Weird Nevada
Weird Nevada
Weird Nevada - By Joe Parzanese

Headless Statue of Lenin

Map Mandalay Bay
3950 Las Vegas Blvd. S., , NV, Las Vegas, Nevada 89119

The Headless Statue of Lenin, gone as of November 2019
The Headless Statue of Lenin, gone as of November 2019

Did you know that at one time, a statue of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, the head of Soviet Russia and then Soviet Union, stood in Las Vegas? That's right from early 1999 until November 17th 2019, a statue of Lenin stood outside and just to the left of a caviar restaurant and vodka bar in Mandalay Bay called the Red Square. Well, most of a statue of Lenin.

The Headless Statue of Lenin
The Headless Statue of Lenin
The Red Square
The Red Square

You see, there was some controversy when he was first put up outside the restaurant, with the hotel receiving a few complaints, so in order to end the controversy, and after hearing that some Lenin statues in Eastern Europe had had their heads removed, Mandalay Bay in March 1999 chopped his head off. Then for a finishing touch, they put some fake bird poop on some parts of the statue. His head was put on ice and resided on display in the walk in freezer, which was a three story, glass walled freezer used for chilling vodka. Diners could pay extra and drink inside the vault while wearing fur coats and hats and thus see the head of Lenin.

The Headless Statue of Lenin
The Headless Statue of Lenin
Vodka Vault - photo by <a href='https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vodka_Vault.jpg'>Nan Palmero in Wikimedia</a>
Vodka Vault - photo by Nan Palmero in Wikimedia
Headless Statue of Lenin
Headless Statue of Lenin

Sadly the location is now closed. The headless statue of Lenin, his head, and the vodka, caviar serving restaurant, the Red Square, are now gone, victims of the ever changing landscape of the Las Vegas Strip.



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First Created: 2020-11-29
Last Edited: 2020-11-29


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