Vegas Vic

Although the Pioneer Club no longer operates as a casino, the 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 Partner" greeting (deliberately misspelled as "Howdy Podner"). 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, PARTNER!!!" every 15-minutes voiced by Maxwell Kelch, the President of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce at the time. 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. Vickie was designed by Charles F. "Chuck" Barnard of Ad Art. Vic and Vickie were "married" in a 1994 ceremony during construction of the Fremont Street Experience. Vickie was removed in 2017 in preparation for the demolition of the strip club along with Mermaids Casino, La Bayou and the Las Vegas Club. Vegas Vickie has been restored and now resides inside the Circa Resort & Casino which opened on the same spot in 2020. Vegas Vic has received new paint schemes through the years. Originally, from the 1950s through the 1960s, his shirt was white with yellow checkered stripes. Later during an early restoration in the 1970s, his shirt was painted solid yellow. When he was restored in 1998, his shirt was painted a red and yellow checkered pattern. In April 2023, the current owner was cited with a violation due to the condition of the sign, and the sign was fully refurbished and lit up again by July 2023. ==In popular culture==

• In The Amazing Colossal Man (1957), Glenn Manning, the giant, shreds Vegas Vic to pieces in its climactic sequence. • In the Obsidian Entertainment video game Fallout: New Vegas and the Fallout television series, a Securitron named Victor acts as an ally to the player and a servant of the owner of New Vegas, Mr. House. Victor is based on Vegas Vic, bearing a similar face and greeting the player with "Howdy, partner!" A further reference to Vegas Vic can be seen in the sign for the Atomic Wrangler, also located on Freemont Street in game. • Vegas Vic strongly resembles the Belgian comics hero Lucky Luke. • A 1994 commercial for Miller Genuine Draft beer has a neon cowboy and cowgirl, similar to Vegas Vic and Vickie, "coming to life" in downtown Vegas to the tune of J. J. Cale's "After Midnight". • In the Dumb and Dumber episode "Dumb Luck", Harry and Lloyd visit Las Vegas and due to the sign's gesturing mistake Vic for a hitchhiker. The episode ends with them taking Vic in their car and dropping him outside town limits. • Vegas Vic can be seen in the background in some shots in the music video for the song "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by U2 • During the Wonderful Wonderful tour, The Killers, who formed in Las Vegas and make frequent references to the city in their music and videos, included the image of Vegas Vic in the background on the song "The Man". • Vegas Vic makes an appearance in The Simpsons episode "I Married Marge". • Vegas Vic and Vickie both appear in Honey, I Blew Up the Kid, when the enlarged Adam Szalinski is treating Fremont Street like a playground for him. At one point, he nearly hits Vic while playing with a convertible carrying his big brother Nick and babysitter in it, and also damages Vickie's leg when he places the car on it, causing it to buckle under the strain and nearly drop Nick and the babysitter to the street below, before Adam saves them, while Vickie's leg somewhat recovers from the damage. • Vegas Vic and Vickie make an appearance in the fictionalized rendition of Las Vegas in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, based on characters from the prequel Grand Theft Auto Vice City. ==Gallery==

Image:Pioneer club 03.JPG|The Pioneer Club 1950s (Yellow and white plaid shirt) Image:Vic-yellowshirt.JPG|The Pioneer Club 1980s (Solid yellow shirt), with Vegas Vickie in the background Image:Vegas Vic-closeup.jpg|Post-1998 restoration (Red and yellow checkered shirt) Image:Vegas Vic-full.jpg|Vegas Vic, the neon cowboy of Fremont Street ==See also==