On Thursday, February 5th we have a very unique panel centered around the history of the railroad in Las Vegas.

As many of our readers know, the railroad put Las Vegas on the proverbial map. It's importance in those early, beginning days of Las Vegas cannot be understated. The railroad provided many of the jobs for the small community and also provided cottages for its workers to live in.

Over the years, the railroad cottages were home not only to those connected with the company but as the community grew and the railroad grew less important, many of the cottages were turned into businesses.

Finally, many fell into disrepair and most were demolished to make room for bigger and better offices.

But for an evening we are going to look back on this buildings that were home to many of our pioneering residents. We will talk about their historic importance, the battle to save them and the story of their ultimate preservation. We will also talk about the importance of the railroad in sustaining the small community in those formative years.

Join us and our panelists to learn more about our early history and the story behind the Cottages.

Donna Andress

Eileen Fitzgerald Carson

Gail Andress

Brian "Paco" Alvarez

Thursday, Feb. 5th

7:00 pm

Las Vegas Springs Preserve

Desert Learning Center

Admission is $12

Just wanted to give everyone an update on our upcoming book.

It will be available as of March 2nd.

This is a look at the history of Las Vegas through postcards.  Many came from the private collection of my co-authors as well as the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas.  It offers a look at not only the history of Fremont Street and the Strip but of neighborhoods and other important local places of importance such as schools and churches.  Las Vegas has always been much more than just a gaming mecca and this book offers a glimpse into what life was like in 20th Century Las Vegas.

So keep an eye out for it in your local bookstores.

Or you can pre-order it on Amazon here:

http://tinyurl.com/bnntom

Or from Arcadia Publishing here:

http://tinyurl.com/dzxg3z

Or if you would like an autographed copy, we will have the book for sale here on the blog  in a few weeks.

If you live in Las Vegas we will be doing book signings around the Valley so keep an eye out here for more details on that as well.

Have you purchased your copy of "The Story of Classic Las Vegas" yet?  This first-person narrative documentary is an overview of the little-known, real history of Las Vegas as told by the men and women who were there and contributed to the growth of the town.

The DVD covers the early years between the World Wars as well as the Depression and what it was like growing up in a small town in the middle of the desert.

The building of Hoover Dam and Block 16 are explored as well as the effect of World War II and the beginning stirrings of the Las Vegas Strip.

We examine what it was like growing up in post-War Las Vegas as well as the marketing effort of the Las Vegas News Bureau which helped make Las Vegas America's playground.

Entertainers such as Sam Butera, Pete Barbutti, Steve Rossi and Marty Allen offer their recollections of playing Las Vegas when it was the Entertainment Capital of the World.

There is  an extended look at the history of segregation and the Civil Rights efforts that finally broke the color barrier.

For lovers of the Mob history of Las Vegas, there is a section on the history of the mob, the effect of Howard Hughes and a look at the Rosenthal-Spilotro era of the late 1970s.

We are offering our readers a special on this DVD.  For the next ten days, if you order "The Story of Classic Las Vegas" we will send you at no extra charge, "The Tribute to Don English".  Don English was the premiere photographer for the Las Vegas News Bureau and this DVD was part of a tribute that was held for him just weeks before he passed away.  It is filled with his iconic photographs of showgirls and cheesecake as well as his memories of photographing atomic bomb explosions.  Together this is a great set of DVDs that make a great addition to your own DVD collection or as gift.

Each DVD comes in a slim-line black case with printed front and back.  Each disc has a printed label.

With Clark County celebrating its centennial this year, now is the time to discover the little known, real history of your favorite town.  We're willing to bet you haven't heard many of the stories before. 

We've not offered this special before, so take advantage now.

For ordering instructions follow this link:

http://www.classiclasvegas.com/coolstuff/forms/merch_order.htm

Order the "The Story of Classic Las Vegas" for $25 and we will ship both discs to you, a savings of $10 if you had to order both discs.

So, if you haven't ordered yet, what are you waiting for?  Take advantage of this special offer as they say.  Order today so you can start enjoying the real history of Las Vegas. 

You'll be surprised at you've been missing.

Robert Osborne and my friend, Joe Buonocore

As many of you know, I am a major film buff and a big fan of Turner Classic Movies.  February is TCM's annual "31 Days of Oscar" month where they devote the entire month to Oscar nominated and Oscar winning films.

Robert Osborne is the genial host of the channel.  He is an author of books on the history of the Academy Awards, a columnist for the Hollywood Reporter and a great guy.

TCM has a wonderful website found here:

www.tcm.com

They also have a wonderful message board community found here:

http://forums.tcm.com/jive/tcm/index.jspa?categoryID=1

As part of all that, TCM is hosting a web-cast only of Robert Osborne answering questions from this forum:

http://forums.tcm.com/jive/tcm/forum.jspa?forumID=398

This is the first time that TCM has announced a web-cast with their distinquished nightly host.  So, follow the link above to the TCM forums, register an account, sign on and ask Robert Osborne a question about the Oscars, about the movies or about the stars of the classic studio era.

I'll keep you posted as to when the web-cast will be.

And we have some exciting news about TCM coming up in a couple of weeks as well, so stay tuned.

Here are some more memories of the Las Vegas of our collective memory.  Please feel free to share your thoughts and memories with us!

There used to be a magazine called "Your Host in Las Vegas".  These ads are from the June 1950 edition.  The magazines were in all the hotel rooms and you could make notes on the bottom of the page of when you visted the places.

 It's been there off Boulder Highway for over seventy years.  Back in 1950 you could eat there for $1.50.  Today, you can probably have all you can eat for under $10.  Notice the diary at the bottom so you could take the magazine home with you and have a souvenir of your trip!

 Wilbur Clark's Desert Inn was one of the poshest places to stay on the Las Vegas Strip back in the day.  Check out our history of the famed DI here:

http://tinyurl.com/ce75d5

The Modern West in Old West splendor.  The famed Hotel Last Frontier and the Ramona Room.  The Harmonicats, a mouth organ trio, were a staple on the Las Vegas Strip of the 1950s.  They rose to fame on their cover of "Peg O' My Heart" in 1947.

Learn more about the Harmonicats here:

http://www.harmonicats.com/mlwkjrnl.htm

Learn more about the history of the Hotel Last Frontier here:

http://tinyurl.com/b4rtd4

The Golden Nugget was a paen to the famed days of San Francisco and the Barbary Coast.  With it's beautiful bullnose front and its Victorian-era flasher bulb sign that seemed to hang in the air with no support, the Golden Nugget reminded one and all of Las Vegas's frontier past.

Learn more about the Golden Nugget here:

http://tinyurl.com/bz5cph

Learn more about the Golden Nugget signage here:

http://classiclasvegas.squarespace.com/classic-las-vegas-neon-designe/

My thanks to my friend Genevieve in Atlanta for passing this great magazine along to me!