Polka Dot Haven Collection

Archive

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Boulder City/Hoover Dam Museum

Name/Title

Polka Dot Haven Collection

Entry/Object ID

MS.117

Scope and Content

Polka Dot Haven Collection MS 117 Polka Dot Haven Collection In 1952 Boulder City News editor Morry Zenoff wrote an editorial suggesting that a teenage hangout in the desert south of Boulder City, known as the Passion Pit, was a gathering spot for juvenile delinquents and possibly "dopers." In fact, the Passion Pit existed because Boulder City’s teenagers had no place in town where they could gather. Five of these teenagers wrote a letter to Zenoff complaining about his mischaracterization of them and urging fellow teens and the people of Boulder City to do something for the town’s young people. The result was Polka Dot Haven, a teen club opened in the summer of 1953 in an abandoned army barracks on Fifth Street which had been used by the city’s teens occasionally since at least 1947. Polka Dot Haven was a true community project. With help from local townspeople, Boulder City’s teenagers refurbished the army barracks, covering it with large painted red polka dots. There was a kitchen and soda fountain, juke box, and programs established in conjunction with Recreation Association. The one person most responsible for motivating the teens to create Polka Dot Haven and maintain its programs was Virginia "Teddy" Fenton. With Fenton’s help, Polka Dot Haven arranged for musicians from the Las Vegas Strip to provide bands and orchestras for dances. When international dancing stars Marge and Gower Champion were performing in Las Vegas, Fenton and the teens invited the couple out to Boulder City. The Champions performed for the teens, arranged contests and dance lessons through the Arthur Murray studio in Las Vegas, and donated 500 records for the club’s juke box. News stories about Polka Dot Haven appeared not only in the three local papers, but in the "Salt Lake Tribune," the "Family Weekly," and other national publications. The heyday of Polka Dot Haven lasted from 1953 until 1955 when Teddy Fenton re-married after the death of her first husband and moved to Los Angeles. Teens continued using the building until it was burned on April 10, 1961 by a careless smoker. A new teen building, constructed of cinder block and designed by Bureau of Reclamation engineer Emory Lockette, was built just south of Polka Dot Haven in 1964. The material in this collection includes news clippings, correspondence, stories and press releases, contracts, and publications. * * *

Collection

Manuscripts

Archive Items Details

Notes

MS 117 Polka Dot Haven Collection inventory [1 box] Box 1 of 1 ff no. 1. benefit for Elizabeth "Skippy" Raab [August 23, 1953] 2. Champion, Marge and Gower [1953-54] 3. Champion, Marge and Gower - "Let’s Dance …" [1954 (autographed)] 4. Champion, Marge and Gower - "Marge and Gower Champion" ["Cosmopolitan" (July 1953)] 5. contract - American Federation of Musicians, Las Vegas Local 369 [November 12, 1953] 6. correspondence [1953-59] 7. dances [1954-55] 8. fundraisers [1953-55] 9. organization [1953-54 and 1971] 10. parade floats [1953-54] 11. "Polka Dot Haven News" [1953-54] 12. skating rink [1953] 13. stories and press releases [1953] 14. Y-Knot Twirlers [1953-54] Folder 1 of 1 1. "Planting Layout [for the] Teenage Club & Girl Scout Day Camp Area, Boulder City, Nev." [January 1954 by Glenn D. Hendrix, landscape architect (18" x 27")] 2. design for Polka Dot Haven’s 1953 Damboree float entry with instructions and list of teenagers who will ride on the float [artist: Al Langley (12" x 18"] * * *

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Champion, Marge

Person or Organization

Champion, Gower

Person or Organization

Raab, Elizabeth "Skippy"

Person or Organization

Douglas, Don

Person or Organization

Fenton, Virginia "Teddy"

Person or Organization

Hendrix, Glenn D.

Person or Organization

Langley, Al

Related Entries

Notes

subject file [Children and Young People - Boulder City: Polka Dot Haven] photograph collection 0166 [Polka Dot Haven Collection]

Created By

admin@catalogit.app

Create Date

December 15, 2002

Updated By

bcmha.archives@gmail.com

Update Date

September 8, 2025