Las Vegas in the 70's

[utmom2008]

Reading the thread about how Elvis would feel about Vegas today made me think of my pics from '72 and '73. I would say that it all looks VERY different.

[SatninLove]

It does look very different now!]
Thanks for posting!
-SatninLove

[ehollier]

After just visiting Las Vegas last week, I wondered that VERY thing myself -- "Where would Elvis play if he were here today???"

After getting a look around and learning the hotels and what they all offered, I came to the conclusion that Elvis would be at the Wynn Hotel rather than the Hilton because its one of the largest, newest and most modern, splashiest and most beautiful hotels on the strip - in other words -- the Wynn is today what the International was in 1969!!!!

[TotallyInsane]

After just visiting Las Vegas last week, I wondered that VERY thing myself -- "Where would Elvis play if he were here today???"

After getting a look around and learning the hotels and what they all offered, I came to the conclusion that Elvis would be at the Wynn Hotel rather than the Hilton because its one of the largest, newest and most modern, splashiest and most beautiful hotels on the strip - in other words -- the Wynn is today what the International was in 1969!!!!

And, besides that's where Joe Esposito works today!!!

[hounddog]

really Joe works at Wynn, doing what?

[ehollier]

really Joe works at Wynn, doing what?

I understand he's in charge of 'transportation' which includes arranging limo service for some of their customers.

[hounddog]

oh, i didn't know that, thanks.

[ehollier]

oh, i didn't know that, thanks.

I wanted to go and find him and get his autograph, but I decided against it. But I was in the Fashion Mall across the street from the Wynn in a book store and was looking at a book that Joe E. had written that was on display. The clerk walked up to me and told me how very nice this man was and that she apparently had met him and said that he come to the store at one time to sign a bunch of copies of his book, but that the autographed copies had sold. But I thought it was extremely kind of her to speak so highly of him.

[TotallyInsane]

I understand he's in charge of 'transportation' which includes arranging limo service for some of their customers.

Maybe he got a new position as he was hired there to be a casino host.

[ehollier]

Maybe he got a new position as he was hired there to be a casino host.

So did I, but I understand that he is now in charge of 'transportation' but nonetheless, I didn't go in search of him, although I thought about it.

[cibetty]

Thanks for sharing your memories Rosanne, I liked the pics. The city looks like an oasis in a desert, especially in the last picture. I'd like to see it someday!! Will you ever visit the place again someday? Have you made some photos inside the hotel?

[1100ccRider]

Reading the thread about how Elvis would feel about Vegas today made me think of my pics from '72 and '73. I would say that it all looks VERY different.

It was better then.

I wasn't here then, but everyone I know who worked here in the '60s and '70s much prefers how the people who used to be in charge of things (i.e., to a great extent, the Mafia) treated both guests and employees. They treated both with far more respect than do most of the casino outfits now, particularly the two largest corporations that together have maybe 85-90% of the Strip wrapped up (a very sad state, in my opinion) and people knew where they were with those guys.

The corporate casinos that have eaten the Strip long since destroyed almost all vestiges of the real Las Vegas. Their mentality and their priorities just do not mesh well with providing the kind of experience that Vegas used to give, and it sure as heck got a lot more expensive to visit here. They're still trying to trade off the old image, of course (the experiment in family-friendly image didn't really take off), and even many current films and TV shows portray a Vegas that really no longer exists in any meaningful sense, but it's all very cynical and transparent. All calculated, arrived at by committee decision, and based on the calculations of bean-counters concerned only with the immediate bottom line.

I am very impressed by the attention to detail and some of the over-the-topness of the newer themed resorts and the even newer crop of even more expensive places, but for all their splendor they have no soul...no character (the last remnants of that, for the most part, are on Fremont Street, that's been somewhat Disneyfied but still retains much of its charm and cooler vibe while remaining safer than before). I wasn't in Vegas in the '70s -- didn't get to this country 'til 1985 -- but I would have loved to have dropped by back then, even if I managed to miss Elvis. The town was still pretty cool in the '80s, though the erosion of the VEGAS Vegas had begun by then, even if I could only ever take two days visiting here before needing to get away from it (living here, as in all tourist destinations, is entirely different).

I've been happy enough living here but there's no doubt the Strip and associated sides of Vegas (one important distinction being that, over the past 18 years or so, Las Vegas became a real city in which a great portion of it operated separately from the gaming and hospitality industries that'd previously been the overwhelming focus of everything here) has gone way downhill in all but property size and the technology on display. The blind greed of the corporations is steadily killing what little remains of the golden goose and it's kind of infuriating to witness. I see Vegas as representing both some of the best and some of the worst of what America is, pretty much at the same time. And if Elvis had lived past 1977 I don't know if I'd have encouraged him (had I the influence) to return to Vegas, though the way some things are done here has changed quite a bit and the venues certainly have (and so have ticket prices, too!). Maybe limited engagements, rather than the more extended presence of acts like Barry Manilow and Elton John, might have worked, but I think he'd have been better off with very discrete outings consisting of concerts presented over a few days at major venues around the world. No more grueling tours and no more numbing stints in Vegas, playing to an audience that may include a good proportion of indifferent people who are Just Tourists and not necessarily fans with any particular interest (one of the reasons Celine Dion said byebye to Caesar's and a constant scourge to Vegas performers).

Anyway, I love seeing pictures and film from years past here. At the rate they're knocking down landmark (including, for that matter, the Landmark!) buildings around here, even seeing pictures of the Stardust or Westward Ho can be cause for a nostalgic moment.

When I moved here I hadn't been back in Vegas for about maybe 14 years and I didn't recognize a thing. Pictures of the '80s bring back how the lay of the land used to be but pictures from a decade before are truly remarkable in that they REALLY give an idea of how sparse development was in this town until the late '80s. The areas in which I've lived here didn't even exist until 1987 at the earliest (actually, my last residence was in a part of Vegas that was still a blank spot on the AAA map I'd picked up a year before). Some of the fan-shot footage of the Hilton shot in the early '70s is almost as fascinating as the concert stuff that follows because, as in your photos, it's just incredible how completely different the area around the Hilton is now. And that, now, is the older part of town! It actually sucks quite egregiously, because I'd love to rent a smaller, older house -- no problem in most American towns -- but those things are rare here and the few you might find will likely be rundown and in a not-so-stellar neighborhood. The norm here is, increasingly (there's a glut of condos, for sure, as in many places these days), earth-toned cookie-cutter boxes quickly thrown up when tracts of land were released by the BLM (or whoever), many so new you can still watch the paint dry.

Actually, a little while ago I watched the pilot for Kolchak: The Night Stalker (and liked it so much that I watched the rest of the series, courtesy of Vegas' surprisingly excellent public library system) and it was just incredible to see 1972 Vegas. Trying to figure out exactly where some scenes were shot was a challenge, too. It blew me away when Kolchak drove past where Mandalay Bay is now and the camera panned around to follow him as he left town, the open desert starting right there (now there're miles more of houses and businesses in all directions from that point). Then I remembered the first time I rode in to Vegas (on a motorcycle, at night, following the glow from the border....yep, Night Rider was me!) and that the town started in pretty much the same spot even then. Now, if you buy or rent a place that's pretty much on the edge of town (as I have, twice), you're liable to wake up one day a year later and find the edge of town is miles further away. Crazy.

All this and, really, all I wanted to do was say how cool those pictures are. Now that the sun's back up, I should probably go to sleep (what a novel concept) before I rave on any more -- I've always had trouble sleeping, so this town's a perfect fit for me!

[vivalasvegas]

as a long time vegas local sinc 1964, all i can say is : HEAR, HEAR!
it all started to change in the early 80s...
i was gone in the navy for 4 years and when my brother drove me around in 1980 , i couldn't believe all the changes then! and now? forget it. in 2008, the old vegas being gone really frustrates him.
my mom and i get nostalgic about the old days. sometimes, i feel like crying. there's only a few 'old ladies' left on the strip... i miss the cozy hotels and casinos.
even my own neighborhood has changed drastically in the last 5 years. breath taking! and i don't mean that in a good way...

[Unchained Melody]

My how time changes everything.
Sure Elvis wouldnt even recgonzie it now.