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Gambling becomes legal in Nevada...



Item # 691359

March 21, 1931

THE NEW YORK TIMES, March 21, 1931

* Gambling becomes legal in Nevada (1st report)
* Reno NV gaming begins (historic)
* Las Vegas would follow


Page 3 has one column headings: "'OLD WEST' RETURNS IN NEVADA GAMBLING" "Legalized Gaming Places in Reno Are Thronged From an Early Hour" "DOZENS CATER TO WOMEN" "Mayor Roberts, Survivor of the Old Days, Must Be 'On the Square'" See images for text here. A historic and first report on the legalization of gambling that would lead to the business boom of the famous Las Vegas Strip. I suspect this would be one of the few publications to report this event as other titles in our inventory did not.
Other news, sports and advertisements of the day. Complete in 38 pages, this is the rare rag edition that was produced on very high quality newsprint, with a high percentage of cotton & linen content, allowing the issues to remain very white & sturdy into the present. Given the subscription cost, libraries & institutions rather than individuals were the primary subscribers of these high-quality editions. Very nice condition.

wikipedia notes: Unregulated gambling was common place in the early Nevada mining towns but outlawed in 1909 as part of a nation-wide anti-gaming crusade. Due to subsequent declines in mining output and the decline of the agricultural sector during the Great Depression, Nevada re-legalized gambling on March 19, 1931, with approval from the legislature. At the time, the leading proponents of gambling expected that it would be a short term fix until the state's economic base widened to include less cyclical industries. However, re-outlawing gambling has never been seriously considered since the industry has become Nevada's primary source of revenue today.

Category: The 20th Century