{"id":320665,"date":"2024-05-22T19:19:19","date_gmt":"2024-05-23T00:19:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=320665"},"modified":"2024-05-23T10:14:30","modified_gmt":"2024-05-23T15:14:30","slug":"neon-museum-unveils-restored-flamingo-las-vegas-signs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/neon-museum-unveils-restored-flamingo-las-vegas-signs\/","title":{"rendered":"Neon Museum Unveils Restored Flamingo Las Vegas Signs"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Neon Museum in Las Vegas on Tuesday unveiled its first signage from the Flamingo, the oldest resort on the Strip.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The newly restored signs, 20 feet tall, blend the cropped top of a Flamingo Road roadside pylon sign with two neon feather plumes (bottom) created by parade float designer Paul Rodriguez, which were removed from elsewhere on the property. (Image: KVVU-TV\/Las Vegas<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis gives us a chance to really talk about everything from the mob to the influence of entertainment,\u201d Aaron Berger, the Neon Museum\u2019s executive director, told KVVU-TV\/Las Vegas.<\/em> \u201cEntertainment really gets its hooks into the Flamingo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
The bulk of the newly restored signs comes from the top of this Flamingo Hilton sign, shown in 1977. (Image: Sign Builder Illustrated<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Not That<\/em> Original<\/h2>\n

Unfortunately, these signs aren’t from what anyone would consider the casino resort\u2019s classic period. They date back only to 1976, five years after the hotel had already become the Flamingo Hilton. (It reverted to its original name in 2001.)<\/p>\n

The pylon sign is only a recreation of a 1967 pylon sign designed by Ad-Art\u2019s Bill Clarke, which wasn’t saved.<\/p>\n

Though people criticize today\u2019s Las Vegas for having no regard for its architectural history, the problem was much worse from the 1940s through the 1970s.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Almost nothing<\/em> from the original Las Vegas was salvaged for prosperity.<\/p>\n

The resort called the Flamingo today features none of the structures it opened with in December 1946. The last original building, which featured former owner Bugsy Siegel\u2019s office, was demolished during a 1995 renovation.<\/p>\n

This makes these newly restored signs the Flamingo\u2019s oldest surviving architectural relic.<\/p>\n

The cost of their restoration, believed to be in the six figures, was footed by three main donors: Andrew Pascal, CEO of online gambling company Play Studios and nephew of Steve Wynn; Felicia French, CEO of textile company Opuzen; and Emily Conner Cooper, the widow of Las Vegas comedian Pat Cooper, who died in 2023 at age 93. Cooper\u2019s first Las Vegas gig was at the Flamingo in 1963.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Unidentified clients of wedding photographer Deidra Wilson pose in front of pieces of the plumage from the top of the 1976 Flamingo sign, which lost their pink and orange color long ago. (Image: deidrawilson.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hiding in Plain Sight<\/h2>\n

The Neon Museum has secretly had the newly restored signs on display in its \u201cneon boneyard\u201d — the backlot where museumgoers wander through its sign collection — since they were donated by the Flamingo in 2003, though this is the first time they were restored and publicly identified. The \u201cFlamingo\u201d lettering wasn’t saved.<\/p>\n

Much like a real flamingo sticking its head in the sand, the top of the pylon sign had been hiding in plain sight \u2014 in pieces behind the \u201cWedding Information\u201d sign used in the 1940s at the Ali Baba Wedding Center by the airport.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thousands of couples springing for the museum\u2019s $950 per hour wedding rental fee have it in the background of their wedding photos and don\u2019t even know it.<\/p>\n

A third Flamingo feather plume, also believed to be from the 1970s, is still on display in the boneyard, unrestored.<\/p>\n

Signing Off<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"
The current Flamingo sign, known as the \u201cbull nose,\u201d was designed by Paul Rodriguez and built and installed by Heath & Company in 1977. It now functions as the casino resort\u2019s main sign. Its predecessor, the plume sign, can be seen in the background. It would stand until 1987. (Image: Vintage Las Vegas)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The pylon sign was removed in 1987 to make room for O\u2019Shea\u2019s Casino, which would open on the site two years later. O\u2019Shea\u2019s was demolished in 2012 and a smaller version opened in the Linq Promenade the following year.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, the Hilton Corporation placed the top of the pylon sign in storage on the Flamingo property after its removal.<\/strong><\/p>\n

No replacement Flamingo sign was ever constructed, since the current Flamingo sign, nicknamed the \u201cbull nose,\u201d has advertised the resort\u2019s famous name in a sufficiently large manner to the Las Vegas Strip since it was added during a 1977 renovation.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the Big Deal?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Flamingo is the oldest surviving resort name on the Strip, having opened in December 1946. Its name is imprinted forever on pop culture because of Hollywood\u2019s fascination with the mobster who opened it. However, Bugsy Siegel is given too much credit by pop culture for building the Flamingo.<\/p>\n

The casino resort\u2019s original concept and name came from Billy Wilkerson, publisher of the Hollywood Reporter, <\/em>who faced financial problems during construction which led him to take on Siegel as a business partner — a decision he regretted when Siegel forced him out of the project under threat of force.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Neon Museum in Las Vegas on Tuesday unveiled its first signage from the Flamingo, the oldest resort on the Strip. \u201cThis gives us a chance to really talk about everything from the mob to the influence of entertainment,\u201d Aaron Berger, the Neon Museum\u2019s executive director, told KVVU-TV\/Las Vegas. \u201cEntertainment really gets its hooks into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":320671,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,81886],"tags":[82648,91010,23,84795,84794,84793],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNeon Museum Unveils Restored Flamingo Las Vegas Signs - Casino.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Neon Museum in Las Vegas on Tuesday unveiled its first signage from the Flamingo, the oldest resort on the Strip. \u201cThis gives us a chance to really\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/neon-museum-unveils-restored-flamingo-las-vegas-signs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Neon Museum Unveils Restored Flamingo Las Vegas Signs - 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