JOHN-O's Las Vegas (& Honolulu pg 8) Thread - General Tiki

J JOHN-O Tiki Socialite Dogtown, USA Joined: May 16, 2008 Posts: 2721	J JOHN-O Posted posted on Mon, Oct 25, 2010 10:39 PM On 2010-10-24 10:09, Trailerpark Tiki wrote: Regarding the Mary Kaye Trio: I met Norman Kaye about 13 years ago while working at the LV Hilton. He was a very warm and friendly man. He befriended me (a 30 something restaurant manager) and occasionally would tell me tales of the old days. At first, I thought of him as another old timer hanging out at the casino playing keno in his retirement years. But in recent years, I discovered what a rich history he had. I lost touch with Norman when I left the Hilton and I don't even know if he is alive any more. He was in his 70's or 80's when I met him. I learned about the Mary Kaye Trio in Guitar Player Magazine about 5 years ago. I had no idea that Mary Kaye was Hawaiian or that my friend Norman Kaye and Mary had invented the Las Vegas lounge scene. Thanks again John-O for the history lesson. Oh, and BTW I know where the Tropicana Tikis are, but I'm sworn to tiki-secrecy by Benzart. Wade (TPT) Thanks Wade, that's a great story !! Norman Kaye was still living in 2007 when Mary Kaye passed. He's probably still playing Keno at the Hilton. :) Here's a recent LV discovery of my own (that I'm sure you're well aware of). Las Vegas is a hot bed of mid-century modern architecture !! And no I'm not talking about major tourist destinations but rather the residential neighborhoods north of Sahara Ave. These were the major neighborhoods that people lived in during the 1950's and 60's. When Vegas boomed in the 1990's most of the new residential construction happened in large planned communities like Summerlin which left a lot of the original mid-century neighborhoods intact. They of course fell upon harder times when the middle class chose to live in the newer communities. I attended the Mondo Lounge architectural bus tour which was a 5-hour drive through these neighborhoods. This was the first time I really got a chance to see these older neighborhoods, many of which I initially assumed would be kind of sketchy. I was really amazed by the architecture I saw, it felt like I was on a similar mid-mod tour in Palm Springs. In fact one of the tour leaders was Alan Hess who's authored many books on the subject like "Palm Springs Weekend". The main tour narrator was Jack Levine who is a realtor that specializes in mid-mod properties. I met him at Mr. Smiley's summer party where he first told me of the Oct bus tour. http://veryvintagevegas.com It was shocking to see many of these gems (in need of some tender loving care) going for short sales of $65K. As I recall, one 4K sq ft place was going for less than $300K. Obviously some of these neighborhoods have seen better times as was evident by some boarded up windows and the occasional gang graffiti. Overall though I got a sense there was a renovation trend going on similar to what happened in Palm Springs in the late 1990's. Maybe some of the LV TC'ers could comment from a locals' perspective. Sorry I didn't take many pictures, it was difficult to do from the inside of a bus. Here's some shots I took of the historic Morelli House which currently serves as offices for the Junior League of Las Vegas. It was moved from its original location and has been restored back to its original mid-century glory. http://www.jllv.org/lv/npo.jsp?pg=about7 I'm kicking myself for not taking more pictures of the places we had access to, like the Las Vegas Country Club. It's just that the crowd was so large, it was difficult to get clear shots of the exteriors and interiors. At any rate I hope to see a "Las Vegas Modern" book soon (to go with my "Palm Springs Weekend" and "Tiki Modern"). :) [ Edited by: JOHN-O 2010-10-25 22:43 ]

On 2010-10-24 10:09, Trailerpark Tiki wrote:

Regarding the Mary Kaye Trio: I met Norman Kaye about 13 years ago while working at the LV Hilton. He was a very warm and friendly man. He befriended me (a 30 something restaurant manager) and occasionally would tell me tales of the old days. At first, I thought of him as another old timer hanging out at the casino playing keno in his retirement years. But in recent years, I discovered what a rich history he had. I lost touch with Norman when I left the Hilton and I don't even know if he is alive any more. He was in his 70's or 80's when I met him.

I learned about the Mary Kaye Trio in Guitar Player Magazine about 5 years ago. I had no idea that Mary Kaye was Hawaiian or that my friend Norman Kaye and Mary had invented the Las Vegas lounge scene. Thanks again John-O for the history lesson.

Oh, and BTW I know where the Tropicana Tikis are, but I'm sworn to tiki-secrecy by Benzart.

Wade (TPT)

Thanks Wade, that's a great story !! Norman Kaye was still living in 2007 when Mary Kaye passed. He's probably still playing Keno at the Hilton. :)

Here's a recent LV discovery of my own (that I'm sure you're well aware of).

Las Vegas is a hot bed of mid-century modern architecture !!

And no I'm not talking about major tourist destinations but rather the residential neighborhoods north of Sahara Ave.

These were the major neighborhoods that people lived in during the 1950's and 60's. When Vegas boomed in the 1990's most of the new residential construction happened in large planned communities like Summerlin which left a lot of the original mid-century neighborhoods intact. They of course fell upon harder times when the middle class chose to live in the newer communities.

I attended the Mondo Lounge architectural bus tour which was a 5-hour drive through these neighborhoods. This was the first time I really got a chance to see these older neighborhoods, many of which I initially assumed would be kind of sketchy. I was really amazed by the architecture I saw, it felt like I was on a similar mid-mod tour in Palm Springs. In fact one of the tour leaders was Alan Hess who's authored many books on the subject like "Palm Springs Weekend". The main tour narrator was Jack Levine who is a realtor that specializes in mid-mod properties. I met him at Mr. Smiley's summer party where he first told me of the Oct bus tour.

http://veryvintagevegas.com

It was shocking to see many of these gems (in need of some tender loving care) going for short sales of $65K. As I recall, one 4K sq ft place was going for less than $300K. Obviously some of these neighborhoods have seen better times as was evident by some boarded up windows and the occasional gang graffiti. Overall though I got a sense there was a renovation trend going on similar to what happened in Palm Springs in the late 1990's. Maybe some of the LV TC'ers could comment from a locals' perspective.

Sorry I didn't take many pictures, it was difficult to do from the inside of a bus. Here's some shots I took of the historic Morelli House which currently serves as offices for the Junior League of Las Vegas. It was moved from its original location and has been restored back to its original mid-century glory.

http://www.jllv.org/lv/npo.jsp?pg=about7

I'm kicking myself for not taking more pictures of the places we had access to, like the Las Vegas Country Club. It's just that the crowd was so large, it was difficult to get clear shots of the exteriors and interiors.

At any rate I hope to see a "Las Vegas Modern" book soon (to go with my "Palm Springs Weekend" and "Tiki Modern"). :)

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2010-10-25 22:43 ]

Post #561585 by JOHN-O on Mon, Oct 25, 2010 10:39 PM