I know there are plenty of fans of vintage Las Vegas out there in GDB land; and why the heck not, Glitter Gulch was awesome back in 1958!
Here's a great shot looking up (or is it down?) Fremont Street, with Vegas Vic watching over all of the gamblers like a benevolent deity. The Silver Palace, The Mint, The Pioneer Club, The Golden Nugget, The Lucky Strike Club... I love those old casinos!
AND… it looks even better at night. If I had a choice of visiting Vegas in the 1950's, or maybe later on in the Rat Pack 1960's era, I would have a tough time deciding… but I think I'd choose the 1950's.
To whom it may concern: your old pal Major Pepperidge will be returning home tonight! I look forward to reading your comments and to the piles of money-filled envelopes that you have all been sending to my lair while I've been away.
Oh, Major-!! Where's my time machine-??!! (Someone call Rod Taylor, immediately...)
ReplyDeleteThanks for these swell images - and welcome home.
I totally agree, Nanook! I just want to step right thru this screen and into the past...look at all that neon! :)
ReplyDeleteThe lovely auto we see right up front in the bright sunshine is the same as my parents had back then. It was a hand me down from my grandparents; originally it was a flat ugly gray, and Mom and Dad had it painted a beautiful cream!
Good to have you home, Major. Hope you had a good time wherever you were! :-)
Once again Nanook is on the mark. Fire up the time machine!! This is a great era in sin city,long before the strip took over in popularity. Might even have to coax Yvette Mimieux (weena) to come along for a stroll down Fremont Street. Hubba Hubba
ReplyDeleteP.S.-Welcome back Major. I'm sorry but my lair address book is a little messy and I accidently sent your money-filled envelope to Dr. Evil. Mini me is probably already buying twix and fun-dip. My bad.
ReplyDeleteVintage Vegas is the best!
ReplyDeleteIt's great to have you back, Major. Hope you had a nice time.
@Nancy-
ReplyDeleteI should've mentioned that fine motor vehicle "bequeathed" from your grandparents is a 1957 Ford - let's just say a Fairlane model. Happy motoring-!
WEEEEE-NA!
ReplyDeleteSure, Vegas has changed a lot, but when I finally got there for the first time in the early 2000's I thought that some of the most important things were still the same.
ReplyDeleteEverything still reeks of cigarette smoke.
There's still lots of stuff that looks like huge versions of other stuff.
Cheap booze and food still abounds.
There are still slot machines in the bathrooms and at the pharmacy counters (I call it "The Vagas Copay System).
People still aren't as cool as the Rat Pack, Vegas is where they make their best effort pretending to be instead of the half-arsed one they make at home.
It was the place I was introduced to teensy bottles of Tabasco sauce on room service trays. OK, that one's personal, but it counts for a lot.
Ten words: Girls wearing feathers, with bags under their eyes, at lunctime.
However, I did catch myself occasionally looking up at the exterior walls of Circus Circus, *just in case* Sean Connery and Jill St, John happened to be climbing up them at the moment. You just never know.
ReplyDeleteNanook, all I need to get that time machine working is a teaspoon of Einsteinium, but Target is always out! Thanks for the welcome, I had fun but am glad to be home. It's probably going to take me a day or two to go back through the past week's posts and respond to the comments, but I am looking forward to it.
ReplyDeleteNancy, let's just say that the place I visited had a very large apple associated with it! I'm glad you liked these Vegas shots… neat that you recognize the same car your parents had.
Alonzo, Yvette Mimieux in that little toga thing would be OK with me! As for the money, I am sure Dr. Evil will forward it back to me. Won't he?
K. Martinez, vintage Vegas really is fun! Like so many places it seemed to reach some sort of pinnacle in the 50's and 60's. It's still an amazing place, but I'm not much into gambling, so I don't really go.
Nanook again, I don't get how you (and the other car nuts) can tell one car from another. I swear, keeping all those various grilles, headlights, bumpers, and other details straight just doesn't work for my brain.
TokyoMagic!, are you OK? ;-)
Melissa, I have only been to LV once, and while I enjoyed it, your observations seem spot-on! Especially the cigarette smoke, ugh. I'm not a big drinker, so the cheap booze didn't do much for me. And those cheapie buffets also turned me off - food under a sneeze guard, arg. I think I am more attracted to the idea of Vegas than I am to the reality! (Which Bond movie had him visiting Sin City?)
Diamonds are Forever.
ReplyDeleteI found a lot of cheap food outside of the buffets, too. The resorts I stayed at had their big, fancy restaurants, but they also usually had coffee shops tucked away with big, affordable 24-hour breakfasts. And some of the bars had cheap pub-grub that turned out to be meal-sized.
ReplyDeleteMelissa, I'm not sure I've seen that one! There are gaps in my Bond knowledge, obviously. Coffee shops sound more like something I would like; but I have no plans to go back to LV!
ReplyDeleteMy man Pepper. Are you sure of this date September 1958 for the top photo?
ReplyDeleteSir Lung, I just checked, and the slide is date-stamped (by Kodak) with September 1958. Why, does something not check out?
ReplyDeleteIt does. Just trying to determine the exact time Pioneer Club had this blue sans serif type on their sign. Thanks.
ReplyDelete