The Riviera Hotel Original Entrance

When I was a kid, Life Magazine published a weekly magazine.  They employed some great photographers as well as good writers.

Life Magazine went the way of the dinosaur and the buffalo but its wonderful photo archive has been preserved thanks to a partnership with Google.

Here is what the entrance to the Riviera looked like in 1955 (Gotta love that mid-century modern facade and don't you wish it still looked like that today):

 I have recently done a major cleaning of my office and discovered a box (put away for safe keeping, no doubt) that is filled with slides, postcards, old magazines, etc.

After the first of the year, I will start scanning them and add them to the blog.  I htink you will enoy them.

In the meantime, I will be adding more photos from the Life/Google Photo Archive until the end of the year, so check back for updates.

For more history on the Riviera Hotel check out this link:

http://classiclasvegas.squarespace.com/a-brief-history-of-the-strip/?currentPage=21

The Frontier Sign Comes Down

Steve Wynn put up the money to have the iconic Frontier sign taken down so that the sign would not block the view of his latest hotel-casino tower, Encore.  Wynn considered the sign an "eyesore".

The sign, a 186-feet tall, was taken down in sections.  We are still trying to confirm if the sign will be donated to the Neon Museum.  From what we understand, that decision has yet to be made.

The sign was one of the oldest still standing on the famed Las Vegas Strip and harkened back to the days when the giant neon signs could be seen down the highway for miles.  A combination of flicker bulbs and neon, the sign was designed by Bill Clark of Ad-Art. The sign contained more than a mile of flourescent tubing, a mile and a half of neon and more than 23,000 light bulbs. The 30- foot tall F at the top of the sign rotated on a specially built mechanism. An enormous caisson was installed to keep the sign from toppling over in a Las Vegas windstorm.

For more information on the history of the Frontier Hotel:

http://classiclasvegas.squarespace.com/display/ShowJournal?moduleId=1093544&currentPage=4

Special thanks to RoadsidePictures for letting us use this image.

Fabulous Las Vegas Sign soon to be 50!

Our good friend Betty Willis had no idea when she designed the "little sign" almost 50 years ago that it would become such an endearing icon.

From our friend Kristen Petersen at the Las Vegas Sun:

Tourists from all over the world pose for photos under the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign.

The iconic image of mid-20th century Las Vegas, designed to greet visitors driving into town from California, has been reproduced on, well, nearly everything.

It turns 50 next year.

To show that it has become far more than a clever marketing tool, Clark County officials are working to have the sign listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The mostly honorary title would link it to other listed relics and sites in Clark County, including Hoover Dam, the Huntridge Theatre, the Spanish Trail and the Las Vegas Mormon Fort.

The listing wouldn’t protect the sign, which is owned by Young Electric Sign Co., but it would bring attention to one of the city’s greatest cultural heritages: neon.

“It’s a good way to make people aware of historic resources in this town, especially signs, which are so few and so precious,” says Dorothy Wright, program administrator for the county’s parks and recreation department, who is heading the project.

In some cases, she says, they are the only physical evidence of our past.

Wright says paperwork for the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign, designed in 1959 by Betty Willis, will be submitted next month to the State Historic Preservation Office.

Staff members at that office will look over the submission, then send it to the National Park Service, which oversees the program that recognizes sites, structures and other elements of historical, architectural, archaeological or cultural significance.

“It certainly has national, if not international significance,” Wright says of the sign.

Owners of structures listed as national historic sites are not required to preserve them. Green Shack — the area’s oldest restaurant when it closed in 1999 — was listed when it was demolished. Moulin Rouge, also listed, was never restored and preserved.

Young Electric Sign, however, ardently maintains the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign, and the county is building a small parking lot on the median to allow for safer photo shoots.

Las Vegas Historic Preservation Week, Part 2

Okay, here is the line-up for Saturday, May 17th.  Two weeks ago, Jack LeVine and I were joking that May is the busiest month for events and the first weekend in May was a whirlwind of activity.

But this Saturday will definitely be the official winner of cool May events.  It is Cultural History Day and so here is your chance to learn about the different facets of Las Vegas history, learn about preservation, listen to music, see a mini-film festival of documentaries on Las Vegas, take tours of some very cool (and not often open to the public without appointment) places and experience the Helldorado Parade.

Plan to get up early, take plenty of water for driving around the Valley to the various events and settle back later in the evening with a Parade.  It'll be cool (well, probably not the weather), we promise. 

This Saturday, May 17th the line-up is: 

 

The Neon Museum is going to open their boneyard and offer hourly tours on Saturday, May 17th from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm.  Normally tours are $15 but on this Saturday the tours are only $5 a person.  So get up early and get to the boneyard to see the wonderful signs they have display and perhaps more importantly, the work on the La Concha (they are doing a wonderful job of putting it back together).

The Neon Boneyard is at the intersection of Las Vegas Blvd North and McWilliams Street.  Parking is available across the street at the Reed Whipple Cultural Center.

 

The very endangered and venerable Huntridge Theater will be open for limited hourly tours from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.  Come learn about the history of the building, what you can do to help save it and ensure that the community has a voice in what happens to the building.  And a chance to see the interior of the building for the first time in over five years.  How cool is that?

This event is sponsored by The Friends of Classic Las Vegas and the Save the Huntridge Community Group.  The Huntridge Theater is located at the corner of Maryland Parkway and E. Charleston Blvd.

 

The Las Vegas Springs Preserve is hosting the Cultural History Fair this year.  Admission to the Fair, its music festival and its Las Vegas Film Festival is free.  The Cultural History Fair runs from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Inside the Learning Center there will the various historic preservation groups, museums and archaelogical groups.  The Friends of Classic Las Vegas will be passing out information on preservation, history and lots more.

The Las Vegas Film Festival will offer a variety of documentaries on Las Vegas and Nevada history.  Included in the sceenings is our own "The Story of Classic Las Vegas". 

At 1:40 pm, there is a showing on the history of Helldorado, "Helldorado Through the Years" which features home movies and more of past Helldorado parades.  Directly following that, Dennis McBride offers some very rare home movies of the Las Vegas Strip,  historian and preservationist Bob Stoldal follows with  two short films on Places that Aren't There Anymore.   Our own "Story of Classic Las Vegas" follows Bob at about 3:45.

The Music Festival includes Paiute Pow-Wow dancers and much more.

A great way to experience our history and our culture. 

The Las Vegas Springs Preserve is located at the corner of Valley View Blvd and Meadows Lane. 

 

The Junior League of Las Vegas is going to have the historic Morelli House open for free tours between 1:00 pm and 4:00 pm.  If you have never been inside this wonderful mid-century modern house, don't miss this opportunity.  The house was saved by the Junior League from the old Desert Inn Golf Course and Country Club.  Restored with many of its original fixtures, appliances and wonderful interpretative book by our pal Alan Hess, be sure to say "hey" to DeeDee Nave for us!

The Morelli House is located at the corner of Bridger and 9th Street, across the street from the Las Vegas Academy (formerly the original Las Vegas High School).

 

End the day with us (and everyone else) at the Helldorado Parade!

The Parade is free and goes across 4th Street from Gass to Stewart Street.  It all starts at 7:00 pm and ends at 9:00 pm.  There are floats, cars, musical bands and more.  Get there early to get a good seat.

The Friends of Classic Las Vegas is in the parade with our President, Ben Litivinoff and his classic  pink Cadillac.   Riding with Ben will be former Lt. Governor Lorraine Hunt and her husband Dennis Bono as well as yours truly and some other special guests.

So, plan out your day and don't miss any of these great events.