Reminiscing with David Hill's 'The Vapors'

 The Vapors: A Southern Family, the New York Mob, and the Rise and Fall of Hot Springs, America's Forgotten Capital of Vice by David Hill

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

David Hill has written the most informative and readable account of the gambling era of Hot Springs, Arkansas. I was particularly interested in the story because I lived in Little Rock and my Mom and Dad lived in Hot Springs at the end of this era. The story begins with some information about the beginning of gambling in Hot Spring in the late 1800's.

Mr. Hill used his own family’s story to move us through the gambling years. He gives a more personal feel to what was happening in Arkansas along with what was going on in other parts of the United States. All was intertwined with the workings of the underworld of gangsters. Highly recommend. Very informative and readable.

I found many familiar names of places that still exist in Hot Springs:                     

Arlington Hotel

“The Vapors’ reminds me of the Correspondent Banking Department of First National Bank at Little Rock where I was a secretary. Each year the Arkansas Bankers Association held a meeting of all Arkansas Banks. One year our bank sponsored a Casino Party at the Vapors. Of course, all of the betting was done with fake money. The Vapors became a church for a while but has now been revived as an entertainment venue.

Hazel and Hollis moved to Mountain Pine, Arkansas, a company town of Dierks Lumbers Company. I now live in Hot Springs Village which was developed on 26 acres of Dierks Lumber Company land.

Orval Faubus was Governor of the State when I was in college and moved to Little Rock. I voted in the election that put Winthrop Rockefeller in Office.

Coy’s Steak House was a popular restaurant in Hot Springs. We went to Hot Springs just to eat there. One was opened in Little Rock where my husband proposed to me in 1985.

I remember the front-page pictures in the Arkansas Gazette of the gambling equipment that Lynn Davis, a state police officer, burned and buried in a gravel pit under the direction of Governor Rockefeller. They had raided four clubs and hauled away three truckloads of equipment. The only club named was the Bridge Street Club. The Vapors wasn’t among the four.

Ohio Club is still on Central and serves really good hamburgers. They have a small stage where live music is played, and people can dance on a really small dance floor. We went once with our daughter and saw Jackie B (Beaumont) and me (Lawrence Womack), a local music duo. 

Arkansas Gazette and Arkansas Democrat were the morning and evening papers in Little Rock. They merged later to become the Arkansas Democrat and Gazette. Now known as the Dem/Gaz.

The Southern Club now houses a wax museum and is across the street from the Arlington Hotel. 

Today you can visit the Gangsta’s Museum on Central. It used to be Franke’s Cafeteria which my Dad managed in the late Sixties.

The Stardust Las Vegas was the first casino I experienced. We were on a trip and stopped there on the way to the west coast. I was 26 and looked so young that I was carded before I could go in the casino. We took in their dinner show, Hallelujah Hollywood.

Thanks for going down Memory Lane with me. I think you will enjoy going down another Memory Lane with David Hill.

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