Viva Las Vegas!

1. Welcome Sign

Las Vegas, NV

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Vegas Vic, a welcoming neon cowboy, was the unofficial symbol for Las Vegas as he greeted tourists from outside the Pioneer Club on Fremont Street beginning in 1951. As casinos began to drift out to Las Vegas Boulevard the job for a new roadside welcoming sign went to Western Neon. Betty Willis, a 36-year old Las Vegas native, got the design assignment. She crafted an iconic mid-20th century road sign, offset from its two supporting poles that alternated fonts and colors in proclaiming "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada." The back of the sign, which was placed at the south end of the Las Vegas Strip and the first thing seen by visitors arriving by plane, reminds folks to "Drive Carefully Come Back Soon." Willis outlined the word "Welcome" in round disks to symbolize the silver dollars historically played in the casinos and put the entire composition under a red starburst. Willis never copyrighted her design of the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign which appears on souvenirs and has been replicated at other entrance points to the city, including the McCarran International Airport. When light bulbs burn out in the sign they are sold off as souvenirs by the owner, Young Electric Sign Company, and the proceeds given to charity.