https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFv6_3JaHGQ
Reminded lions of their flamingo visit in 2004. The photos still survive. Lions were so fascinated by the maffia history, they took a lot of pictures.
Somewhat nostalgic for the look that old Sony camera's grainy, saturated photos. It was a lot of money for the time but quite ahead of its time, right before DSLR's arrived. Quality this good is unheard of for photos from that time.
Through the magic of 22 years of progress, it is now possible to visualize the original building in the current context.
The inscription implied the very 1st building was the 3 sided one in what is now the outdoor space, but it didn't appear roomy enough for the entertainment. It faced away from the strip. Kiwipedia confirmed the triangular shaped building facing the strip was the casino & it opened 1st. The bugsy building was the hotel & it opened 3 months later.
The earliest aerial was from 1950, showing the bugsy building wrapping around to the casino building facing the strip. They just kept extending the original casino to create the triangle.
It really was the 1st.
Late 1947, facing the northwest side of the complex.
This photo shows a 65 mustang & no water tower.
This one from the 1950's shows possibly the northwest side of the triangle & a water tower.
This was 1957
Facing southwest & facing the triangle building in 1953.
https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/las-vegas-strip/bugsy-suite-at-flamingo-las-vegas-survives-in-photos-before-1993-demolition-of-historic-building/
This one shows the original 1946 building still standing in the shadows of the towers, in 1993, long after lions already finished highschool. Maffia money was quite diminutive indeed, compared to corporate hotels.
https://themobmuseum.org/blog/as-the-75th-anniversary-of-the-flamingo-hotel-approaches-the-mob-museum-is-set-to-unveil-a-new-exhibit/
The goog eventually started hitting the earliest photos with searches for "bugsy building"
https://www.casino.org/news/bugsy-siegels-secret-flamingo-escape-route-not-a-vegas-myth/
The 4 story tower section was made of 4" thick concrete for bulletproofing. Ladders in hidden passages allowed him to climb down. A hidden tunnel led to a getaway car in an underground garage.
Building all this no doubt explained the ballooning cost.
Our only aerial of the construction. Water tanks, water pipe trenches, & power lines from Hoover dam are visible. It might have gotten water from a well before being plumbed into Hoover dam in the 60's. It might have been located specifically near an oasis on the east side.
The construction company was the parent company of Del Webb, but it's like saying the government built a house.
This one has a nice video showing the locations of the buildings over its entire history but not the water tower. Lions stayed in a 1977 tower.
Another construction photo showing the uninhabited, untouched desert of atomic age lore where the heart of Las Vegas is. Probably the fall of 1946. The depicted workers were the survivors of WWII. The sound barrier was yet to be broken farther west, in the next year. Imagine waking up to the sight of such a vast untouched desert every day.
Early 1947 when Bugsy was still alive.
In 1947, it already looked like it was slapped together for the lowest cost.
1950, after funding was secured to finish the circle & cover the walkway. Original oasis & new water tower are visible.
Late 1947, before the circle was finished. The sign matches late 1947.
Some more from the 1950's. The low rise apartments on the east side were still there when lions were there, but have since been torn down.
The world that was built in the 1950's looms larger in lion memory than the world which was built after 2000. Most lion education happened in schools built before 1970. Much childhood memory was in neighborhoods built before 1970.
Lions sometimes pondered what it would be like to retire in Vegas like so many others & walk up & down the strip every day. Would it get boring? Lions pounded the city pavement for years & eventually it did get boring. Maybe lions would continue imagining finding true love there, as they did 25 years ago, but now too old for it to ever happen.
Lions remember seeing the retired population packed into casinos 40 years ago, just playing slot machines all day with more social security than they knew what to do with. That sight is manely forgotten & working retirement is the new normal.
Lions went to Vegas twice in 2004, over just 4 months. That was the peak of the commute. Quite a drop from the corporate funded Flamingo to the self funded Gold Strike/Terrible's. The last trip was Jan 2005 to the New Frontier. The once hottie booth babes were really just Wonderhussy clones. She took the thrill away because she's so small & into old men.
Still debate going there again, probably by air, to run either the extreme downhill Vegas marathon or 100 miler. There would probably be some paid erotic experience.
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