Vintage Unused Matchbook Glamorous Hot Spot CHI CHI STARLIGHT ROOM Palm Springs for Sale

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Vintage Unused Matchbook Glamorous Hot Spot CHI CHI STARLIGHT ROOM Palm Springs For Sale

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Vintage Unused Matchbook Glamorous Hot Spot CHI CHI STARLIGHT ROOM Palm Springs:
$24.98

Here is a vintage unused Palm Springs matchbook from Chi Chi Restaurant with iconic girlie image on the front and Starlite Room on the back.

This unused matchbook is in excellent condition and has history written all over it!

The matchbook is a testament to the glamorous nightlife of the Chi Chi Starlite Room, which could hold up to 750 people, and was a popular destination for locals and tourists alike. It was the place to be in the 1950’s to eat and be entertained by some of the biggest names of the day - Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Jerry Lewis, Lena Horn, Liberace and Elvis just to name a few.

With its eye-catching artwork and historical significance, this piece is sure to impress.

History of Chi Chi Club (Taken from the Desert Sun)

The establishment was originally opened as Freeman's Desert Grill in 1936 by local resident, Jack Freeman. The business began as little more than a small bar in an even smaller building.

Schuman, originally Freeman's business partner, took control of the place by 1938, renaming it the Chi Chi and adopting a memorable logo of a bronzed woman, sans blouse, which was used on everything from dinner plates to playing cards. The image is an oil-on-velvet painting done by the artist Leeteg of Tahiti entitled "Hina Rapa."

Here, he grew a small bar into a substantial nightclub complete with a vibrant theater that could hold 750 people — known as the Starlite Room — with an additional capacity for 250 guests in the dining room, called the Blue Room.

The Starlite Room opened in October 1948 with future Palm Springs resident Desi Arnaz and his orchestra — totaling seventeen performers — christening the iconic stage with energetic Latin rhythms.

However, the stage was not the only place to behold the well-known stars of the era. Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, and Lucille Ball could be found in the audience, sharing in the revelry.

In October 1959, after purchasing 40 acres of land at the corner of Indian and Vista Chino, Schuman and his brother Mark Schulman — Irwin dropped the L from his name — opened the Riviera Hotel. Not long after, in 1961, Schuman sold the Chi Chi, which would prove to be the beginning of the end for the once infamous nightclub.

After changing hands several times, the space was used for a two-night performance of "The Unsinkable Molly Brown," as a cabaret club showing adult movies, a wax museum, and lastly a spaghetteria.

In the late 1970s, the Chi Chi building was divided into a restaurant, coffee shop, and 7,000 square feet of retail space. Finally, in 1984, the building was demolished to make way for the expansion of the now razed Desert Fashion Plaza.