Friday, Feb. 7, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Hacienda headliner Redd Foxx laments turning over his $20,000 weekly paychecks to the Internal Revenue Service.
Elvis impersonators in sequinned jumpsuits gorge themselves on Mexican food in the Hacienda coffee shop in homage to the real King.
And, finally, the New Year's Eve implosion spells the end of the 40-year-old south Strip hotel.
These Hacienda stories and many more are brought to life by local historian and author Dick Taylor in his "Las Vegas Hacienda Hotel History -- Volume II."
Through newspaper clippings, local fliers and letters, Taylor's latest book provides a candid look at everything that happened in and around the Hacienda during the last 40 years.
The book, subtitled "The Last Chapter," details how the Hacienda grew from a 256-room motor lodge on the outskirts of town to a 1,200-room resort.
"When this place was built, there was absolutely nothing here," said Taylor, who served as general manager of the hotel from 1956-64.
Despite predictions from many early gaming executives that the Hacienda would struggle at its extreme location, the hotel did very well for many years.
Because the Hacienda didn't have a showroom, Taylor explained, the hotel saved on entertainment costs, and executives made the most of their remote location.
"We used to get a lot of the people coming down the old highway," Taylor said. "Plus, we operated our own airline. It was Hacienda Airlines, and in the '60s we were flying twice-nightly junkets out of Los Angeles. We were hauling more people on our junket than all the other airlines put together."
There was another plus to the hotel's remote location.
"We were so far from the other hotels, that you couldn't walk to them from the Hacienda," Taylor said. "You had to drive or take a cab. So, a lot of guests would hang around their entire vacation."
And to keep the guests on site, owner Warren "Doc" Bayley and hotel executives thought up many different types of promotional events and activities.
"We were the first to do the family stuff," Taylor said. "We had a pitch-and-putt golf course and a miniature golf course, a go-kart track and a big swimming pool."
As for hotel promotions, the sky was not the limit, as detailed by historical accounts in "The Last Chapter."
In 1958, Slot Manager Bob Timm, who was also a pilot, thought of the mother of all hotel stunts.
He talked hotel officials into sponsoring an attempt to break the sustained flight record of 52 days, and he and co-pilot John Cook accomplished this feat in a single-engine Cessna.
The two men received fuel and supplies by flying low and slow over a pickup truck speeding along the dry lake bed just south of the state line. A rope was dropped from the plane to the speeding truck, and then tied to a fuel line and bundles of food.
The two men stayed in the air over Southern Nevada from Dec. 4,1958, until Feb. 9, 1959, surpassing the previous record for sustained flight by 15 days, but as a promotion it was to no avail.
"The papers, detecting a publicity stunt, did what they felt they had to do," Taylor remembers. "They deleted the Hacienda name from all reports, and even went so far as to blank out the Hacienda name that was painted so large along the side of the plane."
In the book's historical account, written by Taylor, he notes: "No one asked me, and I never asked, what the pilots did with their waste. I presume they bombed some remote desert area."
Or perhaps they bombed a news bureau or two.
Most accounts of the early Hacienda days are reprinted as they appeared in their original form.
"I'm very diligent about reading both local newspapers cover to cover," Taylor said. "I think news stories capture the best form of history because the stories are written as they happen."
"The Last Chapter" is a sequel to "Las Vegas Hacienda Hotel History," an earlier compilation by Taylor.
After he finished both books, Taylor donated his records to UNLV's Special Collections.
"In the early days of the gamblers in Las Vegas, the hotels didn't keep records, and I've been told that the Hacienda is the only local hotel for which there is a complete set of records from when it was built to when it was imploded," Taylor said.
A month before the hotel was imploded the last evening of 1996, a reception was conducted in the Judy Bayley Suite of the hotel for former employees -- many of whom are retired.
"We had a great time," Taylor said. "I never got so many hugs in my life."
Taylor, who has compiled a dozen other local history books, said the "The Last Chapter" is a must for students, researchers and anyone else with an interest in Las Vegas hotel history.
Other local books by Taylor include "Laughlin, Nevada, History," "Moulin Rouge Hotel History Book," "Mt. Charleston Lodge History Book" and "Nevada Tombstone Record Book."
"The Last Chapter" (Beehive Press, $25) is available by order at most local bookstores.
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