lost wages

[Mullins, Bill]

 "lost wages" = "las vegas"

Barry pushed this back to 1951 here:
http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0404A&L=ADS-L&P=R3732&
I=-3

Newspaperarchive yields:

California | Oakland | The Oakland Tribune | 1946-04-30 p. C-3 col 2.
"Las Vegas, Nev., will change its name to "Vegas," if the Chamber of
Commerce has its way. . . . Hyde also doesn't like jokes about gambling
in the community, which comics call "Lost Wages." "