As the Strip expanded, it became one of the world's most famous stage. Superstars of the stage, rising political stars, and visitors from all corner of the world rubbed elbows in Las Vegas. Casinos dueled to be the largest and glitziest, but few could have foreseen the incredible growth that was to come.
Sands Collection
Audiences were wowed by the incomparable cool of the Frank Sinatra and his cohort, popularly known as the Rat Pack.
In early 1960, the group filmed Ocean's Eleven during the day and performed on stage at the Copa Room late into the night.
Pictured here, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Joey Bishop might be asking each other where Peter Lawford had gone.
Sands Collection
Sands Collection
With the growing popularity of the Strip, many of its casinos, although only a few years old, dramatically expanded.
In 1962, for example, the Dunes added its signature hotel tower. Though this seemed a profound change, it was only a hint of things to come.
Caesars Palace was unlike anything that had come before it.
Earlier resorts had modestly suggested a general atmosphere of vacation luxury, but Sarno's creation promised to transport guests back to the grandeur of an imperial Rome where everyone was a Caesar (or Cleopatra).
In this invitation to his guests, Sarno (appearing as a cartoon Caesar) extolled the virtues of his new palace.
Bill Willard Collection
Single Item Accessions
Bill Willard Collection
Sarno's second Strip casino, Circus Circus, was unusual in that it opened without an attached hotel and levied an admission charge on guests.
Though these ideas were not successful, other of Sarno's notions will long be remembered, such as Tanya, a keno-playing performing elephant loaned out to the casino for several years.
Las Vegas
News Bureau Collection
Dennis McBride Collection
The next generation of Strip casinos abandoned Sarno's vision of dramatically-themed spaces for size.
Kirk Kerkorian's International was the world's largest hotel when it opened in July 1969, with over 1500 hotel rooms and the state's biggest casino.
Designed by Martin Stern, Jr., this casino would set the pattern for the next generation of resorts.
