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Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas

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This is the first in-depth account of Betty Willis, the designer behind the iconic Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign. It tells her story and the story of Las Vegas in the 1950s and 1960s, recreati...
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  • 09 February 2027
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The untold story of the world’s most famous neon sign and the extraordinary woman who created it.

Las Vegas in the 1950s and 1960s was a city coming out of wartime and into the public eye. All it needed was the right person to light it up – and against all the odds, that person was Betty Willis.

With the Cold War heating up and A-bomb tests going off just outside of town, Willis led a diverse team of glassblowers, metalworkers and electricians in a bold project to illuminate the desert sky. Her iconic neon creations would attract gamblers, filmmakers and artists from across the world. But working in an industry dominated by men, in a town run by the mob, presented its share of challenges.

Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas charts the career of one of the twentieth century’s most brilliant designers. It is an epic tale of a city and the people who built it, from famous showgirls and entertainers with their names in lights to the women and men working behind the scenes.

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Price: £20.00
Pages: 312
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Imprint: Manchester University Press
Publication Date: 09 February 2027
ISBN: 9781526179227
Format: Hardcover
BISACs:

DESIGN / History & Criticism, History of design, HISTORY / Women, HISTORY / United States / 20th Century, Gender studies: women and girls, Material culture

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Isobel Harbison writes on art and culture for a range of magazines, including the Financial Times, the London Review of Books, the London Magazine, The Baffler and Tolka. Her work has been shortlisted for the Hay Festival Writer’s Award and nominated for The Pushcart Prize. She is a senior lecturer at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Prologue: Nevadan skies
1 Welcome to Las Vegas, 1929 (on liquor, gambling and injurious practices)
2 Wilshire Boulevard, 1944 (on the war years)
3 The El Rancho, 1951 (on planting bombs, atomic, anatomic)
4 The Riviera, 1955 (on creativity amid criminality)
5 The Moulin Rouge, 1955 (on pockets of solidarity)
6 The Blue Angel Motel, 1957 (on making angels)
7 Motel Row, 1958 to 1959 (on fragile states)
8 Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada, 1959 (on the neon fabulous)
9 Her Midnight Sign Company, 1964 (on dark thresholds)
10 Stardust, 1968 to 2015 (on endings, of sorts)
11 Drive Safely and Come Back Soon, now (on flipsides and comebacks)
Index