"Las Vegas in Postcards" makes the news!

Our good friend, Kristen Petersen, over at the Las Vegas Sun has a write-up about our new book, "Las Vegas in Postcards:  1905-1965".

We will have the book for sale on the website within the next two weeks for anyone interested in buying autographed copies.

 

Local historians and preservationists have the not so glamorous job of debunking Las Vegas myths. The lies are perpetuated in documentaries, on Web sites and in books. Even a downtown placard has it all wrong.

That this happens is fascinating, but not entirely shocking. Las Vegas history, for years, has been swept under the rug and replaced by sexy stories as dazzling as the facades on the Strip.

Maybe it’s because the Old Stewart Ranch doesn’t have nearly as much juice as the fictional stories of Bugsy Siegel “creating” the Strip by “building” the Flamingo. Or that old churches and schools built by early settlers and families aren’t as blood-pumping as tales of prostitution, mobsters and gambling in what would become the land of sprawl.

Maybe the pace of rampant growth created an environment ripe for unchecked storytelling.

Lynn Zook, a preservationist who founded the history Web site classiclasvegas.com, has made it her mission to document the truth. Foar seven years she’s been collecting oral histories from early Las Vegas residents and working with historians to tell the mostly new community about early Las Vegas as it really happened.

“Our real history is just as compelling as our mythology,” she says.

A new book, “Las Vegas 1905-1965,” gives her the chance to spell it out.

Published by Arcadia Publishing, the 128-page book dedicated to the city’s history in postcards isn’t a decorative coffee table presentation focused on design and eye candy. This is history told in unique photos printed in black and white and accompanied by text with an agenda:

“These postcards stand as a historical reminder that Las Vegas did not spring fully formed from the mind of Benjamin ‘Bugsy’ Siegel while gripped by a feverish dream. They show that, from the beginning, Las Vegas was a town inhabited by people dedicated to carving a community out of the harsh desert climate.”

The book is part of Arcadia’s Postcard History Series, which includes Austin, Texas; Boston; Birmingham, Ala.; and New York cities. The nearly 200 postcards in “Las Vegas” are mostly from the collection of longtime resident Carey Burke, whose memorabilia also includes gaming chips, menus and ashtrays. Dennis McBride from the Nevada State Museum and photographer Allen Sandquist contributed others.

The book is divided into seven chapters: Early Days, Fremont Street, Community, Motels, Roadside Architecture, Postwar and Las Vegas Strip. Before legalized gambling, Fremont Street looked like a typical Main Street with a Western Union office, ice cream shop, doctor’s office and drug and clothing stores.

Sunrise Hospital was a stylish building in 1958. The War Memorial Building (where Sen. Joseph McCarthy unleashed an anti-communist rant) was torn down in the 1970s to make way for City Hall. Giant camel sculptures once stood outside the Sahara and a 60-foot-high pineapple water fountain was in front of the Tropicana.

 

 

Even the Thunderbird Downs horse track, which closed in the 1960s and is now the Las Vegas Country Club, has a postcard. Churches, schools, cottonwood trees and homes dominating the landscape are heavily featured in the beginning.

Other postcards show the changing signage and buildings that are covered or replaced until Fremont Street is glowing with neon. Downtown was shared equally by tourists and locals. Then came El Rancho, the Last Frontier and eventually the Flamingo, each flanking Highway 91, which would become the Strip — a well-lit candy land that would define Las Vegas to the world.

“One of the reasons we wanted to do it is to shine a spotlight on Las Vegas,” Zook says. “Most people think it begins and ends with Bugsy. People have done a good job of not putting a spotlight on the truth. The biggest myth is that Bugsy built the first motel.

“For a long time one of the biggest myths is that people didn’t live here — as if everybody just flies in to take care of the tourists and just flies home.”

A big issue with preservationists is trying to get people to save a past when they don’t even realize there is one.

Zook went to kindergarten downtown at the historic Fifth Street School. Her mom was a showroom waitress, then a real estate agent. Her dad ran keno and worked in the titanium factory before becoming a slot mechanic. Until the Boulevard mall opened, Fremont Street was the commercial and social hub. Downtown and Strip landmarks were community landmarks.

Zook’s first heartache came when Steve Wynn tore down the Dunes sign, which is featured in the book. “That was always supposed to be there,” she says. “I couldn’t imagine it not being there.”

A film background led her to doing oral histories with Las Vegas old-timers. At first she thought she’d talk to 20 people and then she’d be done. But it turned into 130.

“The people who came here and started this town and helped it to grow, their contribution should not be ignored,” she says.

While other cities evolve over time, Las Vegas was mostly replaced overnight. “Las Vegas 1905-1965” gives you a great opportunity to watch it happen at your own pace.

On May 8 Zook and Burke will sign books and discuss the project at the Nevada State Museum.

 

 

 

Thanks to Carey Burke and Allen Sandquist for the images

"Las Vegas in Postcards" in Bookstores Now!

I was on K-DWN radio yesterday morning promoting my new book, "Las Vegas in Postcards: 1905-1965".

As many of you know, Carey Burke, Allen Sandquist and I spent a long time working on this book last year and our hardwork paid off.  The book looks great.  It is filled with historic postcards that depict the real history of Las Vegas and focus not only on the well-known iconic side of Las Vegas but also the little known residential history of the town.

We owe a big debt of thanks to Dennis McBride, the Curator of History, at the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas for letting us use some early postcards from their collection.  Mostly, the postcards came from Carey and Allen's extensive collections.  Many are rare and rarely seen postcards.

So, if you want to know about the Roadside Architecture of Las Vegas, the gaming, the neighborhood churches and schools,  real history of the motels (some of which still exist on East Fremont Street) as well as the real history of the buildings and businesses on Fremont Street and the Strip, then be sure t to get a copy of this book.

On Friday evening, May 8th, Carey Burke and I will be doing a book-signing and program (moderated by Dennis McBride) at the Nevada State Museum.  Stay tuned for more details as that date draws closer.

Also, we are preparing a companion video to go with the book.  Both the companion video and autographed copies of the book will be available for sale here in the weeks to come.  So, keep an eye out here for more details!

Of course, if you find you just can't wait, the book is available in most local to Las Vegas Barnes and Noble and Borders bookstores.  You can also buy copies of the book at the Gift Shop in the Nevada State Museum.

City of Las Vegas asks for Moulin Rouge to be torn down

 

 

Our pal Jeff Burbank is reporting over at the DowntownNews  that the City of Las Vegas has asked that the Moulin Rouge being demolished because it is "a dangerous building."  Seems the city has determined that the building is a threat to public safety and "wants the dilapidated, 53-year-old property demolished, including the former casino facade and adjacent two-story motel.

Meanwhile, the owner of the property, Moulin Rouge Properties, LLC, has filed an appeal to the city’s demolition order."

 

A hearing scheduled for yesterday on the matter was delayed and the matter will be discussed at the March 4th City Council hearing.

 

According to the article:

 

The city’s Neighborhood Services Department, on Dec. 8, sent an official notice and order to the property owner, listing dozens of reasons why the old Moulin Rouge casino building at 840 W. Bonanza Road and the motel at 920 W. Bonanza both qualified as dangerous buildings, including deterioration, the possibility of collapse, serving as a harbor for vagrants and criminals, a severe pest infestation, faulty plumbing and heating and a threat to local property values.

Devon S. Smith, manager of the department’s neighborhood response division, said in the letter that Moulin Rouge had 10 days to file an appeal.

 

In response, Moulin Rouge chief executive Dale L. Scott wrote on Dec. 12 that the company would appeal the notice and order, because it had already contracted with two firms, Phoenix Contractors and the Westmark Group, to demolish the buildings and remove “all associated materials on the parcel in question.”

“As these building are vacant, and all utilities have been disconnected, Moulin Rouge Properties, LLC and its contractors will not have to face delays in order to begin the demolition process,” Scott stated.

The Moulin Rouge, which opened as Las Vegas first integrated casino in 1955 and closed less than a year but operated of and on as a nightclub and motel.

 

The main casino building, with its classic script neon (but non-working) marquee sign, suffered a damaging fire in 2003. Since then, the motel part has served as a home for squatters, who have lived inside some of its many open hotel rooms.

For years since the fire, debris has covered the area behind the old casino’s façade, which is propped up by a series steel rods along Bonanza Road.

 

A year ago, Scott announced plans to develop the site with 700 hotel rooms, a 44,000 square-foot casino, retail stores, four restaurants and a museum. He also said that he would preserve the casino’s famous façade and merge it into the project. However, construction never got started.

 

No word on what would happen to the beautiful neon-script signage that still adorns the front of the building.  It was designed by Betty Willis.  Hopefully it will go to the Neon Museum instead of being destroyed.  Though the cost of moving the giant sign will likely be in the thousands of dollars and does the Museum have space for the large sign?

 

 

 

 

Las Vegas in Postcards: 1905-1965 Publication date set

 

 

 

Just wanted to give everyone an update on our upcoming book.

It will be available as of March 2nd.

 

This is a look at the history of Las Vegas through postcards.  Many came from the private collection of my co-authors as well as the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas.  It offers a look at not only the history of Fremont Street and the Strip but of neighborhoods and other important local places of importance such as schools and churches.  Las Vegas has always been much more than just a gaming mecca and this book offers a glimpse into what life was like in 20th Century Las Vegas.

 

So keep an eye out for it in your local bookstores.

Or you can pre-order it on Amazon here:

http://tinyurl.com/bnntom

Or from Arcadia Publishing here:

http://tinyurl.com/dzxg3z

 

Or if you would like an autographed copy, we will have the book for sale here on the blog  in a few weeks.

If you live in Las Vegas we will be doing book signings around the Valley so keep an eye out here for more details on that as well.