It's HERE!!!  Be sure to get your tickets, it sounds like a wonderful way to connect with Las Vegas' post-war history and its architecture!!!!!

We are thrilled that the ADAS (Architectural and Decorative Arts Society) has carried on the Mid Century Modern celebration that we started a few years ago.

If you love the Mid-Century Modern lifestyle, history, architecture, own a mid-mod home or want to take a tour of mid-mod homes in Las Vegas, this is the event for you.

 Tickets to the Las Vegas Mid-Century Modern Weekend are on sale now.   

POP, BOOM LIFESTYLE REVOLUTION

ADAS Mid-Century Modern Weekend

Wednesday, October 19 – Sunday, October 23, 2011

ADAS (Architecture and Decorative Arts Society) celebrates all
things mid-century modern with an extraordinary five day event.
A pass for all five days is a very reasonable $100; $90 for ADAS
members. Included is the kick off mixer, general admission to
the Atomic Testing Museum, mid-century vendors; mid-century
architectural seminar; mid-century dinner; fashion show; silent
auction; three mid-century discussion panels; Morelli House
reception; four-hour mid-century neighborhood bus tour. Visit
ADAS website at www.adas-lv.com to purchase your tickets. Space
is limited on most events.

Wednesday, October 19

ADAS kicks off the mid-modern experience by hosting a mixer at the
Atomic Testing Museum, 5:30 – 7:30. Guests will have a lot to entertain
themselves for the evening. A ticket for admission to the museum will
be included in the price of the mixer.

Guests can take the tour that
evening, or can return at a later date.

The Museum store will also bem open for shopping. There will be food and wine in the main reception
area, along with vendors previewing products that were popular in the '50s and '60s.

Event price: $30.00

Thursday, October 20

Again at the Atomic Testing Museum, ADAS is hosting a seminar primarily for homeowners on the evolution and care of these historic buildings. Speakers with hands on experience in this genre of distinctive houses will share their knowledge. Food and wine will be provided.

Vendors who specialize in mid-modern architecture will also be on hand.

Time: 6:00 – 8:00 pm.

Event Price: $30.00

Friday, October 21

A mid-century dinner will be held at Holsum Lofts, catered by Lola’s
Restaurant. In addition to enjoying foods of the time period, diners will
enjoy mid-century fashions in a multi-generational fashion show. There
will also be a silent auction to tease the senses. Time: 6:00 – 9:00 pm

Event Price: $50.00

Saturday, October 22

The El Cortez Hotel will be the venue for this free event co-sponsored
by the City of Las Vegas. There will be food and drink, followed
by three expert panels. After the panel presentation there will be a
reception at the Morelli House.

1:00 pm “Mid-Century Life Style Evolution” Local author and
architect, Robert Fielden (Creating Place: Remaking America Green )
leads a discussion with author and architectural historian, Peter Moruzzi
and others on the profound impact of midcentury design and architecture
on American life in the middle of the 20th century.

2:00 pm “Family Feud: Havana vs. Las Vegas in the 1950s” Peter Moruzzi, presents an illustrated presentation from his book, Havana Before Castro-When Cuba Was a Tropical Playground.

Before Castro’s revolution, Havana and Las Vegas were rivals for the title of the “Monte Carlo of the Americas.” Cuba’s exotic tropical setting, wild reputation, close proximity, and supportive government inspired the mob to invest heavily in fabulous hotel-casinos such as the Capri, Riviera, and Nacional. Yet, many of these same investors were also among Vegas’ biggest boosters - Moe Dalitz, Sam Tucker, and front man Wilbur Clark. In 1958, the Nevada Gaming Control Board forced them to choose, Havana or Las Vegas, but not both.

3:00 pm “Dolls, Dons, and Dictators,” Architectural historian, Peter Moruzzi (Havana Before Castro – When Cuba Was a Tropical Playground); author Wendy Mazaros (Vegas Rag Doll); Myer Lansky II; and local author and historian Michael Green engage in a spirited and expanded discussion about the parallel worlds of Las Vegas and Cuba, drawing from their insights and some of their own personal real life
experiences.

4:00 pm - 6 pm “Cha, Cha, Cha” Cuban inspired reception with music,
drink and refreshment at the Morelli House, 861 E. Bridger.

Sunday, October 23

Mid-Mod Bus Tour

Hosted by well known realtor and mid-century modern real estate expert
Jack LeVine, guests will take a four-hour tour on an open double-decker
bus through iconic mid-century Las Vegas neighborhoods.

In addition to touring neighborhoods, the bus will make several stops to peek inside
select properties. Bus will depart and return to parking lot at Boulevard
Mall. Time: 12 noon – 4 pm.

Event Price: $30.00

Should be a lot of fun as well as informative.  So if you love mid-century modern, get your tickets NOW!!!

GOODSPRINGS DAZE

September 24, 2011

“Celebrating our History”
First Annual
Festivities start 10am

Food
Karaoke
Raffle
Bake Sale
Car Show
Arts & Crafts
Games for Kids
Coloring Contest
Historical Society Exhibit
Ice Cream Eating Contest
Pie Eating Contest
Live Music
Face Painting
Silent Auction
WWII Air Show
Cowboy Roping Tricks
1913 School will be open
School History Display
Everyone Welcome
Bring your lounge chair
100-Year Railroad Commemoration
Information booths: Nature, History
“The Art of Nature” multimedia presentation by artist Sharon Schafer
Goodsprings, Nevada…..I-15 S Exit Jean, 7 miles west

                                                     For more information please call
                                          Cheryl (702) 218-6974 or Noel (702) 290-8325

                                                         www.pioneersaloon.info

                                                         www.goodsprings.org

Goodsprings in 1924

This sounds like a great exhibit curated by our pals, Paco Alvarez and Clay Heximer. We hope you will take the time to check it out!

The Boulevard and the News Bureau will hold an unveiling of the exhibition on Saturday, Aug. at 5 pm inside The Boulevard Food Court in conjunction with The Neighborhood of Paradise Palms (paradisepalmslasvegas.com).

Through historic photographs from the Las Vegas News Bureau archives, "A Place in Paradise" explores a neighborhood that was synonymous with the Mid-Century Modern lifestyle in Las Vegas during the 1960s.

The exhibition includes 24, large-format photographs depicting images of The Boulevard shopping mall; the aerial images of the Historic Paradise Palms neighborhood and its resident celebrities, including Caesars Palace developer Jay Sarno, comedian Rip Taylor, actress and entertainer Debbie Reynolds and "Casino De Paris" show producer Frederic Apcar; the Tournament of Champions Golf Tournament with Arnold Palmer teeing off in 1967 and many more.

Located in the food court at The Boulevard shopping mall (3528 S. Maryland Parkway), the photographs are on exhibition through the end of 2011 during mall hours. The exhibition was produced by the Las Vegas News Bureau in partnership with The Boulevard and General Growth properties. Considered to be Las Vegas’ first major master-planned community, the historic "Paradise Palms" neighborhood was built with all the amenities of an ideal suburban environment.

Located in the heart of Clark County, it was built at the height of the Mid-Century Modern Era (1945-1965). The community would feature landscaped neighborhoods, a large “weather-controlled” shopping center, a movie theater, a medical center, a university, schools, parks and a championship golf course.

The famous Sunset Strip.  For over 60 years a billboard has stood at the curve that marks the beginning of the famed Sunset Strip.

It was here in the 1950s that Sahara Hotel executive Stan Irwin decided to put an ad up for all of Los Angeles to see and enjoy.

A model of young showgirl atop a silver dollar (better for playing the slots) with the ad for the hotel under the silver dollar (and with that soothing blue background that just screamed water and fun), the marquee board could be changed out when new acts took the stage.

At this particular moment in time, funny woman, Martha Raye was playing the Congo Room and Louis Prima, Keely Smith and Sam Butera were rotating in the Casbah Room with Billy Ward's Domino's.

They don't make billboards like this anymore.

Fun trivia fact, they say that Jay Ward- the creator of Rocky and Bullwinkle- spoofed this particular billboard when he opened his studio on the famed Sunset Strip.  He had a statue erected of Bullwinkle  Moose holding Rocket "Rocky" Squirrel in the palm of his hand, in a poise like the showgirl.

Sixty years ago it was known for its above ground testing.  Today, it is a historical site and you can now visit the Nevada Proving Grounds where much of that history was made:

There was a time when a mushroom cloud billowing over the Nevada desert was celebrated as a symbol of American strength — and, about 75 miles southeast in Las Vegas, as a terrific tourist draw.

In the 1950s, casinos threw "dawn parties," where gamblers caroused until a flash signaled the explosion of an atomic bomb at the Nevada Test Site. Tourism boosters promoted the Atomic Cocktail (vodka, brandy, champagne and a dash of sherry) and pinups such as Miss Atomic Blast, who was said to radiate "loveliness instead of deadly atomic particles."

Sixty years after the first atmospheric tests here, the 1,375-square-mile site continues to be a tourist magnet, though of a far different nature. Thousands of people each year sign up months in advance to see what is essentially a radioactive ghost town.

The tourists ride in an air-conditioned bus through part of the site, but it might as well be a time machine. The era feted is one of Soviet bad guys, grade-school air raid drills and warnings delivered in capital letters: Visitors are welcomed by the sign ACCESS LIMITED.

There's no mention of the thousands of "downwinders" poisoned by radiation, or the 1.6 trillion gallons of water under the site that have been contaminated. In videos, the end of testing in 1992 is spoken of in near-mournful tones. The tour's intent, said spokesman Darwin Morgan, is to explain what unfolded on the site, not the fallout from it.

Today, 1,000 or so employees — down from the 10,000 who once worked here — mainly carry out less exotic tasks: training first responders, burying toxic waste. The tours wend through these areas, but the bomb refuse remains the star attraction.

The outing has changed little since it was launched in the 1980s, when the tour was sometimes canceled due to "program activities" (as in, explosions).

That may explain its rigidity, beginning with the packet each tour-goer is mailed. No cameras, it said. Or cellphones, BlackBerrys, binoculars, laptops or recorders. If contraband is discovered, THE TOUR MAY BE TERMINATED.

One morning last month, a tour bus departed about 8 a.m. from Las Vegas for the 90-minute drive to the site. En route tourists watched a low-budget video, which included a shot of a human arm disappearing into the side of a steer.

Four test site steers were "fistulated," or given a surgical opening so scientists could reach in to take samples from their stomachs. One of them, named Big Sam, often appeared at fairs.

When the bus pulled up to what is now called the Nevada National Security Site, guide John Robson pointed out two pens where protesters had been detained. They resembled the pens out at bomb sites where pigs had been corralled to test the effects of radiation.

Robson, a retired test site engineer, stepped off the bus to grab some paperwork. "Several of the places we go want records of who's been there," he said. Then a guard in desert fatigues walked through the bus to check tourists' badges. He was armed.

For more on the story:

http://tinyurl.com/3c6hznq

Photo credit:  Life Magazine