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46-563: The Silver Slipper closed on November 28, 1988, amid an ownership change. It was demolished shortly thereafter to become a parking lot for the Frontier, with plans to eventually rebuild the Silver Slipper as a high-rise hotel and casino, although this did not pan out. The Frontier was demolished in 2007, for another resort project that was ultimately canceled as well. The Frontier and Silver Slipper sites remain vacant as of 2024. The Silver Slipper

92-542: A city street for locals and tourists. Its current name, in effect since 1959, reflects its importance to the Valley rather than past names when it served as a main intra-city road. On October 16, 2009, the Federal Highway Administration announced the designation of a new National Scenic Byway on the boulevard. The 3.5-mile (5.6 km) section starting at Sahara Avenue and running north to Washington Avenue

138-690: A neon arch that read "free parking", was also preserved after the casino's closure. It was purchased by the Exchange Club casino in Beatty, Nevada , and was relocated there to mark its parking lot, before being toppled by strong wind in 2018. Comedian Hank Henry was a frequent entertainer at the Silver Slipper during the 1950s. Transgender singer Christine Jorgensen also performed there in 1955. Other entertainers included singers Fifi D'Orsay , Nellie Lutcher and Rusty Draper , and comedians Billy Gilbert and Buster Keaton . A weekly boxing series, Strip Fight of

184-470: A new resort project that would also be canceled. As of 2024, the Frontier and Silver Slipper sites remain vacant; the latter is still under the ownership of the Elardi family. The casino was known for having a large, rotating neon slipper, designed by Jack Larsen Sr. and manufactured by YESCO . It is 12 feet high and includes 900 bulbs, with an additional 80 built into a bow that covers the toe area. The slipper

230-470: A result of its age. In 2009, the slipper was installed on a median along North Las Vegas Boulevard , in front of the Neon Museum. The slipper had undergone restoration, which included new wiring and paint, as well as repair work to the toe area. In 2018, the museum changed the slipper's sole and insole paint from red to blue, matching the original color scheme according to early photographs. Another sign,

276-436: A two-story, Old West-themed casino. It featured various games, including a Big Six wheel , craps , Farobank , poker , and roulette . A convention hall, located on the second floor, was the largest in the state. The casino would later become known for featuring a collection of artwork by Julian Ritter . The Silver Slipper was originally operated by the Frontier ownership group, before being leased out in 1956. In April 1964,

322-600: A variety of female impersonators, including Kerr, who portrayed singers such as Barbra Streisand and Cher . The show was a hit for the Silver Slipper, and continued running for the next 11 years, up until the casino's closure. North Las Vegas Boulevard Las Vegas Boulevard is a major road in Clark County , Nevada , United States, best known for the Las Vegas Strip portion of the road and its casinos . Formerly carrying U.S. Route 91 (US 91), which had been

368-455: Is counterbalanced by a 62,000-pound weight inside the sign. The sign uses 4,377,600 LEDs and the eraser is powered by a 300 horsepower (220 kW) motor at its base that runs a gear and cable system. The firm of FTSI engineered the 62,000-pound eraser's movement, which is capable of speeds up to 10 feet per second (3.0 m/s). YESCO installed the vaulted canopy arching 90 feet (27 m) above four blocks of Fremont Street . YESCO owns

414-790: Is designated as an All-American Road . Just past the end of "The Strip", the road passes the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign (located in the median) as it abuts the western edge of the Harry Reid International Airport property. The sign is often considered the south end of the Strip. "South Strip" is now used to describe the section of Las Vegas Boulevard between Russell Road and Blue Diamond Road. Along this stretch, development thins out, except for newer shopping malls , hotels , resorts , casinos and condominiums (such as South Point Hotel & Casino and The Grandview at Las Vegas ) as

460-494: Is usually referred to as "Las Vegas Boulevard North" (abbreviated LVBN) and "Las Vegas Boulevard South" (stylized LVBS), by both residents and various media outlets. At its northern end, the Boulevard starts at the south end of Moapa Paulite Solar Road. Running north of, but roughly parallel with I-15, it heads southwest toward Las Vegas, passing through an industrial complex of manufacturing plants and power plants running along

506-505: The Downtown Las Vegas Boulevard Scenic Byway by the state. This designation continues south to Sahara Avenue. Further south is a stretch of road that has many of the older motels , bars and wedding chapels that were among the high points of the old Vegas before the era of the megaresorts . The Boulevard leaves the city of Las Vegas at Sahara Avenue and assumes its unofficial name the Las Vegas Strip for

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552-569: The Nevada Gaming Commission found the casino's management guilty of using flat dice and revoked their gaming license. The Silver Slipper entered foreclosure in January 1965, but plans by the IRS to sell it were halted after the Frontier owners filed suit, noting that they owned the land and structure. Shelam Inc., a group led by local gambler Sam Diamond, soon took over the casino's lease, reopening

598-460: The Strat onwards. The road's own north/south street address demarcation boundary is located at its intersection with Fremont Street. Unlike most other cases, where using the more traditional nomenclature of putting the direction before the road name is common practice, The Boulevard is an exception, as it is rarely referred to as "North Las Vegas Boulevard" and "South Las Vegas Boulevard". The road instead

644-581: The Union Pacific Railroad line in Apex . Traveling south, the road meets Nellis Air Force Base on the east side and the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on the west side. As the road enters the city of North Las Vegas , it passes through some of the older commercial areas in the region. As the road approaches the city of Las Vegas proper, some of what historical Las Vegas became visible, as some of

690-635: The United Kingdom just a decade earlier to immigrate with his family to Ogden, Utah . In the beginning, his shop specialized in coffin plates, gold leaf window lettering, lighted signs and painted advertisements. In 1933, YESCO opened a branch office in the Apache Hotel in Las Vegas. The company erected its first neon sign in Las Vegas for the Boulder Club. It erected the first neon sign in Las Vegas for

736-487: The United States and Canada . YESCO offers sign and lighting service franchises in states east of Colorado and throughout Canada. In 2015, Young Electric Sign Company sold YESCO Electronics, a subsidiary company, to Samsung Electronics of America , Inc., which rebranded the division as Prismview. NBC created a new YESCO “message globe” in its NBC Experience store, located at Rockefeller Center , New York City. From

782-621: The Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign . YESCO designed and installed the signs and light-up strips at Allegiant Stadium , the home of the Las Vegas Raiders and UNLV Rebels Football . The company also designed and installed the signage at the Raiders' headquarters and practice facility in Henderson, Nevada . The company has provided support to the Neon Museum , which is dedicated to preserving

828-523: The ghost town of Crystal , and continues south to about 2 mi (3.2 km) south of Jean , in the Mojave Desert . The Boulevard shows up again in Primm , but is currently not connected to the northern sections. There are tentative plans to connect the existing section at Primm to the northern section at Jean. Las Vegas Boulevard serves as the Valley's east/west address demarcation boundary line south of

874-481: The 40'-tall electronic neon sign became Las Vegas's unofficial greeter. The 135-foot (41 m) tall marquee features a 100-foot (30 m) high, 50-foot (15 m) wide, concave, double-faced LED message center with a first-of-its-kind “moving eraser.” Conceived by Steve Wynn , the massive eraser glides up and down over the LED message center, appearing to change the graphics as it goes. The eraser weighs 62,000 pounds, and

920-445: The Boulder Club in the late 1930s, and in 1995, it completed the four-block-long Fremont Street Experience canopy in Las Vegas. In recent years, YESCO has built an outdoor digital media (billboard) division of its business. YESCO has approximately 1,000 employees, more than 40 offices, and operates three manufacturing plants featuring automated and custom equipment. Additional smaller manufacturing and service facilities are located in

966-430: The Boulevard continues to travel south, just to the east of Interstate 15 . After passing the M Resort , the Boulevard enters rural desert areas. It continues to parallel Interstate 15 and eventually arrives at Jean . South of Jean, the road ceases to be a major artery for a stretch of several miles before resuming just north of Primm , where it runs alongside two of the resort's hotels and shopping mall; just short of

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1012-650: The Electric Service Company and the Redfield-King Sign Company in Ogden. Young married Elmina Carlisle in 1916. In 1920, he founded his own sign company: Thomas Young Sign Company, which specialized in coffin plates, gold window lettering, lighted signs and painted advertisements. In 1932, Young expanded his business to Las Vegas, and within two years, he purchased the Ogden Armory for $ 12,000 to expand

1058-575: The Las Vegas Strip) and State Route 6 (entire segment, unsigned ). South of the city, Las Vegas Boulevard was commonly known as the Los Angeles Highway . Just north of Jean is the place where the last spike on the San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake Railroad line was driven. With the construction of I-15, Las Vegas Boulevard went from being the main through road to one that only served as

1104-950: The NBC Experience globe in New York City , the historic El Capitan Theatre and Wax Museum marquees in Hollywood , the Reno Arch , and in Las Vegas , Vegas Vic , the Fremont Street Experience , the Astrolabe in The Venetian , the Wynn Las Vegas resort sign, and the Aria Resort & Casino . The company was created by Thomas Young on March 20, 1920. The young sign painter had left

1150-638: The Nevada/California state line, the road changes its name to Lotto Store Road and becomes a local road. RTC Transit Route(s) 113 (and the MAX, before February 2016, when it was decommissioned) serves the road from Downtown Las Vegas north to Nellis Air Force Base, The Deuce serves the Road from Downtown Las Vegas south to Warm Springs and then to the South Strip Transfer Terminal (SSTT)). Route 117 serves

1196-452: The Silver Slipper out of its lease in 1973. However, the ownership group (the former Frontier owners) contended that the option to purchase was assigned to Hughes only, not his company. The group also stated that a $ 100,000 payment, one of the conditions on the option, was never made. The owners later stated that the purchase option applied to Shelam and should not have been transferred to another leasee. Litigation ensued starting in 1974, when

1242-445: The Silver Slipper until its closure on November 28, 1988, at which point Elardi took over the property. Demolition was underway the following month. Elardi redeveloped the land as a parking lot for the Frontier, and planned to eventually construct a new Silver Slipper on the site, in the form of a high-rise hotel-casino. However, this project did not pan out. The Frontier would be sold several times, and eventually demolished in 2007, for

1288-591: The Week , took place at the Silver Slipper from the 1960s to 1982. A 400-seat showroom, the Gaiety Theatre, opened on August 3, 1966. Another venue, the Red Garter Lounge, was also added. The casino hosted several burlesque shows, including Minsky's Burlesque (1965–1967), and Wonderful World of Burlesque (1968–1973). Drag queen Kenny Kerr opened a show, titled Boy-lesque , at the theater in 1977. It featured

1334-604: The casino became the first in Nevada to be shut down on cheating charges. Agents of the Nevada Gaming Control Board raided the Silver Slipper for using "flat" dice. Although its table games were shut down, the state allowed the slot machines to continue operating. The casino was closed entirely on May 8, 1964, by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which alleged that $ 70,000 in taxes were owed. Later that month,

1380-481: The main highway between Los Angeles , California and Salt Lake City , Utah , it has been bypassed by Interstate 15 and serves mainly local traffic with some sections designated State Route 604 . Las Vegas Boulevard runs the length of the Las Vegas metropolitan area in Clark County. "The Boulevard", as it is sometimes called by longtime Las Vegas residents, starts at about 3.75-mile (6.04 km) southwest of

1426-605: The neon signs and associated artifacts of Las Vegas. Some of the retired signs include the sign for the Silver Slipper casino and Aladdin's lamp from the first version of the Aladdin Casino . Born in Sunderland , United Kingdom , in 1895, Thomas Young was 15 years old when his family emigrated to Ogden, Utah. The boy applied his passion to making signs. He began by creating wall-lettering and gold-leaf window signs, working for

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1472-399: The neon slipper in his extensive archive of memos, and concrete was never found in the rotating mechanism. After the casino closed, the slipper was acquired by the city's Neon Museum for preservation. At some point during its years in storage, singer Wayne Newton posed with the slipper for a promotional shoot. One of his feet broke through the toe area of the slipper as he stepped onto it,

1518-522: The next 4 miles (6.4 km). This portion of Las Vegas Boulevard begins a few blocks to the north at the Stratosphere (the only major Strip hotel/casino sited within the Las Vegas city limits) and runs through Winchester and Paradise , with the Strip technically ending at Russell Road . This is the section of the road most people are familiar with; it is home to casino megaresorts with their world-famous lights, huge video signs, and other attractions. It

1564-498: The older casinos appear along with some of the more famous and long-operating strip clubs . Upon entering the city limits of Las Vegas, the Boulevard showcases the area's past with many museums , including the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park , the Neon Museum , and the Fremont Street Experience and downtown casino sector. On crossing Washington Avenue, the Boulevard is designated as

1610-466: The outside of the building, it looks like an illuminated globe. The 35’-diameter hemisphere is covered with LEDs. The animations were provided by YESCO's media services group. When it was first turned on, it stopped traffic on West 49th Street. As a well-known electronic sign, Vegas Vic was designed by and built by YESCO. Upon its installation in 1951 over the Pioneer Club on historical Fremont Street,

1656-484: The owners filed a suit against Hughes, alleging he was behind on a year's worth of rent. They sought to evict Hughes and take control of the Silver Slipper. Hughes died in 1976, and Summa ultimately took ownership of the casino. In its final years, the casino employed approximately 600 workers. In December 1987, Summa agreed to sell the Frontier and the Silver Slipper – the last of Hughes' Las Vegas gaming properties – to casino owner Margaret Elardi. Summa continued operating

1702-529: The production capacity. He also opened a branch in Salt Lake City that year. Young was elected president of the National Sign Association in 1936, serving for two terms. A year later, in 1937, he moved his family and YESCO headquarters to Salt Lake City, Utah, and continued the business. In 1969, Young turned over the reins of company leadership to his son, who currently serves as the chairman of

1748-464: The property on October 20, 1965. A $ 500,000 expansion project was underway in 1966. It included exterior remodeling and a larger casino. The project was designed by Martin Stern Jr. and Homer Rissman. Businessman Howard Hughes took over the Silver Slipper's gaming operations in 1968, leasing the rights from Shelam for $ 5.3 million. Hughes had also purchased the Frontier by that point. The Silver Slipper

1794-566: The purchase of the Slipper so it will no longer interfere with his sleep. Another story is that the reclusive Hughes was paranoid about photographers hiding in the toe area of the slipper in order to snap photos of him in his penthouse. As such, he purportedly wanted the slipper's rotating mechanism disabled and had it filled with concrete. In reality, Hughes had kept his drapes closed at all times, which would have prevented any bright lights or photographers from bothering him. Hughes himself never wrote of

1840-822: The road south from the SSTT past the Las Vegas Premium Outlet South store, the South Point Casino and Silverado Ranch Blvd. Las Vegas Boulevard has had several names, including 5th Street (from Sahara to Owens, within the Las Vegas city limits), Main Street (in North Las Vegas), the Arrowhead Highway , Los Angeles Highway, Salt Lake Highway, US 91 (entire segment), US 93 (from Fremont Street north), US 466 (from Jean to Fremont Street, including

1886-452: The street. Persistent, false stories claim that Hughes took over the Silver Slipper specifically because of its neon slipper. These stories originated with a 1967 article by columnist Earl Wilson , who wrote: [Hughes] found the lights of the Silver Slipper, across the Strip, interfered with his sleep. Associates say he had them request the Silver Slipper to dim its lights. They refused. His emissaries say he has instructed them to negotiate for

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1932-552: Was designated the City of Las Vegas, Las Vegas Boulevard State Scenic Byway . [REDACTED] Media related to Las Vegas Boulevard at Wikimedia Commons YESCO YESCO is a privately owned manufacturer of electric signs based in Salt Lake City , founded by Thomas Young in 1920. The company provides design, fabrication, installation and maintenance of signs. Many notable sign projects have been produced by YESCO, including

1978-411: Was installed in 1954 or 1955, originally on the casino rooftop. The casino is briefly featured in the 1957 film The Amazing Colossal Man , in which a man grows to gargantuan height and travels through Las Vegas, at one point dismantling the slipper. In 1965, the slipper was moved to a sign directly alongside the Strip. In 1968, Hughes was living in a penthouse at his Desert Inn resort, located across

2024-544: Was known for its neon slipper, which was preserved after the casino's closure. It stands 12 feet and features more than 900 bulbs. The slipper was installed along North Las Vegas Boulevard in 2009. The Silver Slipper was built as part of the Last Frontier Village, a western-themed attraction at the Hotel Last Frontier . The Silver Slipper, built just north of the Frontier hotel, opened on September 1, 1950. It

2070-513: Was originally known as the Golden Slipper. Shortly after opening, the Golden Nugget hotel-casino threatened to sue the Golden Slipper, alleging similarities in design and name. The Golden Slipper agreed to stop using the name, and was rebranded the Silver Slipper by the end of 1950, having bought the rights to that name from a bar and casino located on Boulder Highway . The Silver Slipper was

2116-456: Was the only casino that Hughes held personally; the others were owned by Hughes Tool Company , which later became Summa Corporation . Because his company had government contracts, it could not donate to political candidates. Hughes instead withdrew funds from the Silver Slipper for political contributions. In 1970, the Silver Slipper became the first casino on the Las Vegas Strip to hire female table dealers. Summa Corporation attempted to buy

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