Q:
Regarding the spelling of Vegas Vicky/Vickie, are you sure that it's one way or the other? I know I've seen it both ways, even on official documents.
A:
At the end of our recent QoD on whether the neon cowgirl's name is Vegas Vickie or Sassy Sally, we wrote, "As you might've noticed above, the Cowgirl’s name has been spelled Vicky, Vicki, and Vickie. Herb Pastor spells it Vickie. And since no one else knows anything for sure, we hereby proclaim that her name will be spelled Vegas 'Vickie' forevermore."
Well, so much for our proclamations.
Responding to that QoD, our friend Jeff at VintageLasVegas.com wrote the following.
"The original announcement of the sign back in October 1980, including ads placed in the Review-Journal by Bob Stupak, spelled the name Vegas 'Vicky.' While 'Sassy Sally' is factually incorrect, Vicky and Vickie are both correct in my book. One was used first, and then the other, but all in all, they're both nicknames."
So we hereby proclaim that the neon cowgirl's name can be spelled Vickie or Vicky, but decidedly not Vicki -- at least until someone else shows us some evidence that it's okay.
In his email, Jeff continued, "Adding my 2¢ to the 'Sassy Sally confusion: A couple years ago, Circa sent out a press release about the sign, covering its removal from Fremont Street and plans to incorporate it into the future hotel-casino. That press release itself contained the erroneous information that the sign "was formerly called Sassy Sally" and of course all media who covered the news just copy and pasted that error into their stories."
And there's more. "Did you know the name Vegas Vicky originated earlier in the '60s? It was as a hostess position at the Pioneer Club. Two or three different women held the position, basically just dressed up as a swinging '60s cowgirl and posing for photos – though I've yet to find a good picture."
Finally, Jeff tells us, "Also relating to today's QoD, Herb Pastor provided me with info about
the Golden Goose sign. The folks over at Downtown Project just got the goose sign refurbished and installed back on Fremont Street. Unfortunately they painted 'est. 1974' just one day before I was able to confirm that the sign and club are both from 1975."
Thank you, Jeff, for all the great information, Stupak's newspaper ad, and the link to the Golden Goose sign. We highly recommend VintageLasVegas.com, just about the best online photographic record of 20th-century Las Vegas we know of (and Jeff writes some great captions too). Here's one of
our recent favorites.
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