With the Internet, Facebook, MySpace, texting and cellphones, it’s been a very long time since I had actually received a handwritten letter. It’s a nice surprise to find one in the mailbox along with the assorted bills and ads.
Lyn is a friend, who knows I collect postcards, especially older cards dealing with Nevada — so she sent me two that she found at her Grandpa’s home in San Jose’ shortly after he passed away.
Her grandpa Angelo Casti was born December 17, 1919 and passed away May 18, 2011 at the age of 91. He was preceded in death by his wife, Lois and is survived by his children, Rosalind Santora, Gene Casti, Debra Fodge, Andrea Casti; 6 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
As for the postcards, Lyn included in her letter:
Milton Prell’s Aladdin Hotel, 1961. On the back it reads, “The alluring new Aladdin Hotel, rich in luster of the Arabian Nights, now casts its magnificent glow over the Las Vegas Strip. Spread like a jeweled cluster over 35 acres of desert oasis, the Aladdin unveils its magic carpet to a multitude of luxurious rooms, sparking entertainment in the Bagdad room and dancing and gourmet dining-pleasures in the elegant Sabre Room. Complete convention facilities, four swimming pools and the finest par-3 golf course in the West complete this myriad of unmatched Las Vegas splendor.
The Aladdin Hotel was the first major casino to open on the Las Vegas Strip in the 1960s, eight years after the area’s 1950s boom period ended with the Stardust’s debut in 1958. The original site of the Aladdin, between the Flamingo and Tropicana hotels on the Strip’s eastern side, had been undeveloped desert land until 1963.
By 2003, the Aladdin was in bankruptcy and eventually was purchased by a group with plans to remove the hotel’s Aladdin theme and replace it with one based on Hollywood films. The hotel officially became Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in April 2007, with a grand opening later that year.
From the back of the Dunes Hotel and Country Club postcard, also dated 1961, it reads: “The new 24-story ‘Diamond of the Dunes’ dominates the Las Vegas sky line. This magnificant resort features 1,000 deluxe rooms and suites (all with TV.)
The Dunes is renowned for the 18-hole “Emerald Green Championship Golf Course and Country Club; The Sultan’s Table, Dome of the Sea and Top O’ the Strip; two giant pools, acres of free parking plus the direct-from-Paris spectacular Casino De Paris and Fredric Apcar’s Vive Les Girls. Incomparable convention facilities. Alice in Wonderland Nursery.”
The Dunes opened May 23, 1955 as a low-rise resort. When the North Tower was added in 1961 it was one of the finest and largest hotels on the strip, with the South Tower being added in 1979.
On January 26, 1993, the Dunes closed its doors for good and was imploded on October 27, 1993 starting with the North Tower. The South Tower was obliterated in July 1994 and the Bellagio now stands in its place.
As for Frederic Apcar, he first made his mark on the Strip in late 1961 with “Vive Les Girls,” which continued into the 1970s. “Casino de Paris” opened in 1963 and ran until 1982. He also continued produce shows in Reno and Tahoe until 1992.
Apcar was born Stember 16, 1914 in Parisand passed away August 2, 2008 from a heart attack. He was 93.
I hold the letter, the postcards and Lyn’s friendship in high-regard.
The Old Blog in the Desert 
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