LAS VEGAS 1956 - DOWNTOWN, STRIP, SAHARA HOTEL 

Lived there for a lot of years. If it still looked like that, I'd go back.

The Old Las Vegas had Charm and Class and if most of the buildings were still there, I would drive there and visit myself.

I first went to Vegas about 1981, I love the way the old casinos have kept the same theme, and feel.

What wonderful footage. I was born in Las Vegas in 1957 and moved back east with my family when I was only five. My father was in the Grover Shore Trio which was the "house band" at the Desert Inn for eight years. They also had the first live variety TV show when Las Vegas got it's first TV station KLAS. Lots of great stories from my parents days there.

Thanks for your comment. I shot it when I was 15 years old...my Dad, in that one part coming out of the hotel, just turned 92 and doesn't look much different. I was just amazed at those "huge" signs in Las Vegas at the time, which by today's standards are very small. Ray Lindstrom

Fantastic video. I'm from England and my sister got married in Vegas last year, at Caesar's Palace. I had one of the best weeks of my life there. Incredible place and incredible people. I always like to know about the history of the places I visit, so to see this footage is great. I cannot wait until I holiday in Vegas again.

As a kid, I remember driving through and spending the night in Vegas from Southern California to get to Utah in the early 70's. Those same casinos and hotels were still thriving, such a magnificent time in history. Great video, Ray!

Wow! I lived out there very briefly as a toddler, and I still have vivid memories of these hotels. We lived between the desert inn and the Sands. In retrospect, I’m just amazed by how low and close to each other these “monumental” landmarks were. I remember people being impressed by the then under construction Stardust, because it “went all the way back to the railroad tracks.” I vaguely remember driving all the way along the strip, which at that point pretty much meant from the Tropicana to the Sahara. Also recall a grand opening of a big department store (Magnin?) with fireworks, and the Dancing Waters- i think at the Desert Inn. But it’s the neon that is burned most vividly into my memory. Thanks for sharing this classic. What fun! ( great narration, too!)!

I just visited Vegas last month. First time there in thirty years, back then I was a teenager. I can't imagine that the Vegas of today can come close to the charm it had in the '50's, very nice work.

Fantastic video... and a great radio voice!

Outstanding - thanks for the tribute to a great place at a great time.

Excellent job, Ray. I wish Vegas was still like this.

Great video, thanks for posting. I was born in Vegas in 53' and it 's great to see it as it was 'back in the day' !

1969 my first trip to vegas to see elvis, his dinner show was 15.00 per person. most other shows were no more than 10.00 for dinner. What a great time !!

My family stayed at the Thunderbird for eight nights in July of 1966. I was ten years old at the time. Years later, around 1990, the Thunderbird was long gone, and I spent a couple of nights at the El Rancho Hotel. The pool looked familiar to me from old polaroid pictures we saved from our trip; sure enough, the desk clerk told me that it was the same hotel. Everything had been remodeled except the pool pretty much looked the same! Vegas is too big now; wish I could go back in time!

Hi Ray! 🙌 excellent narration! this is a window into the past, Thanks for sharing the memories! Greetings from Naples (Italy)

Ray you have a beautiful voice. - Too bad this old Vegas is forever gone. Really nostalgic. Thanks for sharing this with us.

Mom and Dad had great taste and some bucks, to be able to afford a brand new shiny 1956 Buick, and stay at the fabulous Sahara!...Thanks for posting....

hard to believe that this video itself is now almost 10 years old.

Great video Ray.. I been going to Vegas since 1980. Not much of anything left in that area. Most places built after this in that area are gone now.. Stardust, Westward Ho, Riviera, Sahara, Frontier, Desert Inn.. These were the places I liked best.. Ty for posting .. Great job.

THANKS SO MUCH FOR THIS OLD FOOTAGE..

That part of the Sahara that you stayed in was called the bi level complex. I used to attend the high end audio exhibits that were part of the Consumer Electronics Show in that building, until it was demolished in around 1998.

This was a great little spin around old Vegas - Sahara, Desert Inn, Sands, etc. All I remember from a trip out there when I was a toddler were all those BIG signs... (well, and some swizzle sticks!) Now I know why... the hotels were just flat little motel drive ins.Funny how that blinking neon burns into your imagination and makes an indelible impression! Thanks for posting this- would love to see more if you have any.

Best old Vegas video I've seen!

This is fantastic! Exellent narration also. Thank you so much for sharing :)

Very decent rare footage.worth the price of admission.Great narrative as well. Thanks for sharing this old rare footage..

I can remember going (more like passing through) Las Vegas in 1954 on a cross country automobile trip. My parents stopped in a casino on the strip. I had them play some nickels for me. It was August and hotter than Hell and no AC in our 50 horsepower 1950 Plymouth. Being inside the AC'ed casino was the big treat.

Great video and narrative

I watch this clip every year before i go to Vegas. Love it! though I admit I don't know who most of the entertainers were.

My grandfather always stayed at the Sands Hotel . Happy Birthday grampa I love you and miss you and your cigars .

What a marvelous time machine trip...outstanding 8mm film work for a 15 yr old youngster...and captures the feel and atmosphere of the Las Vegas of the fabulous fifties, beautifully...plus love your folks gorgeous black and white '56 buick...in mint condition today, bet the car would be worth big bucks.thanks again for posting...

Beautiful video must be experience of live to be there that time thanks for sharing 👍

you sir have a voice for television and radio thanks for sharing this

what a great video and i loved your commentary. i didn't move here until 1964 (as a kid) but a lot of these views still jog my memory. :)

Very amusing.. a new comer to Vegas, but to see it before the Sinatra days is quite amazing...

Excellent narration! Thanks for the memories! How I wish that Vegas could go back...(Those that remember me as "Brent the Gent" when I had the power to COMP!!!!) Thanks again!!!!!

By 1956 most of the early fabulous well known strip hotels were up and running, including the El Ranch Vegas , The Last Frontier, Flamingo, Thunderbird, D.I. Sahara, Sands and Riviera...a couple of years later, the 2 final giants would be underway, The Stardust and the Tropicana........

Thanks for this personal tour of the strip in the 1950's. It is great to see what Vegas was like before the era of imploding the old for the gaudy new.

Seems like downtown Vegas had a lot more character than it does now. That magic seems to have disappeared.

Priceless footage. I was fortunate to see Glitter Gulch, the last year before they made it The Fremont Street Experience.

The Silver Slipper's slipper sign would spin and stop with the toe facing Howard Hughes' hotel room and he thought the Federal Gov't planted a camera in it and was watching him. He bought the place and had the sign filled with concrete. The Sahara is in the midst of being remodeled and will re-open in the future. Thanks Ray for these great old images of my favorite city

Very professional narration with wonderful memories. Living here in Phoenix, I am sad that a lot of the old places are gone here as well. Can't stop time I guess.

Thanks for the memories. Quite a deep voice for a 15-year-old!

The wristwatch part almost sent me to the emergency room dying of laughter!

You sound like a great radio announcer. What a great piece of history here, I enjoyed watching this thoroughly. Thanks for posting, Ray.

I lived there from 2004-07. It was a different time back in the '50s, and even in the mid-2000s compared to today.

This is great for reviving the memory of times past. My parents always took us kids on vacation out west back in the 50s. When we could, we would travel down to Las Vegas from Salt Lake City and spend a day or 2. One time, I was about 12, my parents wanted to see a stage show and left us in our room. A short time later, mom came and got us, saying it was ok for us the watch the show. Turns out it was a topless show, it was great, but mom and dad tried all night to hind under the table. lol

This vacation foorage is pretty neat! We got to see the Sahara one last time before it was closed down. My friend found $5 walking in the lobby and won $95 playing the slots!

I've been reading 'Diamonds are Forever', which is part set in Vegas in '56. Really great to see it brought alive like this. Thanks for putting this on RU-vid.

I used to live in Las Vegas, and let me tell you it wasn’t as charming as this era. It was okay when I was there, but I would have loved to see it in its formative years.

Vegas, baby. The city and truly the only city that NEVER sleeps. Eat your heart out, NYC!

I like your narration. You have the perfect voice for it.

Thanks Ray awesome taking me back to the 50's

Great Video! Thanks a lot for this!

What a wonderful review. Many thanks for sharing this with us. What great memories!

Excellent video. I felt like I was there... even though it was before I was born. LOL

I loved this! Thanks so much for sharing and narrating this lovely time capsule!

awesome video thanks so much for posting it

Was there in the early 80's most of those places were still around. Liked it better than today's tourist trap.

You were so lucky to live there back then wish I had!!

try grandparents were lovin Vegas in the 1950s and 60s. I actually lived in Vegas for 2 years from 1999-2001. It's a fun city and still affordable.

I was hoping to see one thing here, and I did: a marquee with Louis Prima and Keely Smith on it. Thanks so much for sharing!

Great vid, and loved your narration. You've a great voice

great video thank you for sharing

As a kid, the first time I went to Las Vegas, back in the mid-seventies, I stayed at the Sahara. Yep a lot has changed.

awesum, your posting history, thanks

you sound like a pro .very cool ray.

Terrific video, & equally terrific narration, Ray!

Fabulous. Thank you.

This is awesome! Thanks very much for sharing it with the world

Great job. Really enjoyed watching this. I wish I was lived to see vegas at this stage. :(

Thank you so much for posting this! This is wonderful. Really interesting. Great voice, too.

Very nice! I noticed a '57 Cadillac and 57 Ford in the parking lot. They must have still had the new car smell it them, being Christmas of '56!

Ray, good man for sharing, I'm sure the conversion work was not easy. Great to see the city in the '50's...I'm going to share on Facebook. Thank you for this excellent , and, historical post, keep it safe, this is a real slice of history...and heritage for posterity.

I stayed at Thunderbird 1995 or 96 a few months

Thank You sir, I live here now and I am 50!!! TY

When I first visited in '99, we walked down the strip to the water park and stopped to admire the windowless, ready for implosion 'El Rancho Vegas' (which I think may have been across the street from its location in your film?). 5 years later I was staying in Wilsonville, OR on business and found a odd hanger in the closet... labeled 'El Rancho Vegas' which I traded for one of mine. Thanks for the great film and great narration.

Amazing commentary. So funny.

great video! one of the best I've seen great narration! wow it really captures the vibe

Awesome film Ray! I know this video is almost 4 years old so I hope your dad is still with us! Also, love your great watchman commercials that you used to do at the Riverside resort in Laughlin Nv

Las vegas really change since then

Wow 1956... good to see what it was like back then - btw my mom checked into the Flamingo Hotel around 1986... checked right out (hated the neon lights most of all).

thank you ray...

you sound just like him ,not bad just fact. I really enjoyed the video too...thanks Ray

I live in Henderson, a short drive from the Strip. Oh, how it has changed...

Very Cool

GREAT!!!!!!

@serratop, I'd say a/c in the Vegas hotels most likely started with Ben "Bugsy" Siegel's Flamingo Hotel and Casino, whish was built in the 40s. It was one of the first of the golden age casinos in Vegas.

Ray, I LOVED the video...! I think what made it extra good was the excellent commentary... you should have been in Radio! Take care.

Vegas,or anything else today,ain't what it used to be....but a lot of the Vegas experience is your mindset. You gotta show up with swagger,and an appetite for fun. Valet your Caddy at Caesar's, check in and then hit a bar for some drinks. Have a good dinner and catch Tom Jones. Hit the tables for awhile,get a table at a cozy bar and people-watch and party till 5am.....priceless.

super cool

this is my home town :)

Great video! Greets from Amsterdam

This is really great. There are a bunch of old home movies on Vegas, but so few of them have a voice over. This adds so much to the film. By the way, are you a pro v/o artist. You definitely have the voice for it!

You've got a great voice!!

Thumbs Up !

Diamonds are forever forever shinning round my little finger........

Yeah we all have to loathe all the solicitors on the streets of modern Vegas now... in a way missing the old-time feel applies to a lot of things, but at the same time there are plenty of reasons why NOT to go back to an earlier time... imagine having to actually go to Blockbuster to rent a VHS tape where today we have the convenience of Netflix RU-vid and other video services right at our fingertips.

The good old days!

Great video! You have the old time announcer sound, as I do...let's do a show!