Gold coloured glass ash tray from the Del Webb’s Hotel “Sahara,” Las Vegas, Nevada.   The hotel was opened in 1952 by Milton Prell just outside of the City of Las Vegas, and was the sixth resort to open on the Strip. The resort was built by Del Webb. In late 1954, the hotel hired jazz musician Louis Prima to be their late night lounge act, one of the earliest ones on the Las Vegas Strip. Along with his then wife Keely Smith and sax player Sam Butera, they created one of the hottest late night attractions on the Strip. In 1956 Abbott and Costello appeared together for the last time on the Sahara stage before their permanent breakup.In 1961, the hotel was purchased by Del Webb. In 1962, a Don the Beachcomber restaurant opened in the hotel, becoming a top attraction to not only hotel guests but a variety of celebrities as well. A 24-story tower was added in 1963 which made the hotel the tallest building in Las Vegas.  The resort was the site of the annual Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon for many years, mostly in the 1970s, and for a brief time in the 1990s.  Performers at the resort over the years have included Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich, Jack Benny, Paul Anka, George Carlin, Liza Minnelli, Violetta Villas, Shirley Bassey, Wayne Newton, Imogene Coca, The Platters, Connie Francis, Bill Cosby, Jeanette MacDonald, Ann-Margret, The Mills Brothers, Joey Bishop, Shelley Berman, Buddy Hackett, Helen O’Connell, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Kay Starr, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, The Drifters, Don Rickles,Bobby Darin, Teresa Graves, The Coasters, Taya Parker, and many others. In 1964 the Beatles stayed at the Sahara and played two shows at the nearby Las Vegas Convention Center.  Del Webb ran into financial problems in the late 1970s and early 1980s, it sold the Sahara to Paul Lowden (Archon Corporation) for $50 million in 1982.

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