VEGAS MYTHS BUSTED: The Traveling Welcome to Las Vegas Sign

Las Vegas Myths Busted: “Welcome to Las Vegas” Sign

Last month, we debunked the myth that the Las Vegas Strip has official borders. In this issue, we mention that the "Welcome to Wonderful Las Vegas" (WTFLV) sign may be moved a few miles south to accommodate the inevitable future expansion of the Las Vegas Strip.

Why didn't we mention that since its installation in 1959, the sign has been moved south for the same reason? Because that's a myth.

signs of life

Sometime in the summer of 1959, the WTFLV sign was installed by sign company Western Electric Displays, better known as Western Neon. The idea to formally welcome drivers from Southern California came from the company's salesman Ted Rogich, and the design was drawn by advertising illustrator Betty Willis.

“They wanted something that was very Las Vegas and was as exciting and engaging as possible,” Willis told a Neon Museum blogger shortly before his death in 2015.“We used flash, neon, everything under the sun to achieve this. The whole theme of the sign was to make people feel welcome.”

The main inspiration for the design came from the iconography of the Riviera. The letters W-E-L-C-O-M-E appeared in the form of silver dollars, emerging from the slot machine with the then-hopeful jackpot.

Instead of the triangle of the Riv logo, Willis chose a standard hotel keychain as the primary shape of its logo.

The WTFLV sign is located next to the old entrance to McCarran Airport (now Harry Reid International Airport). This location was chosen because it was the southernmost border of casino resort development at the time. Pretty much everything else is unspoiled desert.

In recent decades, however, development has shifted south along the Las Vegas Strip. Therefore, some people mistakenly believe that the sign must have moved with it.

False news

The myth of the WTFLV sign was first reported as fact in a 1998 story published by the Las Vegas Review-Journal that has never been retracted or uploaded to the Internet. Still, it was so influential that in 2009 it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places' Register of Signs.

“There are reports that the sign has been moved,” the form reads, noting that there are no records from Clark County or YESCO (the current owner of the sign) to confirm this.

There is photographic evidence that it has never been moved. You just need to know where and how to look for it.

Mandalay Bay is now located 0.4 miles (2,112 feet) north of the Shield. This also applies to the Hacienda Casino Hotel, which was demolished on December 31, 1996 to make way for the construction of Mandalay Bay.

In September 1959, an unknown tourist took the first known photo of the WTFLV sign, with the estate in the background appearing to be further away than Mandalay Bay in modern photos. But that's just an illusion, because the original estate was a three-story building, and Mandalay Bay is more than 14 times taller.

This proves that the WTFLV sign is placed in its exact location today, as the estate would appear "closer" in old photos if the sign had been moved.

Myth Understanding

Like many myths, this one thrives because of a lack of information about its subject.

In fact, we have to write that the sign was put up "sometime in the summer of 1959" because no one knows exactly when the event occurred because it's not considered an event at all.

No one knew at the time that the WTFLV logo would become the global icon it is today, second only to Hollywood. Therefore, no commemorative ceremonies such as foundation laying, inauguration, unveiling, and lighting of lights were held.

There are not even known photos of the construction.

After approval by the Clark County Commission on May 5, 1959, there was no newspaper mention of the sign until it was posted several months later.

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