History of the Desert Inn Las Vegas 

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.

A time that will never happen again. Vegas is too big to return to more intimate times of the 50's

The 1950's and 60's was a whole different world in many ways.

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

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. 💖💖💖

Most welcome, Moe Dalitz did a lot for Vegas, your uncle must have some stories.

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

Thank you, you are welcome.

Thank you, that is the goal, explore the topic and find the details from original documents, sources and people.

Yes, I WILL. THANKS

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.

Thank you for your support!

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.

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.

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.

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 🤯

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".

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.

Most welcome, your father must have had some great stories!

Thank you for the kind words.

Thanks! The Desert Inn and the Sands (next) might have the most interesting histories.

Thank you! There is one mistake, the name of Moe Dalitz is pronounced "DAY-itz", not DAL-itz."

Most welcome, this was an interesting one.

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.

Thank you! Sands is next, hopefully before October but who knows.

This one was really interesting, thank you Bill.

Thank you.

Thank you for watching Bill!

Thank you Chrissy!

I didn't think about the dancing fountains connection the Wynn Resort. There may be other connections to the D.I.

Thank you Alan! Yes, the classic timecode.

Thanks, I learned a lot too!

That would be great!

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.

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?

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!

Most welcome!

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: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fluoHNDH5cs.html Flamingo Celebrates 75 years Today, not a history vlog but a brief "look back" ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5RsyXxF_atI.html History of the Copa Room at the Sands (Rat Pack etc.) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-OMdbhxODhjY.html USA vs. Meyer Lansky: Flamingo Las Vegas $ 36M Skimming Case ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3J-8uQpShnU.html

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 RU-vid 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".

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.

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.

Yes, that was the Augustus Tower being imploded in the October 23, 2001 news report.

Thank you, I noticed that afterwards.

Many things were different back in the day.

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.

It was a different time in many ways.

Thanks for the conversion..

Hopefully someone finds the time capsules.

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.

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.

Thanks, I read a lot but didn't watch any video until later about Dalitz and have corrected it in other videos.

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: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-OMdbhxODhjY.html Also, I cover the "Real Rat Pack" on another video and how Bogart was the leader: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-BcTnOeAvd4g.html

Imagine if he was really staying at another Strip resort or maybe even off Strip.

Thank you, that seems most likely. Howard didn't even talk to Robert Maheu , his right-hand man in Las Vegas.

Not yet. Did part of the Flamingo history with Bugsy and another with Lanksy and the Flamingo skimming case.

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.

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.

Very true, Dalitz was very powerful.

@@VegasVisual I heard about him from a midume that channeled him on RU-vid. 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.

What are those dates?

Thank you for watching.

What NBA rules?

It's in the description box.

A human.

@@VegasVisual not well

That is certainly within the realm of possibility.

Thank you!