Disney Adds Signs Warning of Alligators and Snakes

A private swap to Pennsylvania shows a card produced by SFWMD. It reads on the back: "The broad-snouted American alligator navigates freely through rivers and lakes in southern Florida. Remnants of a prehistoric ear, alligators are a protected species that continues to flourish." The number of alligators living in Florida is estimated at 1.3 million. Central to state's identity, it was featured on  a 32-cent commemorative stamp, issued in Tallahassee, Florida on March 3, 1995, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Florida Statehood.

Although alligator attacks are rare, properties at Walt Disney World are adding signs warning "Alligators and snakes in area" at their beaches after an alligator dragged a 2-year-old boy from Nebraska to his death in a lagoon near the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa on June 14, 2016. At the time of incident, only "No Swimming" signs were posted without any specific reference to alligators.

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Designer of the Las Vegas Welcome Sign Passed Away

Betty Willis,  an American graphic designer and a Las Vegas native best known for having designed the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign,  died at the age of 91 at her home in Overton, Nevada on April 19, 2015

Betty was the daughter of Stephen R, Whitehead, the first assessor of Clark County, Nevada. She went to an art school at Los Angeles in 1942, and returned to Las Vegas for she first job at the courthouse. She designed the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign in 1959 when she worked for the Western Neon sign company. She considered the sign "my gift to the city," and never trademarked the sign, which made many derived arts possible and thrived.

Postcard US-2995494 to Belarus shows the iconic sign among the various landmarks in Las Vegas. It has become one of the most photographed signs in the world. The word “fabulous” reflects what Betty always used to describe Las Vegas: "We really thought Las Vegas was a fabulous place." The sign was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 1, 2009.

The Circus Is In Town

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus came to town yesterday, with elephants and performers of the circus posing for pictures in front of the fabulous Welcome Sign. It will perform LEGENDS from their all-new Blue Tour at the Thomas and Mack Center from Thursday June 19 to Sunday June 22, 2014.

Photo: Steve Marcus via @LasVegasSun

Outgoing postcard US-2813947 to Taiwan, with the Vintage Circus Poster stamps, shows the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus train in Safety Harbor, Florida in January, 1992. Photo credit: © James G. Howes 1992.

Area 51 Warning Sign

According to a news report from ABC today, newly declassified CIA documents has confirmed the existence of the mysterious Area 51, the secret Nevada site that has spawned rumors about aliens, UFO, and government secretive weapon experiments.

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I made this postcard out of the artwork created by DLIMedia under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

Welcome to Las Vegas, Powered by Solar Energy

As seen in the postcard US-1728444, the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign has been an icon at the south end of the Las Vegas Strip since 1959. It has witnessed the evolution of the Strip throughout the history. Soon, it may undergo changes itself by switching to solar power, stepping into the future.

 

According to a Las Vegas Sun article, several non-profit environmental organizations including the Clean Energy Project and Green Chips, and Bombard Electric company are proposing to install solar panels for the sign.

The Clark County commissioners will hear the proposal in their next meeting Tuesday on July 2, 2013. If approved in a subsequent meeting, solar panels will be installed to power the neon lights of the sign and the 89 light bulbs around the sign's edge.

Welcome to Las Vegas, and welcome to the future.