The Royal Nevada was only open for about a year . After they closed the Stardust bought the RN and used it as their convention center. Just before the 'Dust closed, a book was published with pictures and stories...this is a page from that book. They say the details of the pictures on this page are lost...they really aren't . On the evening of April 18, 1955, the day before the Royal Nevada opened, they hosted a pre-opening dinner for soldiers from the atomic testing grounds. The next day, as part of the opening ceremonies, a showgirl dropped the key to the hotel's door down the barrel of a cannon. The soldiers set off the cannon, shooting the key into the desert sky.

This menu is from the soldiers dinner...