360 Vegas

E-474: Overbuilt

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 

E-473: 90s Food Bites

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 

E-472: Preoccupied

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.  In Dec of 2008, after the property had closed and was being prepared for new construction, Wynn paid to have the signage be taken down for the opening of Encore across the street.  This week, @summacorpshared that moment in time.  The Neon Museum sought to save portions of the sign but exactly what they were able to retain from the pylon marquee is unknown.
News
360VV14 Update
Sphere CEO Accused of Sexual Misconduct
False F1 Loses Reported
1,000-piece puzzle

PCP - 360 Vintage Vegas: Jay Sarno

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 
 
 

E-471: Dick Doesn’t Make Sense

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 Marquee
Venetian Rewards
MGM 1.62 acre purchase 
Rio's New Exterior 
 
 

E-470: Sorry, Not Sorry

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 2024
Las Vegas Sign bobblehead
Play Playground
Mandalay Bay/Delano Exterior Paging 
Bird Bar space

E-469: List of Sodas

Random Vegas
About one in 3 U.S. Adults said they thought the tipping culture “has gotten out of control,” according to a survey conducted in May 2023 (Review Journal)
Twitpic of the week
The photo by @Las_when doesn’t date the picture but this is how the Stardust looked when I got the one and only chance to visit the property in 2006, just months before it closed its doors on Nov 1st.  The lamentation of properties lost has a long tradition in Las Vegas.  However this move has gone down in history as the worst move made by Boyd gaming’s well documented history of brilliance, hindsight being 20/20.
News
360 Vegas AI
F1 Impact
3D LED sign
Ramsay’s Kitchen

E-468: Meth to Monkeys

Random Vegas
Allegiant Stadium generated $2.29 billion in economic impact to the city of Las Vegas including $128 million in tax revenue (@mickakers)
Twitpic of the week
Following last week’s holiday theme, @_GrandpaD out did himself with a collection of various Vegas locations themed for the holidays.  Everything from Stardust’s Aku Aku tiki statue with a giant Santa hat on to more views of Fremont St with decorations strewn across the street.  Our favorite this week was the view of Stardust’s original marquee anchored with Christmas decorations, full sized which only further gives perspective to just how large the sign was in its day.  As is common in Vegas signage, if you aren’t paying attention, you might miss the decorations, although not in this photo.
News
SuperBowl Accommodations
Blackbook Addition
BLVD Details
Paris/Horseshoe Versailles tower
Venetian Sala 118