History of the Desert Inn Las Vegas
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2024
- Wilbur Clark’s dream Las Vegas resort was where Frank Sinatra made his Las Vegas debut in 1951. Howard Hughes stayed on the top floor penthouse for four years and rarely left while buying up and changing Las Vegas. And someone won the world’s largest slot jackpot in 2000.
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I worked there as a busboy the night Sinatra played in 1992 I was 22 at the time. In big show nights all the stars were always brought in through the back kitchen area to get to the showroom. To make a long story short (we were crazy busy that night for obvious reasons) I came FLYING into the kitchen area through a set of double doors with a tray loaded with dirty dishes just to turn the corner and meet chest to chest with Mr. Sinatra hard enough to bump him backwards. I was shocked and immediately apologized and he didn’t say a word to me he just put his arm on my shoulder and gave me that head nod and smiled like don’t stress it’s ok. I looked him square in the eyes from maybe 18 inches away. I was starstruck. The color of his eyes were a shade of blue that I’d never seen before. Almost like royal blue. I’ll never forget that or my days working at the glorious Desert Inn. The last casino where men would wear tuxedos and the ladies wore evening gowns to the shows.
Very cool moment, you must have many great stories. Those days will never come back because BTS or Adele won't do a "residency" at a location with just 500 seats like the Crystal Room, Copa Room or other showrooms
@@VegasVisual Yes I have many stories. We used to serve Debbie Reynolds a lot. She was very sweet. She would often be with Rip Taylor having lunch. Kirk Kerkorian was a regular as well. Smokey Robinson, Don Rickles, Steve and Edie. Too many names to mention to be quite honest.
Amazing sorry and history, thanks for sharing and best wishes
I was there, my husband was working the Starlight Theatre, and was managed by Sinatra's people, Tony O. We divorced in 2003, remain polite, he married Lorraine Hunt and continues to work in Las Vegas.
Those were special days and I adored the staff, knew Mr Cohen and Dan Casella, several of the Valet guys, I knew most everyone at the DI.
Debbie was a friend of ours, Keeley and countless entertainers would set with me for my husband's show, I appreciated the experience in the moment and smile as I recall the memories.
It was a most worthy learning experience and it could not have had the flavor without the various Personalities and Characters that made up the staff of the Desert Inn.
I couldn't go the last night, way too emotional. My husband went, Bobby Rydell was there (he and his wife Camille were friends, Camille was a real and special lady).
Best Wishes, many successes,
Beth
(Bono)
Great staff
Have you recorded your life stories like this one? I have done about 100 recorded histories and highly recommend it. You have a great true story.
I live in Las Vegas and really enjoy these historical videos.
Thank you!
In 1968
The purchase of The Desert Inn Sands, Frontier, Silver Slipper
Castaways, & development of The Landmark hotel
became an unheard of monopoly toward legitimate business operations
The Hughes Corporation
1969
The International
Las Vegas Hilton
- Westgate was the first developed mega
resort
M. G. M
Corporation
Kirk Kerkorian
In 1989
The Mirage Hotel became a future image of Las Vegas Blvd
Golden Nugget
Incorporated
Steve Wynn
Our Las Vegas
pioneers .
Me too, but OLD vegas was just an piece of crap !
Glad to see all those old crap is finally gone !
@@gertjanvandermeij4265 GO AWAY IDIIOT
GOD TRANSPORT ME BACK IN TIME WHAT A GLAMOROUS ERA
A time that will never happen again. Vegas is too big to return to more intimate times of the 50's
Why does it feel so glamorous?? Its like nothing we have today
The 1950's and 60's was a whole different world in many ways.
"It" was not glamorous :) Humans were glamorous and humans took pride in being that way. They put on ties and dresses to fly and to dine. We use to be glamorous and could be again. That will be up to us.
A very informative video thanks for sharing ur knowledge. Watching here from Philippines.
Thank you, you are welcome.
Thank you so very much for making this video. Without honoring the past establishments that actually gave rise to the Vegas that everyone now knows as The Strip, history gets a bit shaky for as often as one hotel/casino is built, another one is destroyed. These would not be here without the chance gamble by the "old guard" hotels/casinos. Their stories need to be told and retold and remembered as the true pioneers of Las Vegas. 💖💖💖
Most welcome. Down the road (one year or two?) I will be updating this project because I have some more information and content about the Desert Inn. Very true that you need to know where you have been before you know where you are going or want to go.
@@VegasVisual I'm going to have to subscribe to your channel - I like the way that you have researched the history of the places and tell us (factually, not just guesses as to the story). I look forward to your next video can't wait to see it. 💖
@@colleenhelminiak1429 I try to only use original documents, sources or quotes from the day as much as possible and fill in the gaps with my own words or thoughts as little as possible. There should be one project per month and the one this month will be "Rat Pack" related.
@@VegasVisual I appreciate all the work it takes to put a video together - most people just think you point the camera and it does all of the editing, consistency, then you tap a key and presto - you have a video. I look forward to your next video - love the Rat Pack history. 💖💖💖
Please, keep making these amazing videos! I can’t get enough. I found you thru Jay, Vegas Confessions, that I have been following for a few years now. This is going to be one of my favorite UA-cam channels.
Thank you for your support!
Thanks for this. Learned a lot. My uncle was Lou Rothkopf who worked with Moe Dalitz and was a part of DI. My family wouldn’t talk much about him (and he died before I was born) so I am on my own as I piece the past together.
Most welcome, Moe Dalitz did a lot for Vegas, your uncle must have some stories.
Had breakfast at small restaurant overlooking greenery, never forget it, 1991
That sounds very cool, at least (a different) golf course is still there but not sure how long it will last since developing the land would bring in more money.
@@VegasVisual my wife and I were treated royally at the Stardust, Imperial Palace especially. Those times need to come back instead of all the high 0rices on everything
Great history lesson, love old Vegas but a golf course what a gross misuse of precious water
Fascinating! Excellent visuals and concise chronology of a pivotal point in Las Vegas history. Many thanks. Keep up the quantity work for the esoteric of us out here.
Thank you, the Sands Hotel & Casino is next.
@@VegasVisual Great! The Sands was my favorite property. It was Iconic in the 1950’s Googie fashion.
THANKS A LLOOOT! You not only capture the atmosphere, but also explore the history of these fascinating places and the people that made this dream possible.
Thank you, that is the goal, explore the topic and find the details from original documents, sources and people.
Yes, I WILL. THANKS
I worked there from 1982 to close , the 60’s and 70’s would have been better but the 80’s and 90’s were better then today .
Very cool! The DI is on the Mt. Rushmore of Strip casinos. I am currently working on an update of this video that should be out by October. Much more information coming about the DI soon.
Amazing research you did. Well put together! I learned a lot about the Desert Inn and Vegas here. like 29
Thank you, in the past 7 days while researching other Vegas hotels I have already found enough additional information and video content that I will likely do an update down the road.
@@VegasVisual 🤯
Thank you so much for this! I remember the Desert Inn from the summer of 1955, when my dad worked there as a musician. My favorite swimming pool was at the Dunes, with its three seahorses. Could you do a history of all the grand hotels from the 1950's? Thank you!!
Most welcome! I am methodically working through the history of Las Vegas, first with easy topical information content and slowly drilling down deeper into different topics including the grand hotels of the 1950's and other eras.
I did the history of Flamingo and this video before I decided to start doing easier, topical videos as opposed to the history of an entire hotel like this video.
@@VegasVisual I love your videos! We all do! I especially appreciate all the vintage photos and promo films that you unearthed and are sharing with us. Hollywood Blvd. was and is a dirty toilet bowl to compare with the Las Vegas strip in the 1950's and early '60's. I will never forget my early impressions as a kid, when I didn't know what gambling was. DuPar's restaurant in Studio City, CA had March Of Dimes polio donation piggy banks on the counter resembling slot machines. They were the first ones I had ever seen. When I saw the one-armed bandits in hotel lobbies in Vegas, I logically assumed these were giant piggy banks collecting money for crippled children. This enhanced my impression of Las Vegas as this magical, fairytale place.
Please, please continue to do a deep dive for the history of each of the original hotels! I remember when Vegas still looked like the old photos. Mom and I walked all around there at night while dad was working. Have you found anything about the history of the El Rancho Vegas and the rumor that owner Belden Katelman burned it down for the insurance money?
@@lemorab1 I have some information on the El Rancho burning down but haven't begun to look into the 1st resort on the strip. I have about 12-15 topics I want to explore first and while I do research on those topics I tend to run into information for other topics like the El Rancho.
In 1955 my mother and i had Thanksgiving dinner there. Henny Youngman came and sat at our table. We found out he had payed for our dinner. The next summer my father flew in ti McCarron Field from New York. After dinner at tge DI he danced with me outside by the dancing waters. Great memories as a child.
Those are great memories, Vegas was very different back in the mid 1950's. Many people don't realize how big the D.I. was in its hey day because the Flamingo and Sands tend to get more attention now because of Bugsy and the "Rat Pack".
Fascinating stuff. Such a great combination of information in the narration combined with the images.
Thank you for the kind words.
Every effort was made to go with original documents or sources as much as possible. If there are any corrections or additional information on the Desert Inn (with a source ideally) please comment down below.
Awesome video Kevin. I love Vegas history. More of these videos please. Thumbs UP👍
@@vegastocali Thank you, Sands Hotel & Casino is next with the Rat Pack.
First, your effort here is very well put together-love the photos of the bellman Wilbur Clark in SD. The DI and it's history run deep in my family. My father opened the property as a day shift bellman, working under Jack Butler (bell captain), whose wife and his names, are on mine, and two siblings baptismal certificates. (godparents) He met my mother one year later (1951), when she went to work at the front desk. My ex-wife's father also opened the property as a day shift bellman, and her mother also went to work (publicity dept) shortly after the 1950 opening. I started work there in 1986, and worked until closing in '2000. I have a ton of stuff related to Las vegas and specifically the DI. One thing that I noticed here on your video, is the indicating arrow, showing where Wilbur and Toni Clark resided. You're showing atleast six or seven house down from the hotel on DI Rd, while it was my understanding that they resided in the the first house. (on the curve of DI Rd. Besides that, everything is super- kudos for putting together one of the iconic properties in Las Vegas' history.
@@remmymafia3889 Thanks for all the great information! I will make the correction on the Clark home location. I have enough additional content and information to do an update down the road.
My Aunt Bonnie Woody worked in Accounts Receivable at the desert inn in the 50’s, 60’s & 70’s. She got me Beatles tickets in 1964. I was 17 and visiting my Aunt from Toronto Canda. I still have ticket stubs and the brochure from the show. I think the tickets were about $1.65 each. Great nostalgia watching this video. Thank you, John.
Very cool that you got to see the Beatles in Vergas, you must have heard some great stories about the D.I.
@@VegasVisual One story she told me about Frank Sinatra. She said, he would big tips on his food bills but he didn’t pay the DI. He threatened to give bad reviews about the place if they forced him to pay.
Put big tips
@@johngregreid1 Sounds like Frank.
How did you single handedly answer questions, i never knew I needed answers to? Great video!
Thanks! The Desert Inn and the Sands (next) might have the most interesting histories.
One of the Best Video's about Las Vegas. My Grandparents was at the Flamingo the 1st week it open, they stayed at the El Rancho. My Grandparents would go to Las Vegas about 1 or 2 times a yr after the 1st time they when there. They use to take Me with them from the 1970's til the 1980's . I got married in Las Vegas in 1991@ the Flamingo, We when there this yr to celebrate our 30 yr anniversary. I seen Vegas change so much over the yrs. It is not the same anymore, But We love going there.
Thank you, some of these resorts have some pretty interesting histories.
That is really cool that your grandparents were at the Flamingo the first week it opened. Rose Marie performed at the opening of the Flamingo and also stayed at the El Rancho because the Flamingo hotel rooms were not ready yet. Rose Marie paid $ 11 on Christmas night to stay at the El Rancho before performing the next night.
I did a short 10 minute history on the Flamingo last summer but I am working on a longer version right now, hopefully it will be out in January 2022.
@@VegasVisual , I have some great stories about Vegas, that was told to me by My Grandpa. I have a bunch of souvenirs and pictures from the 1950's and up from Vegas.
@@borod5571 That is great! If you want to share them I could use them on some of the docs I am working on down the road.
Really enjoyed and learned at lot from this. Well done. Cheers!
Thank you! There is one mistake, the name of Moe Dalitz is pronounced "DAY-itz", not DAL-itz."
Thank you for this. My father's trio the Grover-Shore Trio opened the Desert Inn and was one of the house bands that played in the Lady Luck Lounge for eight years.
Most welcome, your father must have had some great stories!
Definitely,needs a game on the 50s and 60s
I really enjoyed this. I'm looking forward to the next one.
Thank you! Sands is next, hopefully before October but who knows.
Amazing work ! thank you 😀
Most welcome, this was an interesting one.
Luv this stuff. Fascinating. Great Job! Got more?
Thank you. One mistake I made with the Desert Inn history vlog is I pronounced Moe's last name "Dal-itz" when it is pronounced "Day-litz". I read a lot about Moe Dalitz but didn't watch any video on him until later.
First history vlog was a brief history of the Flamingo, I am going to do this one again down the road:
ua-cam.com/video/fluoHNDH5cs/v-deo.html
Flamingo Celebrates 75 years Today, not a history vlog but a brief "look back"
ua-cam.com/video/5RsyXxF_atI/v-deo.html
History of the Copa Room at the Sands (Rat Pack etc.)
ua-cam.com/video/OMdbhxODhjY/v-deo.html
USA vs. Meyer Lansky: Flamingo Las Vegas $ 36M Skimming Case
ua-cam.com/video/3J-8uQpShnU/v-deo.html
Hello there, this is a nice history lesson. Thanks!
Thank you for watching Bill!
This turned out to be a great video.
This one was really interesting, thank you Bill.
Great documentary, I'm really enjoying it. I don't know where the heck you find all these fantastic pictures! I scour the internet and don't find this stuff. (BTW, at 7:22 you identify the dark-suited man in the left picture as Winston Churchill. That's actually former President Herbert Hoover. Thought you'd want to know)
Thank you for the correction, there are a few sites that have many of the photos that are Vegas related. The UNLV Special Collections site is the best to start with.
I deleted that clip about the three visiting the hotel because its additional information that is not that important. Eventually I am going to do a second version of this history because as I am working on other projects I am getting more content and information but that new version probably won't be done for awhile.
This was so interesting Kevin. $5.75 for a steak dinner?!?..what a deal! What a great culmination for all of your hard work🙏🏻
Thank you, I learned alot while doing this history.
My Dad told me in 1970, you could eat a steak dinner and watch Elvis for $15....lol....that's insane.....but houses went for like 30 grand back then too.
@@intelizWild In 1960 (January & February) during The Summit shows at the Sands's Copa Room tickets for the dinner show to watch The "Rat Pack" do their musical comedy were about $ 5.
Although tickets were hard to come by, the Sands got 1,000s of reservation requests for the Sands 200 hotels rooms during those two months and every strip hotel was sold out of rooms during the Summit shows.
Have a great weekend Intel and Kevin!!🤜🏻🤛🏻
@@pal1216 take care!
Very cool...love the history of Vegas. Well done...fabulous job 👏👏👏😉👍
Can we have more on all the old school hotels/motels? 😁😁😁
Thank you Coco, I am currently working on the Sands Hotel and Casino but because there is so much history with the Sands I am breaking the Sands down into topics. First topic is the Copa Room at the Sands featuring the Rat Pack.
Excellent and thorough, well done!!! Love the “timecode” on one of the clips, reminded of working in editing bays.
Thank you Alan! Yes, the classic timecode.
Love history vlogs. Great job!
Thank you Chrissy!
Ok, so I just have commented on the premiere. Binge watching today. In a lot of ways, Steve Wynn tried to keep simple elements from D.I. the golf course and the dancing fountain ⛲️. It seemed like Steve Wynn loves history as well. I love his creative minds his Resorts are/ were timeless.
I didn't think about the dancing fountains connection the Wynn Resort. There may be other connections to the D.I.
Hey Brotha probably one of the best documentaries I have ever watched. Covered it from beginning to end with extra stuff I have never seen before also really appreciate the commercials, Even tho I wasn’t even a thought at the time 🤣 it’s really cool to go back in time and see how people enjoyed Vegas and the wild stories that go along with the mob and Las Vegas always fascinating stuff man and please keep doing these & I may be the only one to say this but if this stuff was 3 hours long I’d watch every minute HELL OF A JOB BUDDY 🤙 WOW VERY IMPRESSED 👏
Thanks for all your support, I did leave some stuff out because the information just kept coming and coming but there may be an update down the road.
@@VegasVisual also retractable TV 📺 back then HUGE FLEX 💪 😂
@@vegasconfessionspodcast8202 when I learned about the retractable TV I was amazed that they had that back then for homes.
Fascinating, entertaining, and very well researched…
Thank you, I have many more projects in the works, hopefully they will come out every month or two. I try only to use original documents or sources as much as possible.
@@VegasVisual My company is developing a TV series based on the Moulin Rouge Hotel and Casino in the mid-1950s. Your historical videos are of particular interest to me!
@@BonanzaRoad That is great, the Moulin Rouge was only open less than one year so there isn't much information or content on the hotel. I am going to do a history vlog on the Moulin Rouge but it is difficult to find information; mostly I have collected photos of the hotel.
@@VegasVisual We have been researching the Moulin Rouge for years and have collected quite a bit of material… Fascinating material…about the builders, financiers, behind the scenes dealings with the mob and African-American leaders in West Las Vegas… We have more than enough material for multiple seasons…
@@BonanzaRoad That is great to hear, maybe one day someone will rebuild the Moulin Rouge.
I was a pool boy at the Desert Inn during the years 1955 and 1956. Don Hunnel was in charge of the pool area. Don was a good man. I got to swim and dive all day for two whole summers. I say pool boy, but I was too young to really work at ten and eleven.
That is very cool that you were able to work at the DI for two summers. What kind of food and drink service did they have for the pool area?
The view of the Augustus Tower being implode here? When Starwood/ITT owned the DI, ('93-'00) they stripped the exterior mirror look, as well as gutting the interior of the high rises. Working there from '86 to closure ('2000), I remember on my breaks (table games), I would be able to access the towers, that were stripped and gutted, at night, with no one around. I remember looking out from the floors, that looked like this video of the tower prepped for implosion.
Yes, that was the Augustus Tower being imploded in the October 23, 2001 news report.
Perfect michael 👌 Miller respect
Thank you.
Great Video Vegas Visual. I learned alot-Ty
Thanks, I learned a lot too!
Would be so amazing to go back in time to the DI and see Louis Prima 😊🍸
That would be great!
Fantastically done, VV, wow *applauds*
Thank you Michael, now if I could only make my own music!
@@VegasVisual I only do it because I can lol. But there’s really good stuff in the UA-cam music library you can use.
@@MovestroVegas I have about a dozen or so downloaded from YT, I just haven't used the songs much. The music at the end is from YT called "Bittersweet".
At the 14:24 mark, one gets the best look at Phil Silver's. (Bilko)
. 6:40 teaching
good manners. Lol
🤺💐
Many things were different back in the day.
Thank u 🎉❤😂
Most welcome!
Day Litz vs. Dah litz is the way I've heard it in hundreds of Mob vids. fyi with love!
Thank you, I noticed that afterwards.
Well if there's any time capsules beared in or around the Winn, I would say find someone with a metal detector and find them. They're a piece of Los Vagus history. But don't open them until it's time to. See if there are any employees of the DI and see if they can remember where the capsules may be. That's what I would do.
Hopefully someone finds the time capsules.
-hears the prices- Time to power up my time machine!
It was a different time in many ways.
I would agree that Frank and Dean both issued some racist remarks to Sammy. However, I also thing Frank brought Sammy into "The Pack" because he knew inside he was the biggest talent there ever was and he wanted to be associated with him rather than be against him down the road. P.S. Humphrey Bogart started the Rat Pack, not Frank.
You are correct.
I go into greater detail about the "Rat Pack" in the "History of the Copa Room" video where Frank really helped Sammy:
ua-cam.com/video/OMdbhxODhjY/v-deo.html
Also, I cover the "Real Rat Pack" on another video and how Bogart was the leader:
ua-cam.com/video/BcTnOeAvd4g/v-deo.html
The list of entertainers listed here at the end, totally left out someone who performed when he was just ramping up to super stardom. (Garth Brooks- and for that matter, Foster Brookes (lol)
Yes, I didn't really put much effort into finding all of the entertainers of note that played at the DI. It is probably a very long list.
Beginning at the 30:14 mark, there's a statement by a one Mr. Jack Butler. His name is on three baptismal certificates (mine my brother and sister) along with his wife Janet, as our godparents. My father opened the DI as a day shift bellman, and Jack Butler was his boss. (bell captain) Between my father and I, we worked at the DI for thirty of it's fifty years in existence. Storied property, without a doubt.
That is very cool to hear, you have a strong connection to the DI. The Desert Inn is easily one of the top 4 resorts during the classic era.
Yeah 5 dollars in 1960 was 50 today.
Thanks for the conversion..
Frank Sinatra at some point agreed to snitch on some mafia guys. So he, from that point Giancana made a contract with him that he had to perform in Las Vegas when ever they told him.
Another issue was that Frank Sinatra got Sam Giancana to support JFK for President in 1960. So Giancana gave $1M and had the mob really support JFK but then Attorney General Robert Kennedy started going after Giancana and the mob in 1961. Giancana was furious that JFK wouldn't stop his brother Robert from coming after him so Giancana blamed Sinatra (apparently almost killed Sinatra) and had Sinatra do free shows.
@@VegasVisual Im not sure it was because of that.Kennedy came from an Illuminate family,just like Nixon , and the rest of them. Thats why the mafia got the order to back JFK in my opinion.
Frank sinatra was just a puppet in my opinion. A guy who got promotted Thanks to his connections with the Mafia in my opinion.His father made his fortune thanks to the Botleging ,during the 30s I think.
Have you done The Thunderbird yet?
Not yet. Did part of the Flamingo history with Bugsy and another with Lanksy and the Flamingo skimming case.
Every now then I would drive past The D.I. and wonder....
Is he really up there ??
Imagine if he was really staying at another Strip resort or maybe even off Strip.
Just to be clear, Moe Dalitz never spoke directly to Howard Hughes, only through intermediaries. Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure about it, otherwise, great clip!
Thank you, that seems most likely. Howard didn't even talk to Robert Maheu , his right-hand man in Las Vegas.
Wilbur Clark was my great uncle, died too young.
Unfair to call him a frontman, he was a self made man and his great great grandchildren will live comfortably
Clark was both, Wilbur was his own man, ran multiple casinos and got himself to the point of almost opening the Desert Inn but Wilbur was a front man at the D.I. for Dalitz and Co.
Very cool! Clark did die too soon.
@@VegasVisual in the time around his death he felt threatened by Moe Dalitz and others in the Cleveland Mob. As I’m sure you know it was a rapidly changing time in Vegas.
I now find myself in possession of many of his artifacts from the desert inn, when I get free time I’ll look through all the keepsakes in the garage and memorabilia items.
@@jakewalker271 Very cool to have those artifacts.
1:51 DAY-Litz
Thanks, I read a lot but didn't watch any video until later about Dalitz and have corrected it in other videos.
Moe Dalits , few know how powerful he was.
Very true, Dalitz was very powerful.
@@VegasVisual I heard about him from a midume that channeled him on UA-cam. The guy is not known.Every one knows about Lansky ,All most no one knows about him dough he was connected to.Lansky and I think he countued his Casinos in Vegas and Miami.
Don king was a tough criminal who grew up in Clevland , he run away from this deadly group...But theres hardly a Video about them or a book. They kept quiet it seems.
@@lovenlightman I want to do something on Moe Dalitz down the road after I get enough information, working on some other projects right now where there is plenty of material.
Do you have a email contact? Inquiring about a project I’m working on
It's in the description box.
Refreshing that the day care taught good manners and not about being non binary!!
Thank you for watching.
August 1997, November 1997, July 2020
What are those dates?
But yet, NBA rules were invoked ! 😢😢😢😢😢😢😢.
What NBA rules?
7:13
who's reading this ?
A human.
@@VegasVisual not well
Desert Inn was just another old POS ! Just old CRAP and pointless dreams !
The future is the best thing ever happend to Las Vegas !!
That is certainly within the realm of possibility.
Fantastic video !
Thank you!