The historical pictures that we've featured in past QoDs come from a variety of sources. One of the best is the Las Vegas News Bureau, which has supplied us with a host of great images, including hotel implosions, historic views of the Las Vegas Strip, and images of long-gone casinos. You'll find a sample of their wares if you click on the image link below. Unfortunately, from your point of view, the News Bureau does not make prints available for sale to the general public at this time and has no plans to do so in the future (they don't have the means to provide this service in house, and the costs involved in having it out-sourced are prohibitive).
The good news, however, is that there are other options for the historic Vegas enthusiast. One source of images is UNLV Libraries Special Collections. They have about 70,000 images (some of which are duplicates of items in the News Bureau's archives) and have also been a useful source for past QoDs. The images themselves are not viewable online, but there is an alphabetical listing of their numerous collections, many of which are cataloged by image – just click here to view the list. They don't have ready-made prints available for purchase and if what you're looking for isn't obvious from the catalog, then you have to go there in person – preferably with a good idea of what you're looking for – and plough through the collection to find what you want. But once you've completed that process, you can order prints at a cost of $15 for an 8x10. Enlargements up to 20x40 are available, with prices depending on size.
The Nevada Historical Society is also a good source of prints. They maintain the largest collection of photographs in the state, dating from the 1860s to the present, documenting a variety of subjects and locations, including Las Vegas and its evolution. Their Neon Nights collection contains just the kinds of images you seem to be interested in, some of which we've reproduced below. Their charges for prints vary depending on size and whether or not a negative is available: It starts at $12 for a 5x7 print from negative and goes up to $60 for a 16x20 print with no negative available. Additional fees of $5 and up apply for postage and handling, or $20 for FedEx service. Allow three weeks for your order to be processed and dispatched.
If you're interested in Las Vegas history outside of casinos and entertainment, the Nevada Test Site offers a photographic service via their Web site, with lots of interesting pictures of the state's atomic past available. In years gone by, the Nevada Department of Energy would supply up to 5 photographs at no charge, but budgets have been slashed and they can't afford to keep prints in stock anymore. However, they anticipated this state of affairs and have scanned a majority of their nuclear weapons test photographs to 300 dpi, which you can download for free and print at home, or copy to disk and take to your local printing office. Here's the link to their Web site, if you're interested. You'll find some extraordinary and dramatic images there, both in B/W and color.
And if you're interested in other Las Vegas memorabilia, here are a few suggestions:
