1955 Manuscript Pictorial View of Carson City, Lake Tahoe, and Environs, Nevada

Mid-Century Modern Advertising Splendor.

This is an undated and unattributed c. 1955 manuscript pictorial promotional view of western Nevada prepared as a promotional piece for the Silver Sage Hotel. The piece is emblematic of graphic design and illustration of the era, which also saw a tourism boom to Nevada and Lake Tahoe.

A Closer Look

The view looks northwards from the vicinity of the Douglas Tahoe Airport (now the Minden - Tahoe Airport) in Minden towards Reno, depicting the airport, Carson City, Virginia City, and Reno. Highways and mountains are illustrated and labelled, including Mt. Rose at left and U.S. Route 395 in Nevada, along which the titular hotel was located. A large inset at center in the shape of a heart, harkening to the piece's title, appears at center, portraying the hotel in all its Mid-Century Modern splendor, with a single-story ranch-style building and a kidney-shaped swimming pool. Destinations both near and far, including Lake Tahoe (partly illustrated at left), are indicated with arrows.

The Silver Sage Hotel or Motel

We have been unable to find any record of the Silver Sage Hotel, but there was a Silver Sage Motel in Carson City at the location indicated here. However, the establishment appears to have been short-lived due to tragic circumstances; its owner, Mona Reichmann, who had operated another hotel in the area before launching the Silver Sage, was killed in an automobile accident in April 1960. Another Silver Sage Motel, presumably related to the location in Carson City, operated in Reno from roughly the early 1960s until the mid-1990s. The Carson City motel building was lined up to reopen as an art gallery but burned down in 1997.

Publication History and Census

This view was prepared by an unknown artist in the late 1950s, for the Silver Sage Hotel (Motel) in Carson City, Nevada. Since we can find no record of it and given the format in which it appears, it was likely a draft for an advertisement that was never published. As a manuscript work, this is an entirely unique piece.

Condition

Good. Light foxing. Laid down on art board. Original manuscript artwork.