In October 1957, Elvis Presley was already one of the biggest young stars in America.
During a trip to Las Vegas, however, photographs captured him enjoying a much more ordinary night out with a woman named Sandy Preston.
Sandy was a New York model, and contemporary accounts described her as Elvis’s date for the evening.
On October 22, 1957, the pair were photographed together at the famous Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas.
Elvis had gone to see the opening show of dancers Marge and Gower Champion.
During the evening, he also met Sahara owner Milton Prell and performers Louis Prima and Keely Smith, who were major names on the Las Vegas entertainment scene at the time.
Elvis and Sandy Preston at the Sahara Hotel in 1957
The surviving photographs show Elvis and Sandy sitting together at a table inside the Sahara.
Elvis was only 22 years old, but by then his life had already changed completely.
“Heartbreak Hotel,” “Hound Dog” and “Don’t Be Cruel” had made him a national sensation, and photographers followed almost everywhere he went.
Sandy’s appearance beside him quickly attracted attention.
A December 1957 newspaper item even referred to Preston as having recently been linked romantically with Elvis, although surviving material does not establish that the two had a serious relationship.
That distinction matters because Elvis was frequently photographed with actresses, models and showgirls during his visits to Las Vegas, and newspapers often turned those appearances into romance stories.
Las Vegas had already become one of Elvis’s favorite places to escape.
Although his first professional engagement there in 1956 had been disappointing, he continued returning to the city to watch entertainers, spend time with friends and enjoy its nightlife. The Sahara became one of the hotels he visited regularly during those years.
The Sandy Preston photographs capture Elvis during that fascinating period between his explosive rise to fame and his Army service the following year.
For one night in 1957, the biggest young singer in America was simply sitting at a Sahara Hotel table with his date while cameras documented another small piece of Elvis history.