Vegas at Night! July 1963
(I will be out of town for the weekend, so it might take me longer than usual to respond to your comments. Enjoy your Labor Day holiday!)
I was lucky enough to find a nice bunch of vintage Las Vegas slides, showing Fremont Street's "Glitter Gulch" at night, when it really amazed!
The Golden Nugget had twice the neon and lights of other casinos, since it was right on the corner. That's two store fronts for the price of one! Rose Maddox is the entertainer... I happen to have a "Maddox Brothers and Rose" CD, and Rose was considered one of the most influential hillbilly/roots/country singers of her time. I'm not even really a fan of country music as a rule (don't take it personally, country fans, it's all a matter of taste), but I like Rose!
Right next door is this massive neon sign for the Lucky Casino. The font used on this sign has become associated with classic Las Vegas to the point where you can find similar examples in font packages today.
Who needs street lights when the buildings were so dazzling? Down at the end of the block is The Mint, with The Horseshoe adjacent to it. There's just something about these old over-the-top amazing displays of signage that can't be beat, even by the Vegas hotels and casinos of today! Imagine seeing them as they flashed and animated. Wowee!
I have more vintage Vegas at night for you coming up!
11 comments:
Ahhhh, Sin City never looked lovelier-!
Never been to Vegas then or now, but...wow. Even as slide images, these are amazing!
Never been either. I would've loved to have seen it in the 60s, but would've been too young to appreciate it back then anyway. Beautiful images!
The good ol' days.
I'm sure we'll see James Bond and Tiffany Case lurking in the background if we embiggen the pictures enough.
Nanook, yep, it looks pretty fantastic!
Rich T., I've only been once, and had an OK time… I'm not into losing money (also called gambling), but I did enjoy looking at the glitz and excess.
K. Martinez, I totally agree… I wish I could have been there back when it was the Rat Pack Vegas!
Snow White Archive, you said it!
Melissa… Tiffany Case?
I love vintage Vegas pics!!
Tiffany Case was the Bond girl played by Jill St. John in Diamonds are Forever (set mostly in Las Vegas).
Major, you are right, there was nothing to equal this sight in my memory. I remember Fremont Street before it became an "experience".
The lights were hot enough that you could feel them radiating at street level, the gaps between buildings at alleys etc. were cooler. Also, the neon tubes buzzed and made a sort of background noise to the sidewalk racket. I don't think there will ever be anything like it again. Just raw unashamed crass, stunning to behold.
@Melissa, +1 for Tiffany Case, but no love for poor Plenty O'Toole (who drowned in the pool), or Bambi and Thumper? One of the best Bonds, and the last with Sean Connery, as I recall. And the Bond car was a big fat 1973 Ford Mustang. I watch the film now just to see the scenes of Vegas-That-Once-Was.
Thanks Major, epic cool today.
JG
they should create "Old Las Vegas" so that we can enjoy it today....so many beautiful things are gone that I never got to see in person
Great pictures! LOVE old Vegas images! It's my favorite place in the world!
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