Month: June 2018

  • Sands Hotel and Casino Sign in Las Vegas Was Mid-Century Perfection

    Sands Hotel and Casino Sign in Las Vegas Was Mid-Century Perfection

    When the Sands opened on December 15, 1952, it represented Las Vegas’ introduction to modern casino and hotel design. But the world wasn’t ready for it yet, as 1952 was a tender year for mid-century modern architecture: the Korean War was still being fought, Truman was still U.S. President. Few of the familiar signifiers of the MCM age, such as manned space travel, were present yet.

    Wayne McAllister, the Sands architect, also designed the sign, a rare move in that town, where all signage was designed, fabricated, installed, and maintained by Young Electric Sign Co. (YESCO), which held and still holds an iron, Mafia-like grip on Vegas signage.

    According to Chris Nichols’ fantastic book, The Leisure Architecture of Wayne McAllister,

    “If I let YESCO design a sign,” [McAllister] remembered, “they would be back a couple of years later trying to get you to buy a better one.”

    Still, McAllister had to hire YESCO to fabricate and install the sign. According to Nichols, the sign was fifty-six feet high, asymmetrically cantilevered, and used an “egg carton” design as a background for the script lettering. All of those features are MCM style wrapped into a single package. The only element that would truly make it MCM (and very much a McAllister creation) would be stonework on the support pillar.

    1951: Sign Under Construction

    Building the Sands Hotel Sign, 1951

     

    One of the rare photographs from the UNLV collection showing construction of the Sands sign with the detached marquee. It would remain like that for awhile before the marquee was incorporated into the sign itself. It’s interesting to note the Trousdale Construction Co. sign. That company was owned by Paul Trousdale, who also built the legendary Trousdale Estates in Los Angeles.

    1950s: Pre-Marquees

    For much of the 1950s, the Sands sign stood proudly alone, with a separate marquee. The Sands sign’s subtitle, A Place In The Sun, ran on one line across the bottom of “Sands.” But this would eventually change.

    This is probably the finest period of the Sands’ sign because the gridwork background was allowed to cantilever off of the support post on the right. As marquees were added below the gridwork, this graceful cantilever effect–and the view of the mountains–was obliterated.

    1957: Back Side of Sign

    A somewhat rare shot of the Sands sign from the back. While the sign had no true front or back, in most photos, the sign is presented with the support column on the right side.

    1958: I Love Lucy Episode

    While not a great view of Sands’ sign, this picture establishes that the original sign was still intact as of 1958 for this I Love Lucy episode, “Lucy Hunts Uranium.”

    1950s: Sands Hotel Sign with TV Camera Operator

    Sands Hotel Sign Yellow 1950s

    An unique photo of the Sands Hotel sign showing a TV camera operator on a platform.

    1960: Famous Rat Pack Photo

    Arguably the most famous picture of the Rat Pack, the Sands, and perhaps even Las Vegas itself. By now, two marquees had been incorporated into the sign. This photograph was taken in 1960, during the filming of “Ocean’s 11.”

    Sands Hotel Sign Close Up Oceans 11

    1962

    Early 1960s

    In this two-marquee period, the marquees were still kept to one side of the sign.

    Mid 1960s: Rebuilt Sands Hotel Sign

    Sands Hotel Sign Second Phase Rebuilt

    In this major rebuild of the Sands Hotel and its sign, it’s worth noting that the sign was no longer cantilevered. To accommodate the weight and size of the added marquees, the gridwork extends to grade.

    1965: Sands Hotel and Sign Being Rebuilt

    1965: Sands Hotel and Sign Being Rebuilt

    In the mid 1960s, the Sands Hotel and Casino was rebuilt as a round skyscraper, and the sign was rebuilt along with it.

    Mid 1960s: Two Marquees

    In a later two-marquee period, the larger marquee was enlarged and shifted to the center of the support pillar.

    Mid 1960s: Two Marquees

    Early to Mid 1970s

    The 1970s was the era of the three marquees. More gridwork was added to the casino/hotel side of the sign to either structurally support or visually balance the extra marquees.

    Dave Barry was a popular opening act for Wayne Newton. Not related to the writer/humorist, Barry died in August 2001.

    1970s: Three Marquees

    1981: Sign Dismantled

    Sands Hotel and Casino Sign Being Replaced 1981

    After thirty years, the era of the iconic Sands sign had passed. In this back side view, the classic sign was dismantled in 1981 and replaced by a large marquee-style sign from YESCO.

    From the UNLV Collection

  • 14 Fantastic Japanese Kei Truck Mobile Mini-Gardens

    14 Fantastic Japanese Kei Truck Mobile Mini-Gardens

    Kei trucks, or kei-tora, are cute, stunted vehicles found only in Japan. So it’s natural that every year the the Japan Federation of Landscape Contractors would host a competition for the best kei truck mini-garden. View these stunningly cute kei truck gardens!

     

  • 27 Giant Props From Land of the Giants

    27 Giant Props From Land of the Giants

    Land of the Giants giant camera
    Reporter Clay Gowran with giant camera from Land of the Giants

    The Land of the Giants television show from 1969 was pure visual candy. It had to be, since the plots were thin and often ridiculous, even by the standards of this outlandish world. Episodes each cost a reported $250,000 to produce. Giant props were built that simulated an oversized world that the travelers in the spacecraft Spindrift encountered. In one episode, the crew devise a plot to steal a revolver–a prop that, according to producer Irwin Allen, cost $9,200 to create. No CGI here, everything was accomplished with mattes, wide angle lenses, camera angles, and those giant props. Liberal use was made of the giant telephone, books, beaker, safety pin (which the crew used as a grappling hook), pencil, sardine can, bottle caps, and fire hydrant. It’s interesting to note, too, that so many of those items are quaint antiques today.

    Irwin Allen told reporters that he conceived of Land of the Giants after having a nightmare where he was chased around by giants. This unnamed world was supposed to be twelve times larger than Earth, with cars 60 feet long and pencils 8 feet long. When Clay Gowran, a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, visited Allen at 20th Century Fox in August 1968, he had to use a 14-foot stepladder to reach the top of the 35 mm camera prop.

    Giant wrench

    Giant clock and cart made from sardine can and bottlecaps

    Giant set of stairs merged with giant person via matte

    Giant safety pin used as grappling hook

    Giant pork and beans and other cans

    Giant pencil and magnifying scope slides

    Giant outlet and table

    Giant box and bottle

    Giant helium container and spigot

    Giant moving hand

    Giant pistol

    Giant gauze, cotton puffs, and hand

    Giant gas can

    Giant fire hydrant (used numerous times)

    Giant working match and envelope

    Giant desk lamp and light bulb

    Giant desk items and cage

    Giant bottle

    Giant camera

    Giant bricks

    Giant box

    Giant telephone and books

    Giant berries

    Giant beaker

    Giant beaker

    Giant aerosol can

    Giant hydrant again

  • Saving Computers: Death of US News Media, LA Times-Style

    Saving Computers: Death of US News Media, LA Times-Style

    The Los Angeles Times continues its descent into tabloid world with the headline on this article about the conviction of e-waste recycler Eric Lundgren: “Electronics-recycling innovator is going to prison for trying to extend computers’ lives.” Really? That’s shocking.

    Eric Lundgren
    Eric Lundgren

     

    Los Angeles Times, April 26, 2018: Electronics-recycling innovator is going to prison for trying to extend computers' lives
    Los Angeles Times, April 26, 2018: Electronics-recycling innovator is going to prison for trying to extend computers’ lives

    Because the Times pulled the article from the Washington Post due to some apparent content-sharing arrangement, I checked the Post’s headlines:

    Washington Post: Eric Lundgren Conviction
    Washington Post: Eric Lundgren Conviction

    Can You Go to Prison for Extending Computers’ Lives?

    According to the Times, extending the lives of computers is a crime. While Lundgren should not be in Federal prison in Sheridan, Oregon for 15 months, in my opinion, no one is going to prison anytime soon for extending computers’ lives. This is about counterfeiting and copyright violations.

    From the Microsoft blog post about this:

    Clifford Lundgren pled guilty to conspiring to traffic in counterfeit goods, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2320(a)(1), and criminal copyright infringement, in violation of 17 U.S.C. § 506(a)(1)(A) and 18 U.S.C. § 2319(a) and (b)(1). Lundgren’s plea related to his role in a scheme in which he created and intended to sell about 28,000 copies of Dell reinstallation discs for Microsoft Windows, without permission from Microsoft. Lundgren appeals his sentence of 15-months imprisonment. He argues the district court erred in calculating the value of the infringed item, which drove his guideline range, and that his sentence is substantively unreasonable as a result.