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Photograph of the Thunderbird marquee, Las Vegas (Nev.), 1970-1979

Image

File
Download pho021126.tif (image/tiff; 86.98 MB)

Information

Date

1970 to 1979

Description

A nighttime photograph of the Thunderbird marquee advertising "Kings IV, Buckley and Collins," and "Thoroughly Modern Minsky World Famous Burlesque produced by Harold Minsky in the Continental Theatre. Showtimes 8:15 and midnight plus Fri. + Sat. 2:30 A.M." On September 2, 1948, the Thunderbird Hotel was the fourth resort to open on the Las Vegas Strip. The resort was built by developer Marion Hicks and owned by Lieutenant Governor of Nevada Clifford A. Jones. The resort had a Native American theme and featured portraits, a Navajo-based restaurant, the only bowling alley ever on the Strip, and a showroom. In 1955, articles surfaced in the Las Vegas Sun saying that Meyer Lansky and other underworld figures held hidden shares in the hotel. In 1964, the casino was purchased by Del Webb for $10 million. He ran the resort until 1972, when he sold it to Caesars World, owner of Caesars Palace, for $13.6 million. A $150-million, 2,000-room resort called the Mark Anthony was planned for the site, but Caesars was unable to find financing, and sold the property four years later to banker E. Parry Thomas at a loss of $5.7 million. Thomas later sold it to Major Riddle, owner of the Dunes Hotel, who renamed the resort as the Silverbird in 1976. The Thunderbird has the distinction of being the resort where singer Rosemary Clooney made her first appearance in Las Vegas in 1951, and where Judy Garland made her final Vegas appearance in 1965. Site Name: Thunderbird Hotel (Las Vegas, Nev.) Street Address: 2755 South Las Vegas Boulevard

Digital ID

pho021126

Physical Identifier

0075_0343
    Details

    Citation

    pho021126. Harold Minsky Photograph Collection. PH-00075. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada. http://n2t.net/ark:/62930/d12v2cf7m.

    Rights

    This material is made available to facilitate private study, scholarship, or research. It may be protected by copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity rights, or other interests not owned by UNLV. Users are responsible for determining whether permissions are necessary from rights owners for any intended use and for obtaining all required permissions. Acknowledgement of the UNLV University Libraries is requested. For more information, please see the UNLV Special Collections policies on reproduction and use (https://www.library.unlv.edu/speccol/research_and_services/reproductions) or contact us at special.collections@unlv.edu.

    Standardized Rights Statement

    Digital Provenance

    Digitized materials: physical originals can be viewed in Special Collections and Archives reading room

    Extent

    5974 x 5089 pixels
    9.96 x 8.48 inches
    91,205,298 bytes

    Language

    English

    Publisher

    University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Libraries

    Format

    image/tiff