Hi Quality Vintage Las Vegas Photos

I just want to share this site with everybody. Unfortunately, I was not born during 90% of these photos, but I love all of these photos. My favorite subject in Vegas is the Rat Pack and the "good old" era in vegas. I'm sure some of you will get nostalgic and enjoy these photos.


http://vintagelasvegas.tumblr.com/

Great link, THANKS !

Tremendous link. Only complaint is I wish they were in date order.

Seeing the pic from the mid 70's of the
Strip, it reminds me of why I always
stayed DT. The Strip was resort hotels,
you stayed in a hotel and played in
their casino, there was nothing else
to do. DT you had 12-15 joints to
play at in 3 city blocks. It was great
then and it's still great now.

I am amazed by all the buffet prices. Would you say the food at restaurants were better back then or now?

Quote: SiegfriedRoy

I am amazed by all the buffet prices. Would you say the food at restaurants were better back then or now?

Far far better now, no comparison. The only
really good deal were the cheap breakfast
buffets, compared to now. They haven't changed
much, breakfast food hasn't changed.

For dinner, it was mostly American food at
the buffets. You didn't see a Mexican section,
and Chinese, and Italian, like you do now.
It was roast beef and ham and fried chicken and
meatballs and pork chops. Buffets in general
had half the food choices that they offer now.

It started changing in the late 80's and into
the 90's it really took off. In the 70's, as you
can see from the marquees in the pics, the
shows were mostly well known comics and
singers. You checked in about 5pm at a Strip
hotel, took a nap, gambled awhile, dinner, go
to bed. Next day it was breakfast, gamble
a bit, a couple hours by the pool under an
umbrella reading a book. A short nap, dinner
in a jacket and tie, gamble a bit, see the show
in your hotel, gamble some more, off to bed.
Check out on Sunday.

You never left the hotel, that was the point.
They had shops, everything you needed.
If you were lucky, in the mid 70's, it was
Sinatra or Dean or Bobby Vinton you were
seeing. Everybody played Vegas.

Quote: SiegfriedRoy

I am amazed by all the buffet prices. Would you say the food at restaurants were better back then or now?

The food is much, much better now. I remember the food at the Circus Circus buffet looked like the prison slop you'd see on TV. Now, LV has five star joints, and celebrity chefs all over the place. You have to pay for it though. No more 99 cent Steak and Eggs...

Quote: Ayecarumba

The food is much, much better now. I remember the food at the Circus Circus buffet looked like the prison slop you'd see on TV. Now, LV has five star joints, and celebrity chefs all over the place. You have to pay for it though. No more 99 cent Steak and Eggs...

your post reminded me of this scene from vegas vacation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtkpTrvwQ6c&list=RDKtkpTrvwQ6c#t=5

Pays Jackpot $1.00, lol.

http://vintagelasvegas.tumblr.com/image/132047079409
^This picture of El Cortez is my favorite so far... ten pages in.

I have a question for all the old timers. I know back in the days, they did not have players card and it was at the discretion of the pit boss. Would you say you were comp'd better back then or now?

Quote: ahiromu

Pays Jackpot $1.00, lol.

http://vintagelasvegas.tumblr.com/image/132047079409
^This picture of El Cortez is my favorite so far... ten pages in.

I only made it thru about ten pages as well, so far.
The cars are cool.

Quote: SiegfriedRoy

I have a question for all the old timers. I know back in the days, they did not have players card and it was at the discretion of the pit boss. Would you say you were comp'd better back then or now?

Back then and it had nothing to do with your hourly average. It did, many times have to do with your buy in, your relationship with the pit, or making a few larger bets. Do I have to tell you how attractive women made out? For the rest of us, play for an hour or so then ask for a comp. The pit bosses carried pads just for that reason and they rarely said no. Bonus: if you didn't want to give them your information, they wouldn't hound you for it. You still got the comp.

Here's a link to the photo archives of UNLV.

Most are grouped by casino name.

http://gaming.unlv.edu/v_museum/photoarchive/

Really enjoying that tumblr archive. I did note that there's a sort feature by casino available at the bottom.

Love this link! The only problem is I just used up an hour of my day, haven't come close to viewing everything, and I have a work deadline looming! Have to get back to the pics later.

Quote: MidwestAP

Love this link! The only problem is I just used up an hour of my day, haven't come close to viewing everything, and I have a work deadline looming! Have to get back to the pics later.

haha. I should have put a warning label...It does suck lots of time. I've spent close to 3 hours viewing everything.

I don't think this caption is 100 % correct, anyone care to guess ?

Las Vegas Strip c. 1978. The major intersection at Flamingo Rd, with Desert Inn (now Bellagio) in the lower left, Barbary Coast under construction in the center, Flamingo Capri’s Imperial Tower visible rear right, and Galaxy Motel on the lower right.

My first trip to Vegas wasn't until after the Desert Inn was torn down but even I know that:

Question to all the folks who remember the "golden" days of Vegas. My friend and I were wondering, despite Vegas being a desert, why were lots of the LV themes Middle Eastern? Like Aladdin, Dunes, Desert Inn, Sahara, Sands. Was it a fad that was sexy back then? Just curious.

Quote: SiegfriedRoy

Question to all the folks who remember the "golden" days of Vegas. My friend and I were wondering, despite Vegas being a desert, why were lots of the LV themes Middle Eastern? Like Aladdin, Dunes, Desert Inn, Sahara, Sands. Was it a fad that was sexy back then? Just curious.

Short answer to your question is that it probably had a lot to do with the fact that Las Vegas itself was basically in the middle of the desert. A desert fantasy works pretty easily.

The subject of themes in Vegas is a probably whole topic unto itself, and I find it pretty fascinating, especially when the two themes are mixed up seemingly at random. The first resort built around a theme was Last Frontier Hotel, the second resort on the strip (1942). The name, architecture, decor were all built around a fantasy of the old west. Last Frontier opened an area called the "Last Frontier Village" next to the casino, which was supposedly a big influence on Disneyland.

Flamingo in the late 40s, followed by Riviera and Tropicana, seemed to skip the theme in favor of pure luxury – I think the Sands follows this model as well – but most of the 50s was very heavy into themes. These resorts with the middle eastern themes all came along in the 50s-early 60s.

Stardust was all about the space age. Even Last Frontier rebranded itself in the mid 50s in the modernist "New Frontier." This is where it gets funny: Last Frontier and New Frontier existed side by side for a decade. Stardust also went into Tiki culture so you have Easter Island moai status next to images of stars and planets /post/147611025409/ (Tiki popped up again in a half dozen other places around town.)

Caesars Palace in 1966 elevated the fantasy to another level, and most of the resorts in the last 50 years are still following this model.

Any good vintage interior shots of a casino?

I imagine they are much harder to find. I'd also like a photo of a security catwalk that they used to position over gaming tables.

CHS,

Welcome to the forum! Great first post, thanks.

I'm sure she was hired because of her winning smile.

Here's one of my favorites:



"Would anybody like a peanut?"

Quote: Ayecarumba

Here's one of my favorites:



"Would anybody like a peanut?"

Well one of them is a proven racist.

Quote: Boz

Quote: Ayecarumba

Here's one of my favorites:



"Would anybody like a peanut?"

Well one of them is a proven racist.

Yeah... it's a sad legacy for Hulkamania.