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Reno,NV - Washoe County - 1954, 1956 - Harolds Club Calendars :

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Western Americana Start Price:150.00 USD Estimated At:300.00 - 600.00 USD
Reno,NV - Washoe County - 1954, 1956 - Harolds Club Calendars :
Lot of 2 pieces, both with lithographs measuring 8 x 10", mounted on cardstock measuring 10 1/2 x 15". Both works use a red background, while the mattes are off-white with red borders. "In Reno It's Harolds Club," is printed on the top border of both pieces. 1) "Wanna Play," dated 1954, was done by Armitage. The image is of a beautiful blonde woman, wearing only black heels and gloves reaching over her elbows. She is kneeling down, talking on the telephone, and playing solitaire. The calendar, stapled to the bottom border of the backing, measures 5 x 2". The Club's management (Harold S. Smith, Raymond A. Smith, and Raymond I. Smith) is listed next to the calendar. The artist, Arnold Armitage, was a British oil painter specializing in "wholesome country girls," who typically presented his subjects in less than overtly sexual poses and situations. While Armitage's girls appeared in both the USA and Great Britain, he was known by his audiences only by his last name. (Ref: backdrop.net) 2) Shows a woman holding 5 cards in her left hand; while a sixth, held in her right hand, sits delicately next to her chin. She is wearing a white, off-the-shoulder-blouse that still manages to display her "ample assets." The calendar is dated 1956, and has "Season's Greetings" on its cover. It measures 5 x 2 1/2", and is stapled to the bottom border of the matte. "Printed by Brown & Bigelow, St. Paul, MINN., U.S.A." on the backing underneath the image. The artist, Zoe Mozert, typically used the Rolf Armstrong pastel style. She was also the best known of the three "girl's club" artists, the others being Joyce Ballantyne and Pearl Frush. While her cover portraits were popular, the bulk of her work was calendar-oriented (primarily for Brown & Bigelow). Mozert also worked as a movie poster artist, providing art for Carole Lombard's True Confession, and for the Jane Russell/Howard Hughes saga, The Outlaw. (Ref: thepinupfiles.com/mozert) "On his twenty-fifth birthday, February 23, 1935, Harold Smith Sr. opened a gambling club in Reno, Nevada. He came to “the biggest little city” because California was cracking down on the carnival games his family ran in the Bay Area, and in 1931 Nevada had legalized gambling. Smith called his place “Harold’s Club”—with an apostrophe—and it was to become the most famous gambling place of its day, the first modern casino. (The apostrophe later disappeared from the name.) The new club measured only 25 feet by 150 feet, and featured one roulette wheel. It lost money, and after a few months Harold’s father, Raymond I. “Pappy” Smith, arrived to turn things around as general manager. In the meantime Harold had been joined by his brother, Raymond A., who during the Great Depression could not find work in his banking profession. (Ref: onlinenevada.org)
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