Casino Collectibles Association's 32nd annual show June 12-14 at South Point
This week on “Talk About Las Vegas With Ira,” Ira chats with Pam Ashlund, affectionately known as the “Queen of Swizzle.” Pam will be featured at the Casino Collectibles Association’s 32nd Annual Show, June 12–14 at South Point. In this colorful episode, she stirs up stories about her lifelong fascination—and yes, slight obsession—with swizzle sticks. What began with her mother’s lone swizzle stick from a Chicago lounge has become a sentimental and historic quest to preserve a once-overlooked piece of cocktail culture.
Pam dives into the unexpected depth of swizzle stick collecting: from rare airline and alcohol-branded sticks to mid-century Las Vegas treasures that transitioned from (unfortunately) whimsical 3D forms to flat (and cheaply made) designs. She opens up about her passion for preservation, the ingenious ways she stores and categorizes her vast collection (which includes thousands of sticks that “used to be in someone’s drink”), and how she manages the “household rule” that keeps her collecting in check—sort of. Pam also shares her dream of starting a swizzle stick museum, helping researchers, and why the Tiki revival is giving these tiny stirrers a new spotlight. A fun, nostalgic, and truly unique conversation not to be missed!
Pam Ashlund is a passionate collector and cultural preservationist who founded the Swizzle Stick Collectors Club in 2019. With more than 50,000 swizzle sticks in her personal archive, she has redefined these once-overlooked cocktail accessories as colorful artifacts of social, design, and entertainment history. Her work has been spotlighted in Punchdrink and Collectors Weekly, where she’s been praised for transforming everyday objects into vibrant pieces of pop culture.
Though she works professionally as a CFO in Los Angeles, Pam’s creative side flourishes through her “House of Swizzle” Instagram account and an upcoming book—told from the perspective of a swizzle stick. She also curates the club’s quarterly newsletter, weaving together vintage hospitality, design, and nostalgia. As writer Leah Mennies aptly noted, swizzle sticks are “its own form of accessible pop art—a bar’s DNA downloaded onto a slim piece of molded plastic”—and Pam is preserving every story they hold.