Every decade in Las Vegas brings change. Las Vegas was suffering an identity crisis, and the economy was also struggling. A devastating fire at the original MGM Grand killed more than 80 people in 1980, and just a few months later, a fire at the Las Vegas Hilton killed eight more people. The 1980s ended the golden age of Vegas lounge entertainment.
Las Vegas retained the lions-share of casinos, but they were not as dominant as they had in the 60s and early 70s. New casinos were built off the Strip, Downtown, and in other cities like Reno. The competition became more sparkling and tough when gambling was legalized in Atlantic City in 1976. The lavish showrooms that once lured people from around the world were also fading away. Things began to change in the late 1980s with a huge investment of Golden Nugget.
Here below are some stunning vintage photos that show Las Vegas in the 1980s. Also check, how Las Vegas looked like in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1990s.
And Vegas was affordable
Seriously. One of the signs advertised what would be in today’s dollars a $1.60 breakfast and a $6.50 chicken dinner. Good luck finding a breakfast for less than 10 times that nowadays.
The 80s is also when the mob still ran Vegas.
Now it’s the corporate mob.
I wish we were back in the 80’s. Everything looked better, people were kinder and life was so much simpler.
It was a great time to be a kid, that’s for sure.
Ahh Yes the 80’s. We had the space shuttle blow up, the Chernobyl Disaster, the AIDS epidemic, the Tylenol tampering that killed 7 people and inspired copy cat killers, Reagan fired almost all the air traffic controllers for striking, Al Gores wife tried to silence artists starting with Prince, Ted Bundy, Jeffery Dalmer, Nancy Reagans war on drugs with people doing years in prison for pot, and racism was actually worse then! Fun times fun times.
Yes you’re right of course. World War 3 and the new global financial crisis will be much more fun
Dan Tanna’s garage/apartment is now replaying in my brain.
Vegas was fantastic in the ’80s and even into the 90s. I lived there for 25 years and it was a fantastic place to be at that time. Housing was affordable, everything was affordable. I built a thriving Media company specializing in huge video walls, including the one in the MGM Grand behind the front desk. As soon as installation was done I took over maintenance and new scheduling of videos for the first 3 years. At that point they figured how much they were paying me every year and decided to take it in house. Sadly, that’s when everything fell apart but that’s another story.