Welcome to 2023! I hope January has been good to you so far. I’m just back from basically travelling for a month (it was a blast) and now I’m off to Las Vegas again for my annual German Karneval (Mardi Gras) 2 day party at the Tuscany. It’s always a fun party with great people celebrating the traditions originally started in Germany. You can follow along on my Instagram Feed if you are interested.
In honour of my upcoming party weekend, I thought ‘Vintage Photo Tuesday‘ should focus on images from Las Vegas from the 1940s to the 1960s. Then if you enjoyed this post, you can find other vintage Vegas posts I have done at the end of today’s fun.
Let’s begin!
Flamingo Hotel (Las Vegas), 1950s. The Champagne Tower is seen on the right.
The Flamingo hotel is one of my favourite places to stay on the strip. It no longer looks like the cool Mid Century Architecture below but it’s still awesome.
Source: UNLV Digital Collections
Early 1950s photo of a stylish woman hanging out at the Sahara pool. What a super coloured photo!
Source: Facebook-Vintage Las Vegas
Bands are everyhere in the city. Here is a group of entertainers called “Polly Possum, Joe Wolverton and the Dogpatch County Band” performing at the Golden Nugget Saloon in downtown Las Vegas.
Source: UNLV Digital Collections
1950s photo of four showgirls (another staple in the city) in stylish 1950s dresses outside the Moulin Rouge, preparing for the Helldorado parade, dated May 5, 1955.
About the Moulin Rouge:
On 24 May 1955 the Moulin Rouge Hotel and Casino opened. It was located at at 900, Bonanza Road on the west side of Las Vegas; becoming what the promoters called “the nation’s first major interracial hotel”.
Until the hotel’s opening African American entertainers in Las Vegas were denied access to public casino and hotel dining areas unless they were performing and were forced to stay overnight in segregated boarding houses on the Westside. Within the next few months the hotel attracted performers such as Louis Armstrong, George Burns, Nat King Cole, Jack Benny, Frank Sinatra, and Sammy Davis, Jr.
Unfortunately, despite its popularity, the Moulin Rouge closed its doors six months later surrounded by many rumors as to what had happened. Its brief run as a successfully integrated casino, though, prompted political activists to campaign for the integration of the Las Vegas Strip – an agreement that was achieved, ironically, in the now closed Moulin Rouge on March 26, 1960 (Source).
Source: UNLV Digital Collections
Photograph of Lionel Hampton with members of the Moulin Rouge show group, 1955.
Source: UNLV Digital Collections
1960s vintage photo of a group of men and women in 1960s fashions hanging out at the Sands Hotel pool.
Source: UNLV Digital Collections
A floating craps game in the Sands Hotel swimming pool (Las Vegas), 1954. Love the 1950s swimsuits.
Photo description: “Floating craps table – Customers at the Sands Hotel escape the heat by gambling in the pool. About 2200 guests tried this in 1954.” (Source).
Source: UNLV Digital Collections
Las Vegas is known for it’s famous buffets. Here is a image of the Chuck Wagon Buffet at the El Rancho Vegas, late 1940s.
Source: UNLV Digital Collections
1951 photo of workers installing the now-famous Vegas Vic sign on the front of the Pioneer Club.
Photo Description: “First Highrise Hotel — Center of action downtown throughtout the 1930s was the Apache Hotel which boasted an elevator and a nitery downstairs. The corner is now Binion’s Horseshoe, but the spot has undergone many name changes from Tony Cornero’s ‘S.S. Rex’ to the Eldorado where the mobs were fighting for control of the race wire. Bugsy Siegel’s influence was first felt here in the early 1940s.” (Source).
Source: UNLV Digital Collections
Desert Inn, 1950 – The Sky Room, at the top of a three story tower, the tallest structure on the Las Vegas Strip at the time. The woman on the right is Toni Clark, wife of DI president Wilbur Clark. Photographed by J.R. Eyerman for LIFE Magazine (Source).
Source: Facebook – Vintage Las Vegas
Las Vegas-The Wedding Capital.
Las Vegas residents Eddie and Johnie Wright at their wedding reception, April 25, 1957.
In an oral history interview (for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project) with Eddie Wright Jr. and Johnie B. Wright conducted by B. Leon Green. Wright and Wright Jr. discuss coming to Las Vegas, Nevada and their careers as a teacher/nursing aid and a ticket agent at the local Greyhound station, respectively (Source).
Source: UNLV Digital Collections
Another wedding photo but this time for Sammy Davis Jr and Loray White at the Sands in Las Vegas on 01/10/1958.
Source: Pinterest
Front exterior of Club Bingo (Las Vegas), between 1947-1952. What a fun sign! BINGO!
Source: UNLV Digital Collections
Playing bingo at Golden Nugget, February 1947 – Photo by Jon Brenneis (Source).
Source: Facebook-Vintage Las Vegas
Events and conventions are another staple of the Vegas scene.
Congo line at the American Parts System convention – Late 1960s photo.
Source: UNLV Digital Collections
Fremont & Main, 1946. Our lovely lady (love her braid hairstyle) is standing at Union Park which was in front of the Union Pacific depot. The photo is sometime between May-Nov. 1946 (source).
Source: Facebook-Vintage Las Vegas
Famous Las Vegas shows. 1950s vintage photo of the Copa Girls Trans World Airlines show rehearsal at the Sands Hotel.
Source: UNLV Digital Collections
Thank you for dropping by and I hope you enjoyed this collection of vintage Vegas photos. Please share any comments you have about this blog post in the section below. I love hearing from my readers.
This is going to be another year of fun vintage content and I can’t wait to share it all with you!
Further Reading about Vintage Las Vegas:
- Las Vegas Vintage Postcards
- Vintage Vegas Roundup – Collection of vintage postcards, vintage images & more!
- The Golden Nugget-Vintage Las Vegas
Liz
