There was a time when the soft glow of neon illuminated the night skies in Las Vegas. The soft glow of pinks and greens and blues helped make Las Vegas one of the most photographed cities in the country. It was what helped turned night into daytime, as Elvis sang. What got started along Fremont Street quickly spread to the Strip. It wasn’t long before signage became as much of a part of the casino’s brand as anything else.

As Las Vegas moved forward, neon signs are being passed over for LCD screens—glorified televisions—that blare advertising slogans and commercials in their harsh white light. From their perches along the Strip, above the topless joint in Downtown Las Vegas and above the city itself on the M Resort lightship, these flickering signs announce the dawn of a new age for Las Vegas.

The iconic signs are gone. Today’s visitor is too sophisticated to care about a giant neon cowboy, let alone find it fascinating. If they even care at all about the outside of a property—beyond the “talent” sitting poolside—is open for debate, as there has been little outcry about the current trend of casino wraps.

Certainly some neon survives in older properties like the Flamingo or all of the casinos in the Downtown area. And there is a movement that will guarantee that the neon in Las Vegas lives on forever through the Neon Museum and a partnership with the city of Las Vegas.

Trend Setter

The first neon sign showed up in Las Vegas in 1929 at the Oasis Cafe. The next year, the Las Vegas Club added neon to its facade, but it wasn’t until the Young Electric Sign Company opened a Las Vegas branch in 1933—two years after gambling was legalized—that neon really took hold.

One of YESCO’s most prominent signs was a large vertical neon sign that was added to the Boulder Club in 1946. That sign essentially touched off an arms race of neon that ended up filling the desert sky with light.

“They didn’t put too much thought into this kind of stuff then,” said David G. Schwartz, director of the Gaming Research Center at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. “I think they just said, ‘Hey, the guy down the street has a big sign, make mine bigger.’ They weren’t really thinking artistically.”

Soon Fremont Street was buzzing with neon signs above the Apache Hotel, the Golden Nugget, the Horseshoe and the Frontier Club. In 1951, the Pioneer Club added the city’s most visible resident—still visible to this day—in Vegas Vic. The 40-foot cowboy with moving cigarette and waving arm was the unofficial greeter for Las Vegas visitors.

“They burned through thousands of feet of neon in the name of healthy competition,” said Danielle Kelly, operations manager at the Neon Museum in Las Vegas.

The late ’50s and early ’60s marked a turning point where companies like YESCO, Western Neon and AdArt starting getting really creative.

“They just built them really big and got really creative and the signs really were the brand of the hotels,” Schwartz said.

Properties like the Mint on Fremont Street, and on the Strip at the Frontier, Stardust, Sands and the Dunes, were as much about the neon sign out front as anything else. When the Stardust opened in 1958, it was little more than a dark box with little other purpose of design than holding up its giant neon sign—and staying in the background as the galactic theme poured light onto the Strip.

By the end of the ’60s, neon signage was essentially all there was.

“Then, in the ’70s with gas prices and energy prices rising, they tended to do more mirrors and indirect lighting,” Schwartz said. “There were good business reasons behind it.”

As an example, he points to the porte cochere at Bally’s, which opened as the MGM Grand in 1973. The area relies on reflective surfaces to up the wattage. As the energy crisis continued, operators got smart to the idea that it was cheaper and better to use backlit plastic and colored light bulbs. It marked a turning point: an unofficial end to the neon age.

“You really don’t see it much anymore, and it’s a shame,” Schwartz said. “Neon is very warm; it’s analog. There is a lot of digital stuff out there now, and it looks great, but it’s just not the same.”

Remembering the Past

While a lot of the historic neon signs are gone, they are certainly not forgotten. The non-profit Neon Museum has been collecting signs and keeping them from being relegated to a less visible location like a scrapyard or landfill. With more than 150 signs dating back to the 1930s, the outdoor exhibit is home to a number of icons, including the Silver Slipper, the original atomic font Stardust letters as well as the sign, Coin Castle, the Aladdin genie lamp and the recently acquired Moulin Rouge.

“There is something special about neon,” said the Neon Museum’s Kelly. “It has the ability to capture your imagination.”

With a mission of preserving Las Vegas’s neon history, the museum is working to restore as many signs as possible. It’s a daunting task for the non-profit group, because the price of restoration can range from anywhere between $5,000 and $50,000 per sign.

A number of restored signs can be seen along Fremont Street, including the highly visible Hacienda Horse at the intersection with Las Vegas Boulevard. There will soon be more classic signs being restored and returned to Las Vegas Boulevard, thanks to a federal grant and a partnership with the city.

Las Vegas Boulevard has been designated as a scenic byway, allowing the city to apply for special grants. It has received money to start restoration of a number of signs—starting with the Silver Slipper—that will line the street between Sahara and Washington avenues.

Additionally, the Neon Museum will use some money to restore the iconic La Concha lobby to serve as both the visitors center for the Las Vegas Boulevard Scenic Byway, as well as a lobby for the Neon Museum.

Currently, visitors can tour the boneyard by appointment only. The location is a strong draw, attracting a large number of visitors from America and abroad. While it is particularly popular with design and architecture students and fans, Kelly said everyone who comes tends to have a similar experience.

“It seems to elicit a unique emotional response in everyone who sees it,” she said. “And there is something special about being in such close proximity to these massive signs.”

A Look to the Future

While some are looking to preserve the analog past, the digital age is changing the world’s approach to everything. From music to television to methods of communication, everything these days is nothing more than a complex string of zeroes and ones. The digital revolution is even creeping into the casino world.

Neon long ago fell out of style—at least the reach-for-the-sky approach from the glory days of casino signs—but with new techniques, casino operators have been able to maintain that same level of over-the-top signage. LCD screens allow casinos to constantly change up their message. By comparison, the waving welcoming arm of Vegas Vic—a must-see at the time of his introduction—is very primitive. As can be seen with M Resort’s lightship, operators aren’t even limited to targeting drive-by audiences with their signs, and can instead take the signs to the people.

But perhaps the most impressive technological advance has been the one that allows the entire facade to become a sign. Harrah’s Atlantic City wrapped its Waterfront Tower in 33,000 linear feet of LED fixtures, making the world’s largest video screen. This technology is also being incorporated into Fonatinebleau Las Vegas.

“I think now the trend is the using the whole building as a sign,” UNLV’s Schwartz said. “The Waterfront Tower in Atlantic City, Fontainebleau, that whole building is going to turn into a 60-story sign.”

Schwartz said it’s hard to say if this technology will catch on as a trend.

“If Fontainebleau looks as good as it does in the renderings, that is going to be really amazing,” he said. “I think there will always be some people who push the envelope, but I think there is something lasting about neon, so I don’t think it will ever go away.”

By Greg Jones

Greg Jones is managing editor of Casino Connection Nevada, as well as associate editor of Global Gaming Business magazine.

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