The Verna Mortensen Photograph Collection (approximately 1960-1679) is comprised of eight photographic prints that depict Fremont Street in Las Vegas, Nevada and ferries on the Colorado River in Nevada.
Daytime and nighttime views of the Las Vegas World Souvenirs signs on the Strip. Information about the sign is available in the Southern Nevada Neon Survey Data Sheet. Site address: 3710 S Las Vegas Blvd Sign owner: property leased from MGM Mirage Sign details: Located in the same lowrise building which the Las Vegas Helicopter Tours is located. See Las Vegas Helicopter Tours. Sign condition: Structure 5 Surface 5 Lighting 5 All of the lighting, surface, and structure seem to be intact, and in good repair. The signage appears fairly new, and less worn. Sign form: Fascia Sign-specific description: The Las Vegas World Souvenir shop and market, boasts a collection of signage, almost completely crafted out of channel letters. The basic design is an entablature created on the wall above a pedestrian's head. The entablature runs along the south, east, and north faces of the building. The design is essentially channel letter words separated by channel designed stars. On the south wall the sequence reads, "star shape, 'drinks,' star, 'souvenirs,' star then 'market'." The interior of the star shapes are lined along the contours with yellow neon. The all caps lettering has red neon tubing on the interior. The sequence on the east side of the building reads from left to right, " star shape, 'Souvenirs,' star shape, 'Las Vegas World,' star shape, 'drinks,' then another star shape." The words "souvenir" and "drinks" are spelled in the same text and size as the south side, while the phrase "Las Vegas World" is larger fulfilling most of the height of the entablature. The north side of the building is similar to that on the south. This side reads , "Souvenirs, star shape, 'Market,' star shape, 'Film,' and another star shape." On the wall below the pediment closed face channel letters spell two phrases. The black channel letters are faced with red translucent faces. The first phrase reads , "Daily Grand Canyon Flights," in all caps. The second reads "Nightly strip rides in all capitals. Sign - type of display: Neon; Incandescent Sign - media: Steel; Plastic Sign animation: Chasing Sign manufacturer: Sign Systems, Inc Sign - date of installation: 1996 Sign - thematic influences: There is no real present theme evident in the appearance other than the Emblem of the American flag crafted in neon on the front of the building. The incandescent bulb lined raceways and bulb filled channel letters, placed within a pediment hanging above the pedestrians head, posses a theme in a sense. It is a common occurrence to see such a combination of lighting among the strip to designate an establishment so its theme cold be considered to be that of Las Vegas. It's artistic significance can only be linked to such a trait. It is one of the most unique properties considering its function. Yes there are many facilities which offer tours but, this is the only one which provides helicopter tours that the pedestrian may watch take off. It is also one of the only establishments where the American flag is represented on the exterior in neon. It is also one of the only establishments where the incandescent bulb lined raceway is shaped into arrows. An interesting use of the most common adornment of exterior surveyed signage. Surveyor: Joshua Cannaday Survey - date completed: 2002 Sign keywords: Chasing; Fascia; Neon; Incandescent; Steel; Plastic
The sign for Le Thai restaurant sits at 523 Fremont Street in Downtown Las Vegas. Information about the sign is available in the Southern Nevada Neon Survey Data Sheet. Site address: 523 Fremont St Sign owner: Dan and Shauna Coughlin, Dan doubles as the chef as well Sign details: The buildings original construction year was 1934. The restaurant opened in November of 2011, Le Thai offers a famous Three curry made by Chef Dan Coughlin as well as other traditional Thai food inspired by Dans grandma and mom from Thailand. They also have a beer garden behind their main restaurant. Dan was the owner to Mix zone cafe and is the son of the owner of the King and I (Nikki Bujadham). This building has a tin facade with a pull out canopy for outdoor seating. Sign condition: 5- looks very new and in amazing condition Sign form: Blade Sign-specific description: The blade is mainly made of plastic that is backlit at night time, but has a dark steel border. At the top of the sign is a circle that has Le written in black cursive on the sign, and illuminates red neon at night. Also on this circle portion of the sign it states Downtown Las Vegas in a smaller print type font. This circle is outlined in incandescents, as well as the incandescents being surrounded by red neon. Below the circle there is a red curved arrow that states Thai in black letters that have a white trim, this font looks italicized and has little circles on a part of each of the letters, this makes it a very distinct font for them specifically. Underneath the Words Thai, the sign states Noodles & Bar in a regular white block type font. Sign - type of display: Incandescent light bulbs and neon Sign - media: Plastic and Steel Sign - non-neon treatments: Graphics on plastic portion of the sign are backlit Sign animation: Chasing: Notes: incandescent light bulbs Sign environment: In the East side of Fremont Street, located in between Las Vegas Blvd and 6th street. To the west of the property is the Dont Tell Mama Bar and to the east is Commonwealth. Currently across the street is the Therapy restaurant and the old Emergency Arts building. Sign manufacturer: YESCO Sign designer: Owners Shauna and Dan Sign - date of installation: 2012 Sign - thematic influences: The font that they use for Le and Thai are quite different but it shows the blend of how their restaurant is and does make it more distinguishable since their font draws the attention of people walking by. Sign - artistic significance: With the usage of both Neon and incandescent the sign really does pop out which is a similar trend to many signs over the age, particularly since there is a lot of pedestrian traffic in the region. The arrow is a great direction indicator, as well as it showcases the 1950s blade sign trend with the arrow at the bottom. Survey - research locations: Le Thai restaurant website https://lethaivegas.com/, Assessor's page, and contact with Le Thai LLC Survey - research notes: The assessor's page said the buildings original construction year was 1934 though there was no record of what it originally opened up as. Surveyor: Emily Fellmer Survey - date completed: 2017-08-15 Sign keywords: Graphics; Plastic; Backlit; Steel; Blade; Chasing; Incandescent; Neon; Back to back
The PublicUs coffee shop sign sits at 1126 Fremont in Downtown Las Vegas. Information about the sign is available in the Southern Nevada Neon Survey Data Sheet. Site address: 1126 Fremont St Sign owner: Kimo Akiona, Cole McBride and Travis Landice Sign details: PublicUs opened in 2015. This property has previously held other restaurants the most recent being a Philly Cheese Steak restaurant. PublicUs represents "for the people" in Latin. Hemant Kishore is the baker and chef. This location is a canteen-style restaurant and coffee house where they make all organic foods in house. Sign condition: 4- the steel part of the sign looks relatively new and has bright paint, but the plastic portion for the sign does some aging to it. Sign form: Pylon Sign-specific description: On the corner of Fremont E and Maryland pkwy at the corner of their building there is a blue been sticking out of the ground that is curved at the top. Near this curved section is a rectangle steel sign box that has a back lit plastic sign in it, and underneath is a similar rectangular box. The bigger rectangular box has a white background, but has the a light tan box with PublicUs logo in white letters in the light tan brown box. The smaller box on the bottom has the white backdrop and the tan colored rectangle has Fremont Village written in a white font. Both rectangle signs have an arrow pointing through them with the tip of the arrow above their main logo sign and the "feathers" of the arrow underneath Fremont Village sign. Sign - type of display: Backlit plastic sign and incandescent light bulbs Sign - media: Steel and plastic Sign - non-neon treatments: Plastic back lit portion of sign Sign animation: Flasher for incandescent light bulbs Sign environment: This is located on the corner of Maryland Pkwy and Fremont Street East. Surrounding this property is a lot of old motels that have been shut down, and painted over though many of their neon signs are still up and some working. On the same block as them is a vintage barber shop and a vintage tattoo parlor. Sign manufacturer: Main portion of the sign was around before they opened so information on the base of the sign was not found Sign - date of installation: The sign box has records of being around longer than the PublicUs has, records (Google Maps satellite view) show the sign similar to this has been up since at least 2013 Sign - date of redesign/move: Late 2015 is when their main logo was installed Sign - thematic influences: This sign shows how signs can be re-purposed or can evolve with different colors and slightly different designs over the years even though the theme of the property has changed. Sign - artistic significance: The arrow in the sign could signify a bulls eye in the sense that you are looking in the right spot or have found the perfect spot. Survey - research locations: Google Maps satellite view, Sprudge coffee blog http://sprudge.com/publicus-97938.html , Eating Las Vegas http://www.eatinglv.com/2015/03/publicus-is-open-and-baking-for-the-people/ Survey - research notes: This restaurant has faux trees and nice wooden tables inside to make it feel as though you are outdoors but still in a homey place. Surveyor: Emily Fellmer Survey - date completed: 2017-08-18 Sign keywords: Plastic; Backlit; Incandescent; Steel; Flashing; Pole sign
The Senator Chic Hecht Political Papers (1943-1988) contain the political papers of United States Senator and Las Vegas, Nevada businessman Chic Hecht. The bulk of the collection contains legislation, notes, correspondence between Hecht and constituents and other members of Congress, and speeches from Senator Hecht's term in the Senate from 1982 to 1988. Also included are files on civil service, the federal budget, education, labor, transportation, land management, foreign policy, public health, and trade.
The sign for the permanently closed Davy's Locker dive bar sits at 1149 East Desert Inn Road. Information about the sign is available in the Southern Nevada Neon Survey Data Sheet. Site address: 1149 E Desert Inn Rd Sign owner: Was Cindy Slight since 2010. Albert Hamika bought the property in 2016. Derek Stonebarger went to the property after they took the sign down and the fish portion of the sign is currently in his possession. Sign details: The property was originally opened in 1968 by Davey Pearl, who was most known for being a boxing referee and later inducted to the World Boxing Hall of Fame. The actual opening date of the bar is unknown, but property records have shown that its building was constructed in 1968. The bar was known for the welcoming environment inside and inexpensive drinks. The sign itself drew people in because of its unique design. Right before their closure they started to have a variety of events taking place there such as: open mic night, trivia, and genre specific music nights. The current owners have demolished the iconic and beloved sign for the bar. The only portions that remain are white sign that reads "Cocktails" in red and the waves that the fish once "swam" above. The current owner of the property has told the Las Vegas Weekly, "I want to emphasize I wasn't like, 'Ok let's destroy this sign.' I like the sign, and I like the historic memorabilia"I tried. The only thing I can I can say is, it was time for it to come down." After hearing about this news Derek Stonebarger, who owns ReBar on Main Street, was distraught when he heard the news of the sign being taken down so he went to the property to find its remains. He hopes to restore as much of the sign as he can and possibly display it in a Nevada-themed restaurant he plans to open up. Sign condition: Since the sign has been taken down it is a 0. Sign form: Roadside pole sign Sign-specific description: This sign was designed to look like a fish was swimming in the ocean. The top of the sign give the appearance of waves. A neon tube was attached to the implied waves. Underneath this was a large, white fish whose tail and nose extended beyond the confines of the square shape of the sign. The fish appeared to have a large smile and two smaller fish "swimming" beside it. One of these smaller fish was near the larger fish's mouth and the "L." The other fish was located right under the "ker" in "Locker." Both of these fish were a light blue color, the same blue that matched the wave on top of the sign and surrounded the larger fish. In the middle of the large fish that makes up much of the sign were the words "Davy's Locker" in bright red and an elaborate cursive style font. Neon tubes outlined these letters, as well as all three fish included in the sign. Underneath all of this is a neon tube in the shape of a wave that is difficult to see in photos of the sign during the day, but glowed brightly at night. Below this signage was a back lit plastic sign reading "Cocktails" in a red script and "Gaming Spirits Pool" under that in a sans-serif, bold, dark blue font. Extending from the top of the sign at the end near the street was a pole with two, small square signs attached to that. The top one was yellow and read "OPEN 24 HRS." The one below that was white and read "COLD BEER." There are other photos of this sign where the plastic portion of the sign reads "COCKTAILS" in red still, but "Slots Video Poker" in blue and "Package Liquor" under that in red. Sign - type of display: Neon and backlit plastic sign Sign - media: Steel and plastic Sign - non-neon treatments: Plastic backlit portion Sign environment: The surrounding environment of Davy's Locker was in a district that was close to UNLV as well as another popular bar that still caters to locals, Champagnes Cafe. It was located in a bustling area along to Maryland Parkway that locals travel on a daily basis. Davy's Locker was a popular watering hole for many people in the neighborhood due to its convenient location. Sign - date of installation: Around the 1960's Sign - date of redesign/move: It was first restored in 2011 and another time in 2014. Sign was taken down from the property in 2017. Sign - thematic influences: The theme of the sign appears to take inspiration from the phrase "Davy Jones' Locker." This is a common phrase that refers to "the bottom of the sea" or even "the mythical resting place of drowned mariners." Davy Jones is also believed to be an evil spirit from the bottom of the sea; therefore, the sign shows the influence of these aquatic origins that possibly inspired the name of the property. Sign - artistic significance: The theme of the sign is aquatic, which also ties into the name of the property. The name of the property appears to take influence from the myth of Davy Jones, the evil spirit of the sea. Survey - research locations: Las Vegas weekly articles https://lasvegasweekly.com/as-we-see-it/2016/mar/23/beloved-dive-bar-davys-locker-sold-old-vegas/ https://lasvegasweekly.com/intersection/2017/jan/11/davys-locker-neon-sign-demolished/ https://lasvegasweekly.com/intersection/2017/jan/13/davys-locker-bar-neon-sign-recovered-stonebarger/ , Las Vegas Sun article https://vegasinc.lasvegassun.com/business/2016/mar/25/popular-dive-bar-to-take-a-breather-while-sports-b/ , Roadside Architecture http://www.roadarch.com/signs/nvvegas3.html , Phrase website http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/davy-jones-locker.html Surveyor: Lauren Vaccaro Survey - date completed: 2017-08-22 Sign keywords: Steel; Plastic; Backlit; Neon; Roadside; Pole sign; Back to back