In high anticipation of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie releasing this week, Special Collections & Archives in Lied Library can’t help but think that Las Vegas is the real-world sister city of Barbieland. What other city can offer as much fabulous fun, glamour, and sunshine as Barbie’s hometown?
Delving into the stardust of our archive, there are photographs, costume designs, and other ephemera that capture the icon’s air of optimism. Included here are just a few items that we think fit Barbie’s pink aesthetic and glamorous theme.
Barbie always rides in style. Picture her in this Cadillac cruising along the Las Vegas Strip at sunset! (Greg Cava Photograph Collection PH-00399)
Barbie has had a lot of careers over the years! If she ever took on the role of a Las Vegas showgirl, she probably would have joined the Lido de Paris with its fabulous costumes (Donn Arden Photograph Collection PH-00328)
Every Barbie needs a theme song and our sheet music collections have plenty for her to choose from! How about “The Ballad of Barbie and Ken” as a tune? (Richard “Dick” Stabile Sheet Music Collection MS-00625)
Barbie’s outfits are always changing, but pink is certainly a common theme amongst them all. These designs come from the Bill Campbell Costume Designs (MS-00588).
If Barbie had to choose a hotel for her Vegas vacation or Reno getaway, we’re sure it would be the Flamingo Hotel. Check out this photo of the hotel at sunset and another rendering of the hotel’s design before it opened. Above, illustration from Flamingo Hilton Photograph Collection (PH-00127). Below, The Flamingo Hotel at Sunset from L.F. Manis Photographs (PH-00100)
Surely Barbie would’ve stopped to eat at Caesars Palace with this menu calling to her. We imagine her wearing one of the dresses above as she dines on Beach Port Lobster Tail with a strawberry tart for dessert. (UNLV University Libraries Menu Collection MS-00436). And after dinner, it would be off to see “Hallelujah Hollywood!” (program from the Ffolliott “Fluff” LeCoque Papers MS-00826).
Barbie graced the covers of several magazines over the years, but she was never found on a Fabulous Las Vegas magazine. Looking at a few from our collection, however, she certainly looks like she would’ve fit in.
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These are just a small fraction of the materials holds. From the papers and oral histories of individual Strip entertainers to costume design collections to the records of entertainment departments of the long-gone Frontier, Dunes, Thunderbird, and Stardust hotels, UNLV Special Collections & Archives has made documenting the entertainment history of Las Vegas one of its primary collecting missions.
