In his new book released in late August, Dr. Larry Gragg, a Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professor emeritus of history and political science at Missouri S&T, tells the behind-the-scenes story of Las Vegas’ meteoric rise to becoming the multi-billion dollar tourist industry it is today.

Becoming America’s Playground: Las Vegas in the 1950’s is Gragg’s ninth book and his third about Las Vegas culture. It is the first published book to exclusively focus on Las Vegas in this decade.

“The rise in Las Vegas tourism from one million visitors in 1950, to ten million in 1960 was no accident,” says Gragg.

From his research, Gragg says it became clear that the city’s deliberate publicity strategies deployed from 1950 to 1960 were pivotal in changing the perception of Las Vegas from a regional tourist destination — where one could legally engage in gambling and access legalized prostitution just outside the city limits — to a family vacation spot filled with entertainment options and surrounded by scenic beauty.

The book describes how the unconventional, yet highly successful promotional strategies of Steve Hannagan, a well-known publicist the city of Las Vegas hired between 1948 and 1949, propelled the city’s growth of tourism. By ignoring Las Vegas’ image as a gambling resort and heavily promoting it as the hub of a scenic wonderland where families would want to vacation, Hannagan began to change the city’s public perception.  

Las Vegas and Clark County grew substantially during World War II due to the employment provided by the Las Vegas Air Force Base Aircraft Gunnery School and the Basic Magnesium Plant in nearby Henderson, Nevada. But when the war ended, employment opportunities were scarce, Gragg notes.

“Las Vegas was searching for a way to provide continued employment for its residents and to grow the community,” Gragg says. “At the time, post-war Americans felt a need to escape, and the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce saw a chance to capitalize on the town’s reputation for leisure.”

Las Vegas couldn’t afford Hannagan’s services very long, but because his approach was working, the Las Vegas News Bureau continued to build the publicity by implementing the “Hannagan Method” on its own.

One insider mentioned in the book privy to the Hannagan method is Don English, a popular photographer at the time. English had previously worked for Hannagan and came to Las Vegas in 1949 to join the News Bureau. He recalled the daily morning ”hometown run” where news staff photographed small-town couples in front of their hotels, then sent the photos to the subjects’ hometown newspapers to publish so their friends and neighbors would want to make the same trip.

Las Vegas publicity in this era also revolved around the Nevada Test Site, situated 65 miles outside the city. English’s famous promotional photos include a striking black and white image of a nuclear detonation cloud framed by the iconic, neon “Vegas Vic” and the Pioneer Club sign.

From 1950 to 1960, Las Vegas had the highest per capita income in the U.S., hotel building was thriving and the city was deeply segregated. In an interview with platinum album recording star Johnny Mathis (known for his hits like “Chances Are” and “Misty”), Gragg learned that after his performances, Mathis was shuffled to the west side of Las Vegas, where most black residents lived, because African Americans were not welcome to stay in the same hotels with white guests. Mathis described his experience as “almost like watching a sad, sad movie.”

Gragg’s chronicle also delves into the role of organized crime in the city and its discrimination and slow evolution of the advancement of women. Overall, the book presents a wealth of little-known facts and personal stories from the 1950s that began making Las Vegas the glitzy, escapist playground it is today.

Find Becoming America’s Playground: Las Vegas in the 1950’s, published by University of OklahomaPress, in paperback and e-book versions here: https://bit.ly/2Mu4sYx.