The Tropicana

The twelfth resort on the Strip…"The Tiffany of the Strip"

Ben Jaffe, part owner and board chairman of the Fountainbleu Hotel in Miami Beach, came to Las Vegas in 1955. He bought 40 acres of land on the vacant southeast corner of the Strip and Bond Road (now Tropicana Avenue). Jaffe wanted to build the finest resort in Las Vegas, and with that in mind he organized the Bond Estates Company to build the resort. The Tropicana was designed by architect M. Tony Sherman, and built by Taylor Construction, both from Miami. Jaffe had no casino experience so leased the casino operations to New Orleans gambler "Dandy" Phil Kastel. Kastel's wife, Margaret, thought it would be fun to decorate the Tropicana so showed up every day in her fur coat, telling the workmen what to do.

Construction was in full swing on the Stardust before it began on the Tropicana. Unfortunately for Jaffe and his partner Charles Baron, Tony Cornero decided to pay construction workers double wages, in order to speed up completion of the Stardust. Jaffe was forced to bring in a crew of masons from California, as none were available in Vegas. That, with other cost overruns that Jaffe wasn't prepared for, forced him to sell his shares of the Fountainbleu to raise another $5 million to finish the Trop. The Tropicana was finally finished, and at a cost of $15 million it was the most expensive Las Vegas resort to date.

Cost overruns weren't the only problems that confronted Jaffe. The Gaming Control Board wouldn't license "Dandy" Phil Kastel as the casino manager. Seems that "Dandy" Phil had some mob connections, and that pesky Control Board thought they could keep the mob out of Vegas. The licensing battle went on for awhile, some sources say nearly a year. "Dandy" Phil eventually backed out of the deal, and the licensing moved forward.

The Tropicana finally opened on April 4, 1957, at 3801 Las Vegas Blvd. South, with 300 rooms. Lush landscaping surrounded the Olympic-size swimming pool that was in the central courtyard of the tropical-theme hotel. The focal point, as seen from the strip, was the 60-foot tulip-shaped fountain that was lighted by rose and blue neon, and was set in a shallow 110-foot reflecting pool. Lieutenant Governor Rex Bell cut the ribbon to open the beautiful new resort. Monte Proser's original musical production "Tropicana Revue", which starred Eddie Fisher, was the highlight of the opening festivities. The theater-restaurant, with a stage that encircled much of the audience, would accommodate 450 patrons for dinner. Things were good.

More than meets the eye

On the evening of May 2, 1957, there was a shooting in New York, in an apartment house on Central Park West. The victim was Frank Costello, who was known to be in the upper echelons of the mob. A single shot was fired, and blood streamed over the side of Costello's face. The gunman hurried past the shocked doorman, out to a waiting car, and sped off. Costello sank down onto a sofa and held a handkerchief to his bleeding head, he muttered "Someone tried to get me". He was rushed to nearby Roosevelt Hospital, where doctors worked on the superficial wound that was behind Costello's right ear.

While the doctors worked on Costello, detectives searched his clothing. In his bloodstained suit jacket they found a slip of paper with handwritten notes. Costello claimed that the slip of paper wasn't his, and he had no idea how it got into his pocket. One of the notes, Gross casino wins as of 4/27/57 $651,284, was found to be the exact figure of the Tropicana's receipts in her first 24 days of business. It was established that Michael J. Tanico, a cashier at the Tropicana, wrote part of the note. The Beverly Club in New Orleans, whose owners included "Dandy" Phil Kastel, Frank Costello and Meyer Lansky, had previously employed Tanico. Some of the handwriting was identified as belonging to Louis J Lederer, who also held an interest in the downtown Fremont Hotel. The Gaming Control Board ordered that Lederer be removed from the gaming industry.

The shadow of suspicion of hidden mob-ownership now darkened the brightly shining new resort. Jaffe himself wasn't considered squeaky clean, as it was reported that he gambled and ran punchboard cards just over the border in Mexico. Anxious to clean-up his standing with the Control Board, Jaffe brought in well-known Las Vegas businessman J. Kell Houssels to help run the Tropicana.

J. Kell Houssels

Houssels originally came to town as part of a surveying crew for the Hoover Dam project. In 1931 Houssels bought the Old Smokeshop on Fremont Street, then converted it into the original Las Vegas Club. Later he expanded into other business ventures, including ownership in Las Vegas's first cab company, Lucky Cabs. He purchased interest in the El Cortez Casino in 1941, as well as the Showboat, and would eventually be a part owner of the Union Plaza. Houssels also worked with City Hall to develop and promote Las Vegas. His reputation in the town was above reproach, and the Control Board readily licensed him to help run the Trop.

Houssels bought six-percent of the Trop, and managed it with the assistance of Robert O. Cannon, whose local experience had been gained at the El Rancho Vegas and the Last Frontier. One night in 1957, gamblers had been winning heavily and Houssels quickly borrowed a large amount of cash from the El Cortez, which he rushed to the Trop in a paper shopping bag, to make sure all bets were adequately covered (accounts vary from $50,000 to "several hundred thousand dollars"). Under his leadership the Tropicana was doing well, and in 1959 Houssels bought out Jaffe's interest in the resort, though Jaffe retained ownership of the land.

In 1959 entertainment director Lou Walters (father of newswoman Barbara Walters) imported the French spectacular "Folies Bergere" from Paris, a show that is still playing today, nearly 50 years later. Much like the town itself, the show is constantly reinvented so that it remains entertaining to repeat visitors. My husband and I went to see the Folies a few years ago; one of the acts was a dance routine performed to the song "Lady in Red". Both dancers were fully clothed, and it was one of the most sensual things I've ever had the pleasure to watch.

The 1960's

In 1961 the Tropicana bought 120 acres of land across the street to the east. It was used to build a par-70 18-hole golf course and country club. The Clubhouse was styled like a southern mansion. The Club offered a night lighted driving range, pro shop, coffee shop, cocktail lounge, gallery lounge, dining room, TV room, and dressing rooms with lockers. The resident pro was Milt Ross, a Class A PGA pro.

J. Kell Houssels enjoyed horse racing. In the late 1930's he maintained stables for 13 thoroughbred horses at a California racetrack. I found a reference that said Houssels won $69,000 at Hollywood Park, on July 6, 1963...but it didn't say whether that was from betting, or whether he owned a horse that won, or…? Shecky Greene played in the Showcase Lounge at the Tropicana. Shecky had an unusual clause in his contract…it required that a racehorse be named after him! So, to honor the contract, Kell named one of his horses "Shecky G.". In 1961 Shecky G. won his first race, at Pamona Park.

The coolest thing that I found about Houssels' horses is that one of them, Bymeabond, won the Santa Anita Derby in 1945, earning $50,000 in prize money. The jockey was Georgie "The Iceman" Woolf. If The Iceman's name sounds familiar…remember the movie Seabiscuit? Georgie was the one who rode Seabiscuit to victory over War Admiral in a match race at Pimlico. Bymeabond also ran in the 1945 Kentucky Derby, under jockey Fred A. Smith. Bymeabond was taken to the inside early, forcing the early pace. He made a bold bid on the stretch turn, but gave way steadily in the last quarter, finishing 6th. Sorry…I got way "off track" here (groaaaaaan!), I'm supposed to be at the Trop in the 1960's, not California in the 1940's!

One of the acts at the Trop was Gus Augspurg, with his "girlfriends" (which were baboons). In 1965 one of his baboons, Mary Jane, somehow escaped. After she'd been missing for several hours, a phone call was received at the Trop asking if they were missing a baboon. Luckily a neighbor had spotted Mary Jane and fed her cookies to keep her attention until Gus's wife Casey could get there to pick her up. Another baboon incident occurred when Gus and friends appeared on Jack Kogan's TV show. Seems one of the "girls" ran Jack off the set so she could play with the station's kitten mascot!

There were approximately four hundred rooms added, during 3 expansions in the 1960's. The rooms were all air conditioned, and most (if not all) of them had their own patios.

In 1961 the Tropicana bought a Tiffany Rolls Royce for the use of "Special Guests".

In 1969 J. Kell Houssels married one of the Folies Bergere dancers, named Nancy

The 1970's-the mob at the Trop

In 1970 Houssels sold his shares of the Trop to Trans-Texas Airways. A year later, Trans-Texas sold to Deil Gustafson from Minnesota. In 1974 the Gaming Control Board learned that Gustafson's company was using the Trop to loan money to known Detroit mobsters, and they forced him to sell a controlling interest in the resort. The buyer was chemical heiress Mitzi Stauffer Briggs.

In 1975 another group of investors, Associates of the Tropicana, bought into the resort. Joe Agosto, who was appointed to head the Folies Bergere show and later ran the hotel, represented the group. Nevada officials later discovered that Agosto was sending cash to mobster Joseph Aiuppa of Chicago, as well as to mobsters in Kansas City and Milwaukee.

The FBI set up wiretaps on the phones of reputed mobsters in Las Vegas, and their suspected associates in Kansas City. Information gathered from the wiretaps, and other eavesdropping methods, uncovered a skimming scheme that was in place at the Trop. In 1981 a Kansas City Grand Jury indicted seven of the alleged mobsters, and in 1983 all seven were convicted. One account that I read said that during the trial, Joe Agosto, who'd turned government witness, had a heart attack and died. Gustafson was tried and convicted in a separate case, involving check fraud at the Trop. The Control Board required both Gustafson and Briggs to sell their shares.

In 1977 the 22-story, 600 room, Tiffany Tower was added. Also added was the world's largest Tiffany leaded-glass canopy, over the gaming tables. Due to the size and construction of the canopy, special "shock-absorbers" had to be installed to keep the canopy from cracking or breaking when the building vibrates. I seem to recall that there was a great shot of that ceiling in the 1984 movie "The Vegas Strip War", which was Rock Hudson's last movie, and also starred Sharon Stone. A ton of great casino shots in the film.

In the late 1970's the Tulip Fountain was removed.

Ramada Inns…Aztar…Columbia Sussex…Who's next?

In 1979, the Ramada Inn Hotel chain acquired the Tropicana, leasing it from Jaffe's family. In 1985 they began a major renovation project that featured a 5-acre water park, and added the 22-story Island tower. They re-themed the hotel, calling it "The Island of Las Vegas".

In 1989 Ramada Inns formed the Aztar Corporation, to run the Tropicana properties located in Las Vegas and Laughlin, Nevada, as well as the one in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The Jaffe family retained ownership of the land in Las Vegas until 2002, when they sold it to Aztar for $1.2 million. A year later, Aztar announced that the Trop would be undergoing a major renovation and expansion, which would nearly double the number of rooms. That didn't happen.

Somewhere in this period the Gambler's Hall of Fame and Museum occupied a portion of the Tropicana's ground floor. They displayed the most wonderful collections of ashtrays, china, chips, postcards, swizzle sticks, photos and other pieces of gaming history that I've ever seen in my life. The Trop replaced the gaming history with a Titanic Display, I believe.

In 2006 the Columbia Sussex Corporation acquired Aztar for $2.8 billion. Columbia announced a $25 billion upgrade that would destroy much of the existing hotel. They said the property would expand to more than 10,000 hotel rooms by 2010. They announced that they would retain the historic Tiffany Theater and keep the Folies Bergere show.

On April 4, 2007 the Tropicana turned 50. The hotel has 1,871 rooms and suites, six restaurants, a five-acre tropical garden oasis with three swimming pools and whirlpools, a full-service spa, a styling salon and barber shop, over 100,000 square feet of convention space, a wedding chapel and 61,000 square feet of gaming space. The casino is filled with video reel and multi-game slots, blackjack, craps, roulette and poker. In addition, the Tropicana offers a seasonal swim-up blackjack game by the Coconut Grove Bar.

Unfortunately, Tropicana employees aren't happy. Columbia has laid off over 300 workers from the Las Vegas property, in an effort to cut operating costs. Costs have been cut, but so has the service to the customer, as well as upkeep and maintenance to the hotel and grounds. The Tropicana, once known as the most elegant showplace on the Strip, is getting shabby and run-down.

On Wednesday, December 12, 2007, Atlantic City Gaming Officials denied the renewal of the AC Tropicana's gaming license. They said that the AC Trop failed to meet New Jersey's standards for financial responsibility, character and integrity. The board ruled that a trustee will operate the casino until a buyer is found. Columbia Sussex is appealing.

Time will tell what affect that will have on the Las Vegas Tropicana…

First published in the Casino Chip and Token News Magazine Spring 2008, Volume 21 number 1 issue.

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