360 Vegas

I’ve said this before: if I had a time machine, I know exactly what I’d do with it.  No, I wouldn’t steal a sports almanac or try to get my parents to kiss at the big dance. I’ve already graduated high school, so I wouldn’t use it to pass my history final, either. No, I would head back in time at 88.8 miles per hour to the Copa Room at the Sands in 1960, to see the greatest show one could see for $5.95. Dinner included. Like many of you, I have a decidedly romantic view of “old Vegas.” A time where women were ladies and comps were truly comps. When men wore hats (thanks for nothing, JFK).  And when you could see a legend performing in the lounge. Often for free. I also have a decidedly romantic view of the mid-century crooners. Dean Martin, with a voice dark and syrupy like bourbon, and a total cheeseball when live on stage. Sammy Davis Jr., the most talented of them all, who could sing, dance, and act all his contemporaries under the table. And of course, the man himself: the Chairman of the Board, the on

Random Vegas Tropicana’s nickname was the “Tiffany of the Strip” because it was said to be the shape of a necklace when viewed from an arial perspective. TwitPic of the week This is another property I have an irrational affinity for.  Like the Fontainebleau today, the Landmark was a project that stalled for almost a decade before it was completed.  Unfortunately, she wasn’t finished by someone who had a passion for her and therefore she struggled.  Once it did open it was no longer the tallest building in the city so the cache of that concept was lost.  But still, something about her casino in the sky that just sounds appealing.  Probably why it still exists for high rollers in properties like Encore.  Regardless, I never got to see the Landmark and therefore she will remain idealized to me, like she is in this picture shared by @summacorp, which is probably better than the actual memories I would have made. News LVCVA 2023 Visitor Profile Study New Airport Synagogue & Hotel Neon Museum Tropicana

The Tropicana was a unique property in the evolution of Las Vegas.  While ownership was consolidated all over the city, it managed to remain independent, relatively speaking.  When older properties on the strip were imploded so new projects could replace them, Tropicana remained and instead was reimagined.  Step inside and it was clear this was not another Super Casino. The property was able to capture the charm of old Vegas while evolving to keep up with modern tastes.  The perpetual David to the corporate Goliaths that dominate the strip landscape, Tropicana stood as a beacon of hope that there will always be options in the market working hard to take care of guests in ways only independent competition can, even if it requires the protection of anti-trust regulations to do so. If your interested in learning more about the Tropicana, check out... Pinterest lvstriphistory.com Vegas Seven - Tropicana New Era Vegas Seven - Tiffany of the Strip Vegas Seven - Stained Glass Ceiling Masterpiece TheMobMus

Random Vegas Sammy Davis Jr was supposed to be in 3 major movies about Vegas. We all know he was in the original Ocean’s 11 but did you know he was supposed to be cast as Elvis’ sidekick in the movie Viva Las Vegas? But producers thought that much star power would distract from the story so he didn’t get the part. The third was Diamonds are Forever, a movie he actually played himself in but it got cut. It can now be seen as a part of the movie’s deleted scenes. TwitPic of the week What’s special about this picture, shared by@travis758, is what its missing…Treasure Island. Right down in front, still a huge parking lot on the strip. The next glaring omission is the strip as we know it south of Caesars today. Here we still see the Dunes and their massive golf course taking up real estate all the way down to where NYNY is today. It’s 1990 so we see Excalibur sitting down there with Hacienda, Tropicana and Marina all alone because it doesn’t yet have the company of the MGM Grand as we know it today. The Marina won

Random Vegas  Vegas has been attempting to go smoke free since the early 90s.  The first casino to ban cigarette smoking was at Silver City Casino in 1991.  Vegas Pic of the week  It was the original mega sign.  Not quite a super pylon but big enough that it was a statement piece.  The champaign tower at Flamingo, shared by @_GrandPaD, stood as a beacon for the property for years while she was a low-rise building.  The cylindrical structure lit up at night with glowing bubbles that cresecendoed into the revolving name of the property at the top.  Sadly it was removed by Kirk Kerkorian who decided to push the property closer to the road to pull in more foot traffic.  It was replaced in 1968 with the iconic super pylon known as the Flamingo plumb signage.  News Where It's At Movie Bugsy The Documentary Best Places to Stay In Vegas Summerlin Studios Kennel Club Suite

Nothing special is probably a very good way to describe the Royal Nevada. Not that it wasn’t nice or well located, it just wasn’t memorable. Think Monte Carlo Vegas and its luxury on a budget theme. Mix that with the opening of 4 new Vegas properties in 1955 and the answer to the question is yes, Vegas was over built.

Random Vegas The office of Sam “Ace” Rothstein and the Tangiers sports book in Martin Scorsese’s Casino was filmed on the site of an unopened casino at the Jockey Club (Vintagelasvegas.com) Vegas Pic of the week This is a photo I didn’t even know existed and it blew my mind when I found it, like I’m sure it’s going to blow yours.  It’s a picture of the Dunes, mid-evolution from a motel to a high rise.  I found it at vintagelasvegas.com.  Here we still see all the original façade with the Diamond of the Dunes behind it under construction.  It wouldn’t be much longer before the sultan was relocated to the golf course, just off the freeway.  That is until he caught fire due to an electrical short or something, I can’t remember.  I’m just psyched that this picture exits and I can share it with all of you.  Also, it’s not lost on me that this picture isn’t breathtaking it’s just a moment in time I’m grateful we have. News Downtown Beer Festival A’s partnering with Neon Museum Hollywood 2.0 Flat Rate Cabs Bally’s

Premium Content Preview   Benny Binion is a Vegas legend.  Many of the policies and procedures he put in place to run his casinos are standard operating procedure today.  Making everyone feel like they were someone was the key to establishing loyalty and more importantly, return business.  At Binion’s, you knew you were getting a good gamble with a fair shake.   For more information about Benny Binion, check out the following lvstriphistory.com  The Players: The Men Who Made Las Vegas  The First 100  Sharks in the Desert  I Do My Own Damn Killin'  Blood Aces  Pinterest  BattleBorn Pins  Vintage Vegas Shirts 

Random Vegas Many of YESCO’s contracts for the signs it manufactured were lease agreements that included service contracts for the life of the lease.  When the lessee eventually removed the sign, the contract stipulated that it be returned to YESCO which either recycled the signs parts or retired the sign to a designated boneyard lot at the outskirts of Las Vegas (Spectacular – A History of Las Vegas Neon) Vegas Pic of the week This week’s winner from VintageLasVegas.com is another snapshot in time of Vegas under development.  Specifically, the Mint and Lucky Casino.  The date is April 18th, 1963 and the Mint tower has broken ground behind the casino at the bottom of the picture.  Right across the street, in between the Golden Nugget and Nevada Club, Lucky Casino is installing their record-breaking marquee frontage that will reach 160 feet tall once complete.  It would only have the crown of tallest sign in the city for a year before the Dune’s 180-foot Super Pylon was built on the strip. News Tropicana Stad

Random Vegas In the late 1940s, the state of Nevada’s slogan was “If you can’t do it at home, come to Nevada”. (Spectacular – A History of Las Vegas Neon) Twitpic of the week Icons, paired together in a beautiful union.  The Sands cylindrical hotel tower, the classic, original, Sands egg crate marquee with the name Frank Sinatra on it as the headliner in the Copa Room.  For a time, it didn’t get any more iconic than these brands together.  @Summacorp shared a lovely photo of this moment in time, specifically Nov of 1966, just after Caesars Palace opened News Smoke and Mirrors New Vegas

Random Vegas In 2003, Las Vegas tried to buy a commercial slot during the Super Bowl to promote tourism to the city.  The NFL stepped in, citing a contract that allowed it to reject any ad related to sports betting, even though the spot didn’t include any overt references to gambling (Forbes) Twitpic of the week It’s amazing to think that today, this is all Circa.  The Las Vegas Club, Golden Goose, Glitter Gulch and Sassy Sally, shared by @_GrandPaD, gone.  Granted Sassy Sally was Mermaid’s at the time of her demise but that’s beside the point.  The point is look how much things change in Vegas, all the time.  On a side note, this is the best picture I’ve seen showing that Vegas Vickie and Sassy Sally are not the same thing.  The typical POV shot of Sally’s and this area makes it almost look like Vickie is sitting on top of the Sassy Sally sign, hence the misconception that Vickie used to be Sally. News Super Bowl Success Tropicana Stadium F1 2024 Improvements      

This is one of those projects that I would have loved to see make it to the strip; and who knows, we may still get it one day.  Yes a space theme has failed before in Las Vegas but come on, it was Bob Stupak behind it.  Just like Luxor before it, I wonder how long those themed attractions will last.  Another problem with a space themed resort is how quickly things can look dated. $5 billion dollars is a crazy price tag for a concept that is clearly targeting the middle class. Only time will tell if this concept comes to market but considering its Vegas, I wouldn’t bet on it.

  We recently released the 360 Vegas show review for X-Country, and Mrs Jaydubs complained that we spent half the review talking about Fantasy.  I can’t help it, though. Fantasy is the litmus test by which all other Vegas topless revues will be judged for a long time. Note: I have in the past referred to Fantasy as the Gold Standard of Vegas topless revues, and thought I was very clever for coming up with that. Then I saw the same words on a Fantasy poster on the way into Luxor and realized I was just subconsciously plagiarizing something I’ve seen before.  To quote my father, “When someone steals your idea, it’s plagiarism. When you steal someone else’s idea, it’s inspiration.”  I’ll run with that.       If you aren’t aware, Fantasy is a nightly topless revue show at the Luxor.  The production dates back to 1999, and is the oldest running topless show in Vegas.  It was originally titled “Midnight Fantasy,” and it had a 12 am showtime to match.  In 2001, Luxor dropped the midnight showtime in exchange for a

Random Vegas Built in 1982, the 2-story building that was the Oasis Casino @Dunes was supposed to be comprised of two components, a casino on the 1st floor and a restaurant on the 2nd floor.  The restaurant never opened and the space remained unused until its destruction in 1993 (vintagelasvegas.com) Twitpic of the week Here is another @summacorp picture that mesmerizes me with all the history going on.  For example, we know that this is 1968 because they are working on the fountains in front of the new Circus Circus casino. You’ll notice that fountain 5 is being deconstructed.  That’s because they are moving the carousel marquee from the left of the fountains to that location on the right; all so they can make room to build Slots-A-Fun. Next door to that is Westward Ho still 3 years away from adding a casino in 1971.  And next to that is the mammoth Stardust 1,000 motel units all lined up neatly like an OCD dream come true.  If you look to the top left you’ll see both the Stardust casino and the 12-story ex

Random Vegas After a 4 month remodeling and a rebranding, in 1963, Lucky Casino, formerly known as Lucky strike, reopened with the largest sign in the city of Las Vegas at 160 feet tall.  It held that titled until it was surpassed in 1964 by the Dunes turret marquee towering 180 feet tall.  Lucky Casino is now the middle part of Golden Nugget Fremont St frontage. Twitpic of the week So much development goodness in this picture it’s not hard to see why @summacorp shared it.  Set in what looks like 1993 based on the various projects in various states of progress.  Front and center, we see the massive MGM Grand theme park and Grand Garden Arena under construction.  Beyond that we can see Luxor is also still under construction.  Noticeably missing from the landscape is NYNY and Mandalay Bay.  Here we still see Hacienda occupying the space Mandalay Bay would one day call home. News Tropicana Closing Fontainebleau Problems Flamingo Restoration Fontainebleau Signage 

Random Vegas The Caesars Palace marquee has caught on fire twice.  In both cases, Tom Jones was the featured artist on the billboard at the time (vintagelasvegas.com) Twitpic of the week Ever wonder what it looked like when your Grandparents were on vacation in Vegas.  Well, thanks to @_GrandPaD, we can relive that moment poolside at the Stardust in the 1950s.  How do I know it’s the Stardust, you say?  Easy, look at the top of the building.  You can see the unmistakable outline of the original Stardust marquee, at least the back of it.  Something about the idea of my grandparents chasing each other around like I chase my wife gives me an ear-to-ear grin, as it should. News A’s Fumble Sibella Justice Redneck Escape Room  Rio's Marquee Update  Glass Bar @Planet Hollywood  Hard Rock Window Tint 

Random Vegas In Vegas history, 3 signs have been knocked down due to high winds.  The first was the Silver Slipper in May of 1978.  The second, in May of 1991, was Bob Stupak’s Vegas World sign.  The third was the Hilton sign, the tallest free-standing sign in the world at 365 feet, had the top portion of the sign collapse in July of 94.  The incident caused designers to be questioned how a sign designed to withstand winds of over 100 mph fail at 70 mph.  The sign was repaired, then totally replaced in 1997 with the sign they have today at Westgate, the current tallest free standing advertising sign in the world at 279 feet high. (News3lv.com) Twitpic of the week When installed in 1967 the Frontier, formerly the Last Frontier and, for a time, the New Frontier, was the tallest sign in the world at 184 feet tall.  It had 16-foot-tall letters and a giant 30 foot tall “F” logo resting at the top.  The sign contained more than a mile of fluorescent tubing, a mile and half of neon and more than 23,000 light bulbs.

Patreon Exclusive Content   Many regard Jay Sarno as the father of the themed casino as well as the mind behind family friendly Las Vegas.  His contributions to the strip, Caesars Palace and Circus Circus, are complete opposites on the theme and customer base scale.  While he was many things, a womanizer and a gambling addict, no one can dispute that he was also a visionary.  Jay Sarno was exactly what Vegas wanted during a time when all its current owners were being scrutinized by attorney general Bobby Kennedy; a legit guy with no previous connection to organized crime.   If you're interested in learning more about Jay Sarno, check out Grandissimo  The Players: The Men Who Made Las Vegas  Sharks in the Desert  lvstriphistory.com  Pinterest  Battle Born Pins  Vintage Vegas Shirts     

Random Vegas A typical arcade game makes about as much per day as a typical slot machine (Vital Vegas) Twitpic of the week Here @summacorp shares a time before the Golden Nugget consumed all of its western casino competition to acquire the Fremont footprint they have today.  It was also the initial incarnation of their greatest exterior façade with the bullnose corner of Fremont and 2nd St, known today as Casino Center Blvd.  Knowing what it would become it looks kind of cute.  Especially next to what was, for a time, the tallest sign on Fremont St at Lucky Casino standing at 153 feet high.  Beyond that you can see the adorable Californian club ending the block the Nugget absorbed.  If you really want to, you can also see Vegas Vic at the Pioneer Club and the Golden Gate marquees in the distance.  All that to avoid looking at the high waisted gentleman in the foreground. News 360VV14 Rio’s Canteen Superbowl Details Potential New Black Book Member Wynn West Update Nevada Craft Beverage Passport Palazzo’s New

Random Vegas One day of running a 90-second ad intermittently on the Sphere is $750k (Vital Vegas) Twitpic of the week Magical…well, to someone like me this is magical.  To the layman this is an old picture of Caesars Palace,  shared by @Summacorp, before the retheming in the late 90s/early 2000s.  This is so mesmerizing because you don’t often see pictures of Caesars during this time, in this case 1982 and without the lights turned on.  This was a time before I knew Vegas so to me, it’s like a magic trick.  I can still visit this property even though it doesn’t look like this anymore, with the Sarno blocks.  Sarno blocks are affectionately named after Jay Sarno who introduced them to the market with Caesars Palace.  Those are concrete blocks replicating latticework that allows the frontage to look uniform as well as back lit.  This style of block is still in use today at Circus Circus, mostly on Industrial Road. News 360 Vegas Vacation 14  More Vintage AI Firearm Jackassary Copperfield Appearance Coming in