This visual feast of a menu cover was for the Pow Wow Buffet in the Navajo Room of the Thunderbird Hotel in Las Vegas in the 1950s. There are fabulous fonts, a couple of showgirls, a chef, buffet items, bars of music and great colors, all done by artist Jos W. Wendel.

The Thunderbird opened with crooner Nat King Cole headlining on September 2, 1948. The resort was the brainchild of then - Lt. Governor of Nevada Cliff Jones and developer/contractor Marion Hicks.

Hicks, who also built the El Cortez in downtown Las Vegas, designed the Thunderbird as the first hotel/casino on the Strip to feature a porte-cochere – a covered entrance large enough for vehicles to pass through. It was also the only hotel on the Strip to house a bowling alley.

The Thunderbird’s license was suspended for a time in 1955 for suspected Mob ties. It went through several owners and name changes. It became the Silverbird (1977-81) and the El Rancho Casino (1982-1992) before it was finally put to rest in 1992 and imploded in 2000.

There was great advertising on the rear of the interior menu.’ You’ll hear it again and again – the best food in town is at the THUNDERBIRD.’ And ‘The Night is Always Young and Gay in the Navajo Room.’