The Rhyolite Bottling Works from Rhyolite, Nevada calendar depicting Cascade Falls in Yosemite Valley, California, 1909, UNLV University Libraries Collection of Nevada Calendars, MS-00990
In celebration of a new year, Archival Backlog Elimination Project Archival Processing Assistant Ryan DiPaolo’s blog post highlights unique Nevada calendars from the UNLV University Libraries Collection of Nevada Calendars (MS-00990). DiPaolo recently received his MA LIS from the University of Arizona, Tucson.
The UNLV University Libraries Special Collections Division would like to wish our blog visitors a Happy New Year! As we all digitally flip our calendars over from 2019 to 2020 and usher in the new decade, we would like to share some paper calendars that depict Southern Nevada and the city of Las Vegas, Nevada and our history. The UNLV University Libraries Collection of Nevada Calendars (MS-00990) includes calendars from businesses that operated in Southern Nevada from 1908 to 2016. Most of the calendars served as advertisements and offer a glimpse of businesses that no longer exist.
The city of Rhyolite, Nevada was once a bustling mining town in southern Nevada in the early 1900s. The town grew rapidly after the discovery of quartz on a nearby hill. However, Rhyolite’s population and the income of the local mines began to dwindle after the financial panic of 1907. The final mine in Rhyolite closed in 1911 and the citizens officially deserted the town in 1916. The Rhyolite Bottling Works’ 1909 calendar depicts Cascade Falls in Yosemite Valley, California and allows us to experience a bit of Rhyolite. The calendar is a design common to calendars of the era, serving both as an advertisement for a business and as an economical decoration after the year ends.
The city of Las Vegas, Nevada has undergone tremendous change throughout its history and this is evident in the calendars created by businesses that no longer exist. The Garehime Music Co. operated in Las Vegas for sixty-five years from 1923 to 1988, servicing the city's music needs and distributing some unique promotional calendars. This 1952 calendar offered an aesthetic advertisement and a useful (and still working!) thermometer.
Garehime Music Co., Las Vegas, Nevada, calendar, 1952, UNLV University Libraries Collection of Nevada Calendars, MS-00990
In 1939 Mr. Brimmie, a Las Vegas printing company, created a tripod calendar of a smiling salesman. This three-dimensional calendar showcases the advertising lengths to which Las Vegas companies have gone in order to stand out.
Mr. Brimmie Smiling Salesman, Las Vegas, Nevada tripod calendar, 1939, UNLV University Libraries Collection of Nevada Calendars, MS-00990
The creativity of calendars like these remind us that every year is unique and worthy of our best efforts. UNLV Special Collections and Archives wishes everyone a Happy New Year, and encourages them to be like these calendars, unique and genuinely Nevadan!
