The El Rey Club, Searchlight, NV

The El Rey Club, Searchlight, NV
The El Rey Resort & Casino, Circa 1957-1962

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

A New Addition to the Family

Just picked this little gem up yesterday!

Pre-1957 El Rey Club Matchbook

Poker matches w/Royal Flush
I already had one El Rey matchbook with Willie's image on it.  That one is among my favorite things in the collection since it is A) SUPER RARE, B) Complete with all "poker" matches, C) in AMAZING condition.

However it wasn't until just before winning this auction that I realized the "new" matchbook was actually an earlier version with different artwork on the spine and the back cover (No idea if these were poker matches as well).

It is my belief that this matchbook was issued before 1957.  The evidence I cite is within the artwork itself.

1957 El Rey Resort Hotel Matchbook
Notice how the back artwork only refers to the casino as "The El Rey Club" and not "The El Rey Resort Hotel."  Prior to 1957, there was no established hotel and Willie was working frantically to make renovations to the El Rey.  Those improvements and additions were not ready until mid-to-late 1957 and the grand opening was held on October 17, 1957.

1957 El Rey Resort Hotel Matchbook & Spine
With the new and improved El Rey came a little more self-promotion on Willie's part.  The spine of the old matchbook simply had the phone number of the club, whereas the newer matchbook proudly announced Willie as the owner.

It is truly amazing to find anything that survived the years.  It is also a greater pleasure to discover variations on the precious few artifacts remaining.  I'm hopeful that more great new artifacts will pop up once the book has been released.  STAY TUNED!



The research & collecting of photos and memorabilia from the El Rey Club never stops! Please contact me at 702-465-5604 or email me at andy@andymartello.com if you have stories or memorabilia to share.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

On This Date in El Rey History...


Willie Martello was defending the safety of his Searchlight runway in a hearing before the Clark County Commissioners on April 20, 1965. 

He offered free flights to and from California on luxurious DC-3s and Lockheed Constellations.  The runway was vital to Willie and the El Rey Club to bring in tourists to Searchlight and revenue to the town.  Were it to be shut down it could have been devastating for the town of Searchlight and the El Rey Club.

The complete story of Willie's runway, the flights, and so much more will be told in my upcoming book.  The second draft is completed and it is in the proofreading and editing phase. 


If you'd like to see this book get published and in your local stores, please call, write, or email publishers of historical volumes encouraging them to publish my work.

The research & collecting of photos and memorabilia from the El Rey Club never stops! Please contact me at 702-465-5604 or email me at andy@andymartello.com if you have stories or memorabilia to share.

Friday, April 1, 2011

Where's the Book?

Apologies for so little in the way of updates of late. There has been quite a lot going on regarding the book, though not as much as I'd hoped to report by now.


I have temporarily removed all of the posts from my original blog and the re-posts here. The main reason for this is that I have completed the first draft (and soon, the second draft) of the book and I felt it was time I stopped "giving it away for free" as one person described it to me. So much of what has been written already will be in the book, but as you'll soon learn, there is SO much more. Either way, I didn't want to give you a reason NOT to buy the book when it is published nor did I want someone else coming in and taking all the best goodies for himself.


Back at 2010's end it looked as though i had a legitimate publisher interested in the book. This MAY still be the case. Unfortunately it has been very difficult to secure a meeting with the guy, much less get him to commit to more than the verbal agreement we already had. With the second draft near completion I'll likely be shopping it around if "Publisher A" doesn't come through soon. Stay tuned.


I would also like to take a moment to mention the passing of a great man in every sense of the word. This man has played an integral part in getting this project to the stage where it is now. He was a mogul and real estate developer here in Las Vegas, a wonderful historian and author, and a great friend. May God welcome warmly into Heaven, Mr Richard B. Taylor. Click his name to read his obituary.


I'll be writing a special note about him in the book, but let me say here and now that he will truly be missed by many, particularly me.

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The research & collecting of photos and memorabilia from the El Rey Club never stops! Please contact me at 702-465-5604 or email me at andy@andymartello.com if you have stories or memorabilia to share.