the Clark County Detention Center.

The hotel dealt with health and fire code violations. In December 1995, someone fired shots in the hotel's lobby, killing a 38-year-old man in what homicide investigators said was probably a drug-related slaying.

Ann Meyers' Response: Meyers submitted a plan to close the bar between midnight and 8:00 AM to discourage the criminal element, in a proposed deal to keep the hotel open.

Expansion & Sale (1992-2004)

In 1992, Meyers was able to move out of living in the hotel full-time and purchased another nearby hotel, the Nevada Hotel, from pioneer gaming executive Jackie Gaughan.

In 2004, Meyers sold the Queen of Hearts and the 160-room Nevada Hotel to Barrick Gaming Corp. for $7.1 million. Barrick then sold the property in 2005 to Tamares Group, which was acquired by LiveWork Las Vegas.

Demolition (2010)

On February 2, 2010, an excavator tore apart the Queen of Hearts Hotel and Casino to make way for a new eight-story Las Vegas City Hall.

Ann Meyers attended the demolition ceremony. "It gave me what everyone could possibly dream of," Meyers said as she looked at her former hotel-casino. "It's time for something new. It was so run down. It was so expensive to keep it up."

Current Site: Las Vegas City Hall opened 2013 ($146.2 million building)

The Holocaust Survivor Turned Casino Pioneer

Ann Meyers was born in Yugoslavia in 1934. She spent two years in a concentration camp as a child before ending up in Las Vegas.

She and her family were Danube Schwabians (ethnic Germans) in the former Yugoslavia region, persecuted by Tito in the post-World War II years. They survived concentration camps and the plight of post-World War II refugees, before finally emigrating to the United States.

From Food Stamps to Casino Owner

When Ann Meyers arrived in Las Vegas in the 1970s, she was a single mother of two daughters with little money to her name. Two and a half years before buying the hotel, she was on food stamps.

"So I earned every nickel by myself. I was a single parent with two little girls. So yes, it does mean a lot to me."

CRITICAL FINDING: FIRST WOMAN TO PURCHASE A CASINO (SOLO OWNERSHIP)

In 1976, Ann Meyers became the very first woman in history to purchase a casino in Las Vegas.

IMPORTANT CONTEXT — Women Casino Owners Timeline:

1. Claudine Williams (1965): Purchased Silver Slipper casino WITH her husband Shelby in 1965. After Shelby's death in 1977, she became the first woman casino president and general manager.

2. Ann Meyers (1976): Purchased Casbah Hotel ALONE as sole owner — first woman to do so.

POSITIONING: While Claudine Williams bought the Silver Slipper as a couple in 1965, Ann Meyers was the first Nevada woman to be a casino owner (solo), making her purchase in 1976 as a single mother particularly groundbreaking.

The "Queen of Hearts" Persona

Ann Meyers mingled with the famed, well-to-do elites of the city one day, and the next she'd be repairing the roof of her own hotel in 6-inch heels and a gorgeous pantsuit.

"It wasn't just her tenacity and bold spirit that helped her make a name for herself among some of the most notorious movers and shakers in the country, it was also her ability to quickly adapt to any situation that she was faced within an untamed industry."

American Dream Embodied

"It's the American dream," she said. "If you work hard in America, this is what you can accomplish."

"The most important message for the everyday person: this is the land of opportunity and in Las Vegas even more than any place in the country."

Sign Construction (1990 Rebranding)

Type: Wall-mounted neon sign with playing card heart iconography

Design Elements:

• Pink/hot pink neon: For "Queen of Hearts" lettering (feminine, inviting)

• Heart symbols: Playing card hearts (feminine suit in card hierarchy)

• Script lettering: "Ann Meyers" (personal, handwritten feel)

• Yellow incandescent: "HOTEL" (practical, readable)

Symbolism: "Queen of Hearts" playing card = powerful female figure (but also decorative, feminine marketing)

Neon Museum Status

The main boneyard contains unrestored signs, lit with ground lighting, including the Ann Meyers' Queen of Hearts.

Current Condition: Unrestored, lit by ground lighting (not internally illuminated)

Preservation Priority: Medium (not yet restored, but historically significant due to women pioneer story)

Primary Sources Available:

1. Neon Museum Collection:

   • Photos of Queen of Hearts sign in boneyard (current)

   • Portion of Casbah sign also preserved at museum

2. Demolition Documentation (February 2, 2010):

   • Photographer: Leila Navidi / Las Vegas Sun

   • Mayor Oscar Goodman ceremonial demolition

   • Ann Meyers attending event

   • Excavator with claw demolishing building

3. UNLV Special Collections:

   • Search: "Queen of Hearts Hotel Las Vegas"

   • Search: "Casbah Hotel Las Vegas"

   • Anna Sipl Meyers oral history interview collection at UNLV

4. Vintage Las Vegas (vintagelasvegas.com):

   • Casbah Hotel Bar & Restaurant, 19 Lewis Ave at 1st (vintage photo exists)

5. Las Vegas Review-Journal / Las Vegas Sun Archives:

   • 1976 purchase announcement

   • 1990 rebranding coverage

   • 1994-1996 crime coverage

   • 2004 sale announcement

   • 2010 demolition extensive coverage

Academic / Books

"Queen of Hearts: The Story of Anna Sipl Meyers" (2018)
Author: Anna Sipl Meyers
Editor: Leita Kaldi Davis
Based on: 2 years of interviews (2012) by Claytee D. White, Director of the Oral History Research Center at UNLV Libraries

UNLV Oral History Research Center:
Anna Sipl Meyers oral history interview
Interview dates: 2/12/2012, 2/29/2012, 3/27/2012, 4/16/2012, 4/24/2012, 5/3/2012, 5/9/2012, 5/16/2012, 10/19/2012, 11/16/2012, 12/7/2012
Description: "From concentration to ownership of Las Vegas casinos, Meyers owned the Casbah and the Queen of Hearts in downtown Las Vegas."

Media Coverage

• Las Vegas Sun (extensive coverage 1976-2010)

• Las Vegas Review-Journal (business, crime, demolition coverage)

• KSNV News3LV (2004 interview, 2017 Video Vault feature on sign)

• Neon Museum Blog (Women's History Month feature article)

Movies / TV

No specific film appearances documented (unlike Stardust, Sahara, etc.)

POSITIONING: Small downtown budget hotel, not glamorous Strip property = less Hollywood exposure

Gendered Commercial Architecture

"Queen of Hearts" as Feminine Branding in Masculine Gambling World

The sign represents a fascinating case study in gendered casino marketing:

1. Playing Card Symbolism:

   • Heart suit = traditionally "feminine" (vs. spades/clubs masculine)

   • Queen = powerful female figure, BUT ranked below King and Ace

   • Hearts = love, romance, softness (vs. aggressive gambling imagery)

2. Strategic Feminization:

   • 1990 rebranding: from exotic "Casbah" (Middle Eastern, masculine) → "Queen of Hearts" (romantic, feminine)

   • Goal: Soften hotel's "seedy" reputation, make more family-friendly

   • Budget hotel competing with mega-resorts by emphasizing personal touch

3. Women in 1950s-1970s Gaming:

   • There were very few women in the gaming industry at the time

   • Women dealers rare until 1970s-80s

   • Women gamblers stereotyped as "slots players" (vs. men at craps/poker)

   • Ann Meyers broke this barrier as OWNER, not just worker

Venturi & Scott Brown "Decorated Shed" Typology

• Building: Generic 3-story, 100-room budget motel (functional)

• Sign: Primary communication device (identity, branding)

• Architecture: Sign > building (classic Vegas vernacular)

Did Venturi photograph Queen of Hearts in 1968?
Unlikely — property was still "Casbah Hotel" 1963-1990, and located downtown (not Strip). Venturi/Scott Brown focused primarily on Strip properties.

Small Casino vs. Mega-Resort Evolution

• Queen of Hearts = "Mom & Pop" model (family-run, personal service)

• Represents disappearing ecosystem of small downtown properties

• Competed with Strip mega-resorts (Caesars Palace, Mirage) by offering budget alternative

This photograph positions within several curatorial frameworks:

Gender Studies: First Woman Casino Owner In 1976, Ann Meyers became the first woman in history to purchase a casino in Las Vegas—buying the crime-plagued Casbah Hotel in 48 hours. In an entirely male-dominated industry where banks refused loans to women, Meyers broke through by sheer persistence.

Holocaust Survivor to American Dream Born in a concentration camp in Yugoslavia, Meyers arrived in 1970s Las Vegas as a single mother on food stamps. She persevered for 28 years before selling for $7.1 million. This is quintessential American Dream narrative—immigrant resilience, gender barrier-breaking, entrepreneurial triumph.

Gendered Marketing Analysis The "Queen of Hearts" name reveals strategic use of feminine symbolism (hearts, playing card queens) to compete in male-dominated industry. Was this empowering (woman as powerful Queen) or problematic (decorative queen subordinate to Kings/Aces)? The sign invites feminist scholarship on gendered branding.

More Impactful Than Betty Willis Betty Willis designed signs. Ann Meyers owned a casino. While Willis deserves recognition as a designer pioneer, Meyers represents ownership—capital, risk, perseverance against the entire system.

Relevant for collections focusing on:

• Gender studies and feminist analysis

• Holocaust survivor narratives

• Immigrant entrepreneurship

• American Dream documentation

• Women's business history

Institutional Alignment:

• Courtauld Institute: Gender studies, visual culture, feminist scholarship

• Centre Pompidou Constellation — Cabinet de la Photographie: Gender politics in American capitalism, women pioneers

• Getty Museum: Western women's history, immigrant entrepreneurship

• Smithsonian: Holocaust survivor narrative, American Dream, women's business history

Primary Sources:

1. Neon Museum Official:https://neonmuseum.org/news/ann-meyers-womens-history-month/

2. Wikipedia (Queen of Hearts Hotel):https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_of_Hearts_Hotel

3. Las Vegas Sun (Demolition Coverage, Feb 2010):https://lasvegassun.com/news/2010/feb/02/queen-hearts-demolition-marks-new-era-downtown/

4. KSNV News3LV (Video Vault Feature):https://news3lv.com/features/video-vault/queen-of-hearts-hotel

5. UNLV Special Collections (Anna Sipl Meyers Oral History):https://special.library.unlv.edu/ (Search: Anna Sipl Meyers)

6. Amazon (Autobiography):https://www.amazon.com/Queen-Hearts-Story-Anna-Meyers/dp/1721939652

7. Goodreads (Book Reviews):https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48894096-queen-of-hearts

Secondary Sources:

8. Vintage Las Vegas (Casbah Hotel photo):https://vintagelasvegas.com/

9. Neon Museum Blog (7 Historic Hotels):https://neonmuseum.org/news/7-coolest-most-historic-las-vegas-hotels/

10. Las Vegas Review-Journal (Claudine Williams obituary):https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas-casino-pioneer-claudine-williams-dies/