Last night I attended a Las Vegas history class at the Springs Preserve. They called it a class, I called it fun. It was a host and 4 guest speakers in an open forum. The subject was the holiday season in Las Vegas from Thanksgiving to Christmas to New Years. The speakers were all women that grew up in Las Vegas.

One of the guest speakers was a kid in the 1930s and recalled life in those days. Fremont St was the center of attention. There really weren't traditional Christmas lights as we know them. There were mostly paper cutouts of designs. She remembered decorating the tree with strings of popcorn. Back then christmas meant spending time with neighbors. Then one year, they hung lights across Fremont St and hung Christmas bells across the street. That was a really big deal. Then they put up a tree in the middle of the UP courtyard, which is where the Plaza is today.

Another lady born and raised in Las Vegas told stories of Christmas from about the 50s and up. One of her many stories was when the convention center was first built, it looked like a big flying saucer and lit up green at night. And with the Landmark tower across the street, Las Vegas seemed like a space age town. They would have big Christmas parties in the convention center and all the big name stars would drop by to sing the holiday songs. She also remembered how Maryland Parkway would decorate all the way down to the new Boulevard Mall.

The thrid lady mainly talked about the 50s and up. Her fondest memories were the Christmas parades which they stopped doing in the late 60s. She also talked about when local homes started really decorating their own houses. It started in the gated communities with some of the more wealthy residents. They had big strings of lights which were really rare at the time. They had mechanical actuated moving Santas and sleighs. They had fake snow. There were certain nights when some of the gated communities would open up for everyone else to see their decorations.

The last lady was a show girl in the 50s and 60s. That girl could tell some stories. She recalled in 1967, she was in show Bottoms Up at Caesars Palace. She always had a ritual where she would get into her costume early, practice her walks, check the stage props, and peek through the curtains to see if she knew anyone in the audience. On new years eve, she was doing her preparations for the 2pm show, peeked through the curtains, and the showroom was empty. Not a person in sight. Every seat was empty. She ran back to her manager and told him about it. The manager called his boss who apologized and said the show was cancelled that day because Evel Knievel was to jump the fountains at Caesars. They had about 5 minutes to take off the costumes and step out the front door just in time to see the jump.

There were lots of other stories where you'd have to be a history enthusiast to know the names and places of events like the Morellis or Andersons Dairy. In the open forum the discussions expanded to snow storms, holiday shows, how all the religions came together, and more. Then it expanded to mob influences and working with some of the stars.

Two of the women worked with Louis Prima. The show girl was in a company that was snowed in at Lake Tahoe one holiday with Louis and the band, right after he left Keeley Smith. They had a wild time. All of the band members claimed to be single so they could have a chance to party with the show girls. When the weather let up, in came all the wives and children of the band members and the show girls knew they had been lied to. Still, Louis Prima cooked Christmas dinner for everyone and had a big party in his cabin. What did he cook for Christmas dinner? Pasta and sauce, just like any other Italian.

One of the ladies was about in the 5th grade and her and 4 other kids were asked to be in a movie being filmed in town. It was Louis Prima's movie Hey Boy, Hey Girl. It paid $6 per day. One day, the producer told the kids he had a speaking part for one of the kids and asked who wanted to do it. Nobody said anything until the producer said it pays $100, so this girl volunteered and got to do a speaking part with Louis. She also recalled one day on the set doing a scene around a huge banana split that had big scoops of ice cream, lots of bananas and very nice toppings all over it. After the filming and everyone left, she decided that she wanted some of that banana split, so she ran her fingers through it and got a bite. It was made out of colored mashed potatoes. Yecch.

This was a really fun for time for a history guy like me. There is no January class, but future classes will be on the railroad, some famous families around town, and Fremont Street. I don't know if my work schedule next year will allow me to attend or not. I've missed other classes that I really wanted to see earlier this year. Those were about the mob and the entertainment industry.

Hey JMT - thanks for this. What a great trip down Memory Lane!

Joe, are they getting a good turn out for the classes?
That sounds like a great program! Did you get to see there light displays, and if yes, what did you think?

I'm still kinda puzzled about the Springs Preserve. Is it a museum? Is it a hiking trail? Is it a garden? Is it a science center? Is it a zoo? Or all of the above (but really, do they have animals?)

I think it's pretty good turnout at for class. They usually sell no less than 40 of the 60 seats available. I'm probably not your go to guy for light displays. I thought the Springs Preserve presentation was kinda weak. There are much more impressive displays. OTOH, I don't know if they were going after impressive as much as they were exhibitions of what you can do with solar power, led lights, and other green technologies.

Springs Preserve is many things, including museum, hiking trails, gardens, science centers. And yes there are animals that get treated much better than the Las Vegas Zoo creatures. There are not a lot of captive animals. The ones they have are used in examples of natural habitats. They also have reptiles and insects to show their natural habitats. There are a lot of wild animals along the hiking trails, mostly rabbits, squirrels, and other rodents.

Springs Preserve is a also a demonstration center, and educational center, a meeting center, a gift shop, and a Wolfgang Puckery. Sometimes there are 10 or more events in progress at once in addition to the standard attractions. The night I had my class, there was a Christmas party for a company in Wolfgang's restaurant with a live band, there was a knitting class, there was a farmers market, and my class. The Christmas light thingy is only on weekends.

I think spring time would be the ideal time for a visit for those coming from cooler climates. The actual museum that was under construction is still not finished. I don't know what the current plans are in light of the economy.

It really is hard to describe what all Springs Preserve is. I'm just glad it is what it is.

Did they use the banana split prop for Louie's song, "Banana Split For My Baby"? Springs Preserve sounds great. I'm going to check it out. Is it anywhere close to where Louis had his golf course, Fairway to the Stars, on Warm Springs Road?

I'm sure the banana split was for that song. The movie was filmed in Las Vegas and while it is very weak on movie stars and plot, it is very strong on musical talent, fun, and has some scenes on what Las Vegas looked like in those days. Most of it was filmed at the Frontier and St James Catholic Church.

Springs Preserve is on Valley View, behind the Meadows Mall. Enjoy it on the internet and wait until after the new year to go, so you get an annual pass and come back all year. $ingle admi$$ion$ are pretty $teep.

Thanks for the info JMT.

If anyone is out in Vegas during December and hasn't seen it yet, the Christmas light display at Ethel M's is very cool. They string up millions of lights in their cactus garden and it's very impressive.

I drove up the strip tonight and NYNY is the only place that had Christmas decorations visible from afar. The top of the Chrysler bldg had red and green neon on it's spines...or are they tiny spires? A few other bldgs had red or green neon on their roofs.