Your interest in the DI time capsule piqued ours, so we dug around, so to speak, and discovered that this city is literally awash with buried treasures (if you can call a wax impression of Jimmy Durante’s nose or an Oscar Goodman bobblehead doll "treasure," of which we’re not entirely convinced, but are open to arguments).
The earliest example we came across was from December 1953, commissioned to celebrate the first anniversary of the opening of the Sands and the signing of Tallulah Bankhead, who helped publicize the burial. Entertainment director Jack Entratter ordered a 12-foot-long rocket-shaped capsule that, we understand, contained a headshot of Bankhead, Bing Crosby’s pipe, Roy Bolger’s dancing shoes, Sugar Ray Robinson’s boxing gloves, a copy of "Short’n Bread" sheet music autographed by Nelson Eddy, a transcript of Louella Parsons’ interview with Frank Sinatra, and the aforementioned wax impression of Jimmy Durante’s nose.
The capsule was lowered into the ground and was not supposed to be opened for 100 years. However, a mere 10 years later it was discovered in the landfill near the North Las Vegas pig farm, apparently having been inadvertently dug up and dumped during some later construction work.
Undaunted, 15 years later the Sands buried another time capsule, in February 1978. This one was to be opened in just 25 years and the family who’d found the original capsule re-donated Roy Bolger’s dancing shoes, although they opted to keep the rest of the booty. The contents of the new capsule also included medallions from Wayne Newton and Sammy Davis Jr. and a monogrammed handkerchief from Roy Clark. Jimmy Durante and his opening act, Sonny King, donated the pairs of trousers they had both worn the last time they worked together before Durante retired in 1970, plus a bag of peanuts from then-President Carter's farm in Georgia (one step up from the wax nose, we guess). Other miscellaneous items included the winning silks from Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew’s owners, official letters donated by various dignitaries, and an autographed baseball from New York Yankees manager Billy Martin.
Sadly, like so many time capsules before and after it, this box of goodies has never been seen again (so far as we know) and is most likely buried somewhere beneath the foundations of the Venetian.
Rewind a few years to 1966 and two non-casino time capsule burials occurred. We don’t know much about either of them, but one took place at the North Las Vegas City Hall as part of the official ribbon-cutting ceremony to inaugurate its opening that year. The other was buried outside what was then the newly opened Broadway department store and is now Macy’s in the Boulevard Mall.
To date, we’ve been unable to ascertain the fate of (or anything else about) the City Hall capsule, but we can confirm that the Broadway capsule is still there beneath its commemorative plaque, outside the west entrance by the parking garage (see image below). Its contents are currently a mystery and will apparently remain so until 2066, when it’s scheduled to be opened, although by whom remains unclear, since the property’s changed hands several times since the capsule was originally buried. The very helpful Macy's PR representative that we contacted got back to us with the following:
"Unfortunately, I did not unearth any information. As I mentioned, because of the changes that have happened over the past several years (Broadway became a Macy's store in 1995), we could not locate anyone internally that had archival information. In addition, I called the newspaper and the Clark County library, who were able to look up the actual date in the newspaper but did not see anything about the time capsule. I'm sorry we weren't able to find anything out."
Back to the Strip and, on July 15, 1969, executives at Caesars Palace broke ground for the proposed 13-story high rise, an event commemorated by the then de rigueur burial of a time capsule. Unfortunately, just one week later it was discovered that someone had stolen it. We have no idea what was inside and it’s never been seen or heard of since.
Not to be outdone by the Sands, the Desert Inn actually boasted no less than three time capsules beneath it by the time it closed. The first was buried in 1985 to celebrate its 35th anniversary and was due to be opened on April 24, 2020.
In 1992, when the hotel was theoretically rebranded the Stars Desert Inn, another time capsule was buried to honor Frank Sinatra’s birthday. It was supposed to be opened on Dec. 12th, 2020.
Finally, in April 2000, the resort celebrated its 50th –- and what turned out to be its final –- birthday. To mark the occasion, a third time capsule was buried in a custom-built granite chamber. Its contents included employee photographs, a section of the Las Vegas Review-Journal commemorating the event, menus, a media kit, a videotape of the "Vega$" TV show, some chips, a players club card, and a security badge. This one was due to be opened on April 25, 2050, the plaque reading:
THE DESERT INN RESORT Vegas. Done right. Since 1950. TIME CAPSULE BURIED ON APRIL 24, 2000 TO COMMEMORATE THE DESERT INN RESORT’S 50th BIRTHDAY
TO BE OPENED 50 YEARS LATER ON APRIL 24, 2050.
However, during the week-long celebrations commemorating the resort’s golden anniversary, Steve Wynn bought the property. By the end of August that year, the DI had closed for good and the following year the dismantling process commenced, culminating in the final implosion in 2004. So far as we know, all three capsules now lie buried beneath the Wynn somewhere.
All seems to have remained pretty quiet on the time capsule front until April 18, 1996, when then-Governor Bob Miller officially dedicated State Route 375 the "Extraterrestrial Highway" and a time capsule was buried outside the Little A'Le'Inn cafe by the producers of Independence Day, who were also in attendance to promote the movie.
The ceremony was held in a small town called Rachel, well-known by UFO fans as one of the most "visited" sites in the country. While obviously not in Las Vegas, we included this one, because, well, just because we felt like it and because we wanted to tell you about the "blue ET time capsule" they used to house such useful items as models of Stealth bombers, a "universal gaming chip" donated by then-Lieutenant Governor Lonnie Hammargren for use in casinos by any extraterrestrial who found it, not to mention props from Independence Day and excerpts from an upcoming Star Trek movie script -- sure to give the aliens a giggle, although perhaps less useful in the desert than the bag of peanuts from the Sands’ capsule or a water sample (see below). If you happen to venture out there, you'll find it marked by a stone monument outside the Little A'Le'Inn. It's due to be dug up in 2050.
Last but by no means least, we come to the Las Vegas Centennial time capsule, buried in the Centennial Plaza downtown on December 15, 2005, to commemorate the city's historic 100th birthday. Actually, the monument consists of two buried capsules –- there were just too many goodies to fit into one –- which lie beneath a plaque and a time-capsule sculpture by artist Stephen Hendee (assistant professor of art at UNLV) named "Monument to the Simulacrum," which was officially dedicated on May 14, 2007.
Featuring the longest "dig date" in Las Vegas time-capsule history, this one is not scheduled to be disinterred until 2105 and contains perhaps the most eclectic hoard of all, including a poster of the inaugural World Series of Poker at Binion’s Horseshoe, a "Roadwork Ahead" construction sign from Henderson, some soil samples, a cocktail-waitress uniform from the MGM Grand, a souvenir "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign, a CineVegas film festival schedule (June 2005), various hats, a 2005 phone directory, a blackjack layout from the Stardust, a photograph of the World’s Largest Birthday Cake, a water sample, a Denny’s menu, and an Oscar Goodman bobblehead*.
Make of all that what you will, oh future generations! (When the aliens see the cake and the Denny's menu, they'll quickly figure out why we became extinct.)
Interestingly enough, in the course of all this research, we came across just one time capsule that was actually dug up when it was meant to be. This was a titanium cylinder buried by pupils of Marion Earl Elementary School, who duly congregated on April 27, 2000, twelve years after they'd originally interred it, and by all accounts had a laugh revisiting their 12-year-old assignments and photographs. The operation was such a success that a group of second-graders were invited to bury a new time capsule, scheduled to be dug up ten years down the line.
*For a complete list of contents, click here.
Photographs appear courtesy of Stephen Hendee ("Monument to the Simulacrum") and Jason Damas of www.labelscar.com, an interesting Web site and blog dedicated to the history of America's shopping malls and the current state of retail, who kindly drew our attention to the Broadway capsule and supplied the photo of the plaque. We'd also like to thank Friends of Classic Las Vegas, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving Las Vegas history, buildings and landmarks, whose Web site was a great source of information in the researching of this answer.
