Liberace Museum Closing in Las Vegas

[fountainhall]

This is just a repost of some info posted by Yaya on another Board. An era is ending in Las Vegas. The Liberace Museum is finally closing its doors in mid-October. The Museum is located a couple of miles from the Strip. Although shuttle buses link it with major hotels, attendance has apparently been dropping steadily in recent years as a younger generation grows up knowing little about the man who epitomised Las Vegas for many years.

When I was there a couple of years ago, I picked up a pair of amazing Liberace sneakers - complete with piano keys, lots of glitter, and even a candelabra built in to the laces! I tried to order another pair from the on-line store a few weeks ago, but they had stopped selling them. I see now the site is under reconstruction. So I guess they are no longer available at the Museum. Maybe they'll eventually be worth a few dollars or more

Liberace_Sneakers.jpg

[Gaybutton]

You never know what these things might be worth. Soon after World War II ended, my mother became a radio personality. She had her own morning radio show. Among the things given to her every so often was a 33-speed record of Bing Crosby songs. They were recorded for use in one of his movies, but these several songs were cut from the movie. If you heard a couple of them you would know why! She doesn't remember who gave it to her or why, I kept it, in mint condition, for many years. When my brother bought a house I stupidly gave it to him for safe keeping. I was living in an apartment at the time and thought it would be much safer to keep it in his house. After Crosby's death we realized we might have the only existing recording of those songs. But this was in the days long before there was such a thing as Internet, eBay, or anything similar. We had no idea how to sell it or even place a value on it. We came up with the idea of offering it to the Library of Congress. We contacted them and they were very interested in it. They told us that the way they work is we would first have to donate it to the library, they would assess its value, and then pay us what they determined it is worth. We figured we had nothing to lose and we were going to do it. That was in 1977. To this day we have never been able to find what the hell he did with that record. He's been looking for it for 33 years and can't find the damned thing!

I do have something else, though, that might be of value. My father was a dentist in Washington, DC. A posh hotel was across the street from his office and he was their emergency dentist on call. There were political VIP meetings in that hotel quite often. One day he was just finishing with a patient when his nurse told him she had just received a call from the hotel. Some big-wig politician had broken a tooth and they wanted to know if they could bring him over right away. My father said yes, as he was going to be finished with his patient in just a few more minutes. A few minutes later the nurse came back in and said, "Doctor, you better step out here."

My father stepped into the hallway to see several men, in plain clothes suits. He said, "What the hell is going on here? Who are you bringing in?" They wouldn't tell him. They just asked him and the nurse to wait in his treatment room.

It was John F. Kennedy and he was President at the time. It was 1962. He had been at a lunch at the hotel and somehow broke a tooth with his fork and he was in pain. My father fixed his tooth for him and Kennedy was kidding around with him. When they were done, Kennedy gave my father a little gift of appreciation. It was a tie clasp - in the shape of his famous PT-109 boat with the word KENNEDY inscribed on the front of it. I do have that and I have it right here with me. I've never checked to see if it is worth anything, but who knows?

[fountainhall]

It was a tie clasp - in the shape of his famous PT-109 boat with the word KENNEDY inscribed on the front of it. I do have that and I have it right here with me. I've never checked to see if it is worth anything, but who knows?

I'll bet that's worth quite a few hundred bucks now - if not a lot more. But if you wait till the economy picks up, it's bound to increase in value.

[Gaybutton]

if you wait till the economy picks up, it's bound to increase in value.

If that is the case, the way things are going I'll need to figure out a way to take it with me into the next life . . .

[christianpfc]

You wouldn't catch me dead in these sneakers. They look so gay!

[Rogie]

The Liberace Museum is finally closing its doors in mid-October.

To those of us of a certain age there's no doubt Liberace was the real McCoy (by which I mean a real star) although I was too young to fully grasp his significance.

What will happen to the stuff in the museum, do you reckon? I presume there must be pianos, some of his costumes, perfomance props, publicity material etc.

If the contents of the museum are to be broken up, what I trust are a pair of unworn sneakers in pristine condition would surely tempt their owner into adding to his collection and thus bidding for any lots that came up for sale. . .

[fountainhall]

You wouldn't catch me dead in these sneakers. They look so gay!

I can tell you they are quite a hit at parties (it's such a pity the glitter does not come out in the photo)! I first 'saw' them when I was staying with friends in Canada. They were going to an opera company's donor cocktail party and asked me to go with them. Unfortunately, I only had sneakers with me. So I'd not look out of place, they said they'd put on their LIberace sneakers! And they were undoubtedly the 'stars' that night. All the straight couples "oohed" and "aahed" and wanted to know where they could get them!

What will happen to the stuff in the museum, do you reckon? I presume there must be pianos, some of his costumes, perfomance props, publicity material etc.

There's a ton of stuff there. Several pianos, his cars (one jewel-encrusted), costumes and a lot of other material. By the time I visited, I thought it looked rather run-down. The lighting especially, which should have given each item the 'zing' it had on stage, was pretty poor. The costumes, especially, looked more like poorly assembled bits of material. Sad in a way.

The Museum is run by the Liberace Foundation which was set up to provide scholarships for talented students wishing to pursue careers in the creative arts. The Foundation has so far awarded more than $6 million in scholarships to some 2,700 students. Of the future, the Foundation's website says the following:

Due to the economic downturn and the decline in the number of visitors, the Museum is forced to close the space and focus primarily on its dedication to the Foundation and the donation of scholarships . . . The memorabilia at the Liberace Museum will be maintained. A national touring exhibit is planned, and details will be announced at a later time.

I do hope the touring exhibition goes international. (Non-flash photography is permitted within the museum - hence my pics)

Liberace_Museum.jpg

Piano.jpg

Car.jpg

Costume.jpg

Portrait.jpg

[Rogie]

I do hope the touring exhibition goes international.

Thanks for posting those photos Fountainhall.

It would have been a shame if the museum's stuff had been dispersed, so that's good news the memorabilia is to stay together. I agree it would be nice if the exhibition went on tour, but I would imagine if it did it'd be restricted to North America. I've no idea what it would cost to transport (and insure!!) grand pianos, jewel-encrusted motor cars, etc over to Europe. And even if they did, would it get enough visitors? Unlike great art (eg. the current Monet exhibition in France) this kind of stuff can lose its appeal to the general public almost on a whim.

[fountainhall]

I've no idea what it would cost to transport (and insure!!) grand pianos, jewel-encrusted motor cars, etc over to Europe. And even if they did, would it get enough visitors? Unlike great art (eg. the current Monet exhibition in France) this kind of stuff can lose its appeal to the general public almost on a whim.

Surprisingly, it would probably cost less than getting a Monet exhibition together. That's because the insurance premiums for exhibitions of great art are horrendously high. Just imagine an aircraft with 30 or more Monets going down in the ocean!

But it sure would be a logistical headache. I suspect Britain would have quite a large market - as would Japan. The younger Japanese tend to go crazy for these sort of things. I remember when I was based in Tokyo, I went to a smallish exhibition of furniture and photos of the work of the Scottish art deco designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Not the most glamourous or well-known name, but the event was packed out and the books and merchandise were selling like hot cakes! I guess it would all depend on the marketing.

[travelerjim]

Thanks fh for the post.
Very interesting and sad to hear that the Liberace Museum is closing.
Now I do wish I had taken my bf to view it when we were in Las Vegas
last year. for two days...A lost opportunity!
tj