The Skull of Vegas
Wednesday, 31st May 2006 by James Turnbull
Staring up from what looks like a neon sign graveyard in Las Vegas is this giant Pirate Skull. Aaaar!
I'm guessing this is a disused prop from Treasure Island Casino, where they have a regular pirate show out the front.
Thanks: MediumMonkey
That’s awesome! 😀
Yup, that’s exactly what it is. My guess is that they took it down to reflect the new swank, sophisticated non-Disneyesque image Vegas is trying to project these days. They don’t have the pirate battle out front any longer, either — well, not exactly; now it’s The Sirens of TI doing battle with pirates. ^_^
Just north north/east of the skull, you can see a group of neon capital letters which are mixed up. These letters are “W,S,O,T and something else.” Can you find out what it is?
the link is here https://www.googlesightseeing.com/maps?p=&c=&t=k&hl=en&ll=36.177492,-115.134214&z=19 srry
Judging by the font, I think it was from an old SHOWBOAT sign with just the H, B and the second O missing since the letter under the W looks like an A.
Brilliant! I wonder if they’ll sell it to me?
This might be the “Neon Graveyard,” which I understand is an attempt by a few Las Vegas locals to preserve some of the historical or otherwise interesting signage from the local casinos and other attractions. It’s also supposedly been featured in a couple of shows set in Vegas (“Mars Attacks!” and “CSI” come to mind). Can anyone from the Las Vegas area confirm this?
“I’m guessing this is a disused prop from Treasure Island Casino, where they have a regular pirate show out the front.”
More like a “T&A” show now.
Yep, it’s from the old sign
http://roadtrip.arcticcircle.ca/2003/P7072770.JPG
it was replaced by this one
http://www.lasvegassun.com/from.ed/2003/oct/21/photos/P000061729.jpg
I definitely like the old one better.
According to this (http://lasvegas.lifetips.com/tip/102597/las-vegas-tour-tips/las-vegas-tour-guide/neon-graveyard.html) The Neon Graveyard, located near downtown Las Vegas is located on McWilliams and Encanto, so, yes, that’s it.
Timhogs, it’s as you say, a google search for http://www.google.it/search?hl=it&q=%22The+Neon+Museum%22+encanto&btnG=Cerca&meta= (encanto is the road), returns a few results, most of them dead pages, although http://www.neonmuseum.org/ doesn’t give an address so I might be wrong.
It’s the same place.. through some hunting I found the Film Policy http://www.neonmuseum.org/film-policy.html for the Neon Museum and it says no bathrooms are on site but there are available bathroom across the street at the Reed Whipple center which through searching I found out is at 821 Las Vegas Blvd N, Las Vegas, NV which is here View Placemark
Cool shadow… https://www.googlesightseeing.com/maps?p=&c=&t=h&hl=en&ll=36.174855,-115.145058&z=19
And just a bit south of the skull, and just inside the fence is the “horseshoe” from the top of Binions. When the newest owners took over, all remnants of the word “Horseshoe” had to be removed. This sign was way up on top of the building rotating until recently.
http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=q0wgrr5d4v6f&style=o&lvl=2&scene=266477&sp=aN.q0vscb5d4hmq_Las%2520Vegas%252c%2520Nevada%252c%2520United%2520States___
Out of interesting note on Live Local, in Birds Eye, you can see the old “Caesar’s Palace” sign right next to the skull, and you can read a bit more of the signs, but my eyesight is poor.
That is part of the Neon Museum. The 821 Las Vegas Blvd N, Las Vegas, NV is the office building they run out of. The skull and other signs they keep in the “boneyard” across the block. I went there a few years back. I diden’t get to go on the tour because they said you need reservations weeks in advance and you have to have about 20 people with you. Something they did not mention on there website (very misleading) I flew from San Francisco for the day just to see it. What a waste. But I guess I get the free tour seeing it this way 🙂
There are two segments of the “Boneyard”…the skull is in the southern section. These lots are separated by a small road that is now barricaded to avoid thru traffic. I was in Vegas for the holidays and they opened the northern lot on a saturday for a special public touring. All they opened was that northern lot, but there were various signs from Binion’s Horseshoe, Golden Nugget, Sassy Sally’s (now Mermaids downtown), Fitzgerald’s and various other defunct casinos, hotels and other businesses. Very cool to see these signs in person. In that south lot, by the way, are pieces from the Stardust and I also see the old M&M World sign. They have also reassembled the lobby from the LaConcha Motel to use as their office. They also plan to restore many of these signs and place them in the median of Las Vegas Blvd in the next few years. Can’t wait to see that.