The Stardust Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas is scheduled to be imploded tonight...I wrote up a bit of a remembrance of the place on my blog:
"Still, there’s a lot of history that went down at “The ‘Dust”. When it opened in 1958 its 1300 rooms made it the largest resort in the world. It was also one of the first casino/hotels that targeted “the masses” as opposed to the high roller set. It also pioneered the practice of renting their rooms at very cheap prices–$5 to $8 a night when it first opened. Both the practice of targeting “middle America” and renting rooms at cheap prices to keep their beds (and their casinos) full became commonplace. The Stardust also can be credited with advancing the trend toward themed casinos that reached its apex (or some would say nadir) with Treasure Island and New York, New York. While there were casinos with “themes” before the Stardust none took their motif beyond their sign and other branding elements. The Stardust also brought the first topless show to Las Vegas when the Lido De Paris debuted in early 1960’s."
Full thing here:
http://www.prophetsplace.com/blog/?p=325
"Still, there’s a lot of history that went down at “The ‘Dust”. When it opened in 1958 its 1300 rooms made it the largest resort in the world. It was also one of the first casino/hotels that targeted “the masses” as opposed to the high roller set. It also pioneered the practice of renting their rooms at very cheap prices–$5 to $8 a night when it first opened. Both the practice of targeting “middle America” and renting rooms at cheap prices to keep their beds (and their casinos) full became commonplace. The Stardust also can be credited with advancing the trend toward themed casinos that reached its apex (or some would say nadir) with Treasure Island and New York, New York. While there were casinos with “themes” before the Stardust none took their motif beyond their sign and other branding elements. The Stardust also brought the first topless show to Las Vegas when the Lido De Paris debuted in early 1960’s."
Full thing here:
http://www.prophetsplace.com/blog/?p=325