Automatic Writing

As atomic bombs were detonated in the desert at the Nevada Test Site in the 1950s, nearby Las Vegas threw a wild party. Only in Vegas, baby. Guests sat on hotel roofs, drank "atomic cocktails" and watched the bombs go off. Vegas also threw atomic beauty pageants. This Marilyn Monroe look-a-like was a contestant.
Nevada has prospered, in part, through masterful self promotion. Las Vegas' tagline  -- What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas -- is brilliant.

The city of Las Vegas got its start in public relations with the construction of Hoover Dam, formerly Boulder Dam. In the 1930s, about 5,000 people lived in Vegas. The city leveraged the enormous looky-loo project, marketing it to the world as an attraction. Sure enough, tourists came in droves.

Today they still come.

Another successful public relations stunt was swim-up craps. Guests didn't typically gamble in the pool, but the Sands (imploded in the 1990s) staged a craps game in the pool. The photo (below), sent around the world, was so appealing that people flocked to Vegas.

Before legalized gambling in 1931, Nevada took advantage of another human foible and began offering quickie divorces. Las Vegas and Reno duked it out for the title of "Divorce Capital of the World." Wealthy Hollywood types would arrive on Western Airlines and stay at divorce ranches, pumping money into the economy.

Next came marriage. California had a "gin marriage law," which meant love birds had to wait three days to get married, just in case they were drunk. Not in Nevada. The marriage industry flourished and today it's still a place where drunk or sober, you can get married quicker than you can say "I do."