Hi Woodsy
I just saw your post about the gondola music box. I do not recall my family having anything along these lines when I was little, but here is another souvenir item from a bit later.
My late Mother found a Las Vegas dice clock, similar to this example from Pinterest, at a flea market/car boot sale here in Auckland, back in the 1990s. The body was heavy orange plastic, which curved back to provide a stand.
The movement was a simple battery-powered type. The really great thing about it was that the numbers were all dice, glued to the clock face.
I do not recall ours having the radiating lines from the centre, but I can not find it to take a photo, hence this shot from the inter-net. Type in Las Vegas Dice Clock, and a huge number of different designs appear, in various colours.
Ours did need to have its movement replaced after a few years. But I just loved it - my favourite clock ever. Just so much fun, even if they were probably produced by the million for the Las Vegas souvenir market.
Anyone else got something like this?
Paul Adams from New Zealand
I live in Vegas and those things were all over the place in stores when I was a kid. They've always been a bit of a kitschy joke hereabouts... no one I knew had one at home... and I wonder if they're still common in the casino gift shops.
ReplyDeleteOne odd thing, the dice on the clock pictured are not the sort used in games here. All the casinos use machined dice... very precisely cut, shart edged, translucent... with the pips flat on the side, not indented.
Interesting Knobgobbler! I didn't realise you lived in LV. There's at least one other blog reader who does too. Is it easy to get hold of vintage toys in Vegas?
DeleteThere are one or two shops that carry older toys... mostly action figures and such. I saw an old tin Buck Rogers rocket in a store window a few weeks back, but I don't think it was a toy store.
DeleteMostly we're stuck prowling Ebay and such... and the occasional lucky find at a flea market/swap meet.
Vegas isn't all that old of a town and hasn't much appreciation for its past.
Thank you for that first hand information, New Zealand is a long way from Nevada. It is special to me, and I have never seen another one - but then, I have never been to Las Vegas. Thanks.
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