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I think that there are moments where you can see the world turning
from what it is into what it will be…..
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At
Disneyland’s dedication, Walt Disney said, he hoped
“Disneyland would be a source of inspiration to all the
world.” Walt Disney can rest easy, not only an inspiration,
the world has become Disneyland. The Las Vegas and
Disneyland formula changed the world. Both were
trendsetters, both took their lead from vaudeville,
speak-easy’s, carnivals and mid-ways, and from The 1939 New
York Worlds Fair which was really an upscale Coney Island.
The
1939 New York Worlds Fair and world of tomorrow theme had a
big impact. It was the beginning of a new era in the
America dream, entertainment that was clean, safe, and
abundant, Disney and the wise guys in New York and
Chicago had experience with entertainment, and they saw the
world of tomorrow as an opportunity to make big money.
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The
Worlds Fair marked the end of The Depression, and the
beginning of World War II. Despite the war putting many
plans on hold, Tommy Hull built the first hotel casino on
the strip, The El Rancho Vegas, opening April 3, 1941, and
R. E. Griffith with his nephew William J. Moore, opened Last
Frontier on
Dec. 10, 1942. These first two hotel casinos had no help
from New York or Chicago; Hull owned and managed eight
hotels around the west, Griffith and Moore built and managed
movie theaters in the South. It would be a few years after
the war before Las Vegas found its new tomorrow.
The
first two Las Vegas hotels had a western theme, an
influence from its sister
city to the north, Reno. |
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Mom
& Dad 1956 |
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The
Last Frontier |
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The Depression
spawned two of the biggest industries for Nevada, easy divorce and
legal gambling. Easy divorce came with a six-week residency
requirement. Many of the hotels in Reno would offer a dude ranch
atmosphere while the divorcee would wait the out six-weeks.
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Las Vegas being closer to Los Angeles had a more compelling
influence, Hollywood. The Hollywood influence on Las Vegas
first came from Billy Wilkerson, publisher of the Hollywood
Reporter, and the owner of the Sunset Strip’s nightclub
Ciro’s. He envisioned the same nightclub style for Vegas,
and construction began in 1945 on Wilkerson’s brainchild,
The Flamingo. By the opening in 1947, Wilkerson’s partner
Bugsy Siegel over shadowed and pushed him out. Later that
year Bugsy too was forced out, only for him, eternally.
The Flamingo offered drinks for 50 cents and on Wednesday
nights, players received a free roast beef dinner.
Despite a slow start at The Flamingo, five more hotels and
casinos quickly followed, The Thunderbird in 1948, a casino
only Silver Slipper and the Desert Inn in 1950, Sahara and
Sands in 1952. At the Silver Slipper, you could get
breakfast or lunch for 49 cents and dinner for $1.95.
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In
just five short years, The Las Vegas Strip was becoming a
reality. Las Vegas was now the place to be, it was far
enough away from the rest of the country that you had to
make an effort to visit, and this gave Vegas an aura of
exclusivity.
By the time the Sahara and Sands opened in 1952, Walt Disney
was planning Disneyland. If Las Vegas, 300 miles in the
middle of the Nevada desert could attract visitors, how
could an attraction 25 miles from the center of Los Angeles
not be a winner? |
Many old timers including myself, will tell you how cheap land was
back then, we should have invested, we all would have been rich
today! In the five
years, 1947-1952 there was all the
signs pointing to what Las Vegas
would become. However, with all the money, brains, and
talent pouring into Las Vegas
not everyone could see the world of tomorrow.
To be continued ……
…..a world of tomorrow contained in the lost American yesterday."
-
John Crowley, from the film The World of Tomorrow
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