BY JOHN W. LUNDIN

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY JOHN W. LUNDIN

Gambling has long existed in the Wood River Valley, as was true for most areas that were originally mining centers.  However, it took the arrival of Sun Valley in 1936, to bring organized gambling to Ketchum.  

After Sun Valley began bringing in wealthy skiers from all over the country, Ketchum merchants moved quickly to take advantage of the new business brought to their town.  Soon, gambling establishments opened all over downtown Ketchum.

Early Ketchum resembled a gambling mecca at night.

The swank Christiania Club on Sun Valley Road, which opened in December 1937, was the area’s high end gambling facility that attracted “high rollers.”

Although Sun Valley was a haven of opulence in Idaho’s mountains after it opened in December 1936, Ketchum was a small town.  When Louis Holliday arrived to work at the Lodge in November 1936, Ketchum had 185 people, many of whom left for the winter.

There was a one drug store, which occupied the spot where Slavey’s bar was later located.  The Casino on Main Street had “cubby hole” rooms to rent upstairs, and the Golden Rule store was in the Griffith Building, most recently the Cornerstone Restaurant and Sun Valley Culinary institute. Bald Mountain Hot Springs, a block away on Main Street, was the place to stay.  

Gambling was “tolerated” by the authorities, although not actually legal, and a number of clubs opened all over Ketchum offering a wide variety of games.  On Main Street, the Alpine owned by Lou Hill and the Sawtooth Club owned by Owen Simpson were between Sun Valley Road and Second Street.  

The St. Georg Hotel was part of the gambling scene but burned down shortly after opening.

The Idaho Club was located where the Pioneer Restaurant is now, and the Wooden Spur was located where Sturtevants Sports Shop is now.  Club Rio was located on Leadville Avenue, just north of Sun Valley Road.  The Stockman’s Club was another popular spot.  Holiday said a person could go to town with $5 in his pocket, have all he could drink and a steak dinner at the Alpine, Lou would take you home, and you would still have $3.

Sun Valley’s early years were a special time for guests and workers.  Louis Holliday was paid $60 a month. He received free room and board and had the use of Sun Valley’s amenities, including skiing, golf, ice skating and the pool. Waiters finished breakfast duty around 9:30 a.m. and had ample time to ski before going back to work at 4:30 p.m.

A lot of guests came for the season.  They were wealthy and they got good service, said Holliday.

“And they showed their appreciation with the green stuff.”

The Christiania had a smorgasbord, according to old advertisements.

Waiters often got a $20 tip for a $10 bill.  A $20 tip was average and waiters seldom received less.  One Hollywood guest would tip $20 when he was brought a newspaper for a nickel.

It was “a bad night” when an acquaintance working at The Christiania made $175 in tips, Holliday said:  “They’d spend money like it was going out of style.”

On June 19, 1937, the St. Georg Hotel was opened on Main Street by Carl Brandt, owner of Guyer Hot Springs Resort on Warm Springs Creek and the Bald Mountain Hot Springs Lodge on Ketchum’s Main Street.

In April 1937 Brandt dismantled the Guyer Hot Springs Hotel, which was “reconstructed board for board on Main Street in Ketchum” to build the St. Georg.  It had 28 rooms, each with a shower bath or tub, and many had access to sun porches.  It was a prominent Ketchum landmark until it burned down in 1939, in a $50,000 fire.  

This is what it looked like inside the Alpine Club.

In December 1937, a new gambling establishment opened on Sun Valley Road, the Christiania Club.  It was managed by Dutch Weinbrenner, allegedly a member of Detroit’s Purple Gang, giving rise to rumors that mob money was financing the “very up-town dinner club that brought a touch of class to gambling in Ketchum,” according to Sun Valley publicist Dorice Taylor, whose book, Sun Valley, describes her memories of the people and events that made the resort famous.

The Christiania offered a game called Chem La Fair, which was like 21, and operated primarily for the resort’s wealthier guests.  Other Ketchum gambling facilities had gambling limits, but the Christiania offered high stakes gambling to those who could afford it,

The sky was the limit, as it attracted Hollywood high rollers who would sometimes gamble $60,000 or $100,000 there. Hollywood producer Darryl Zanuck allegedly lost $100,000 at the Christiania Club one night.

According to Dorice Taylor, Ketchum offered many places of entertainment in 1938--the St. Georg Hotel (a fusion of Swiss and rustic western architecture), the Casino (pleasant atmosphere of genuine hospitality, attracting princes and paupers), the Stockmen’s Club (haven for sheepmen, cattlemen and miners with sawdust on the floor) and a number of others.

The Christiania Club, a “swank new club in Sun Valley,” was a strictly private organization of more than 600 celebrated members already on the roster that represented a top selection of people from the worlds of letters, arts and society. The new stone club house, attractively terraced and landscaped, was distinctly after the manner of Long Island, Saratoga and Miami Beach in appearance and furnishings. Somewhat English in style, it reminded one more of a manor house one would expect to find on a private estate.

Sun Valley employees regularly went to the Christiania.  Val McAtee, an employee at the Sun Valley Lodge, said that if you didn’t gamble, there wasn’t much to do.

The Christiania was in a different class from other Ketchum establishments, such as the Alpine Club run by Lou Hill, Sawtooth, Slavey’s, the Casino and the Ketchum Club. It had quarters on its second floor for cooks and boarders, served fantastic food and drinks were free.

One night, ski instructor Florian Haemmerle went there with a Hollywood star who was one of his students and lost $450. Weinbrenner told Haemmerle he could return but he didn’t want him to gamble his money since he worked too hard for it.  But it was invited to bring his students since that would make money for the house.

Ski instructor Leon Goodman said the Christiania was “better than anything in Nevada.”  

The club was “Dutch” Weinbrenner’s retirement project, and everything was done in perfect taste.  Off the entrance hall, cocktails were served around a massive stone fireplace in a lounge with deep, soft carpets, and antique furniture.

The dining room was quietly elegant and the gaming room had a circular bar over which hung a crystal chandelier. Everyone agreed that Weinbrenner gave the local people an even break.  The big play at the tables was from the film colony.

Ed Seagle, who managed Sun Valley for Union Pacific, said the resort cooperated with Ketchum’s government and its businesses to make sure things worked smoothly.  Sun Valley buses took guests to the bars, restaurants and gambling facilities in Ketchum, including the Christiania Club.

Weinbrenner lived in an apartment on the fourth floor of the Lodge and, when guests checked into Sun Valley’s Lodge or Inn, they found invitations to the Christiania Club in their mail boxes.

When Sun Valley guests wrote IOUs to cover their losses at the Christiania, they were charged to their Sun Valley accounts and had to be paid when they checked out.  Weinbrenner was public spirited, gave free milk to the Ketchum grade school and had coal delivered to poor residents of the town.

Showing how important the Christiania Club and Weinbrenner were to Sun Valley, in 1949, Union Pacific publicist Steve Hannagan told U.P. president Arthur Stoddard:

“Dutch Weinbrenner, who owned the Christiania Club, is very ill - may not recover.  I am reliably informed that his wife, who is unstable, is heir to the place.  We have a real interest in the Christiania and how it is operated, and should keep an eye on it and its developments, in case anything happens to Weinbrenner.”

As it was, the Idaho Legislature made slot machines illegal in 1953, and owners faced the option of destroying them or shipping them to Nevada. Many club employees went to Las Vegas.  The Christiania closed, and George Kneeland, Don Siegle and Chuck Atkinson bought the property, opening Atkinsons grocery store.

Today the Christiania Restaurant and Gold Mine are located on the old Christiania property.

LEARN MORE about Sun Valley’s early gambling scene next week in Eye on Sun Valley.

Editor’s Note: John W. Lundin immersed himself in the history of the Wood River Valley after retiring from his law practice. He has written several books, including “Skiing Sun Valley: From Union Pacific to the Holdings.”