This week in Nevada, one of the biggest stories was the passing of brothel owner Dennis Hof. To many across the country and world, he was the face of the American brothel industry. This week we have decided to look back at some of the history of brothels in Nevada and show you all of our fantasy brothel chips that pay tribute to these establishments.
In 1971, the Mustang Ranch would become the first brothel to be licensed in the state of Nevada. What would follow later is 10 of the 17 counties in Nevada allowing legal brothels to operate. The Mustang Ranch became the most profitable brothel when it came to revenue and they outdid everyone else combined at that time in the 1970s.
Brothels were known to be in existence since the mining days of the 1800s, but the Mustang Ranch was the first one again to be licensed. Each country that allows brothels in Nevada has different licensing requirements. Licensing fees to operate can be anywhere between $100,000 to $200,000. Workers are required to register with the county sheriff and there are weekly checkups. And any county with more than 700,000 people in Nevada cannot have a licensed brothel.
As for the Mustang Ranch, it closed in 1999 when the federal government took it over due to tax fraud and other crimes. Its owner Joe Conforte fled to Brazil in 1991 to avoid charges and reportedly still lives there to this day. In 2010, a movie titled Love Ranch was made about the Mustang Ranch. Actor Joe Pesci of Casino and Goodfellas fame played Joe Conforte.
Many adult men and women come into our store in Downtown Las Vegas and enjoy looking at our brothel chips and some of the funny adult appropriate sayings on them. Some end up take one or two and others end up taking an entire bunch of them. For a great humor gift for the upcoming holidays or just to collect a few, you can purchase each brothel chip clicking each picture below. The majority of our brothel chips cost $3 a piece. Please note some of these images of the chips may not be safe for work.
We also have a state one that tributes the brothels as well you can purchase below:
