Transcript of interview with Bob Campagna by Kathleen Neumann, March 17, 1978

UNLV University Libraries Bob Campagna i An Interview with Bob (Bobby) Campagna An Oral History Conducted by Kathleen Neumann Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas Special Collections Oral History Research Center University Libraries University of Nevada, Las Vegas UNLV University Libraries Bob Campagna ii © Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 2017 UNLV University Libraries Bob Campagna iii The Oral History Research Center (OHRC) was formally established by the Board of Regents of the University of Nevada System in September 2003 as an entity of the UNLV University Libraries’ Special Collections Division. The OHRC conducts oral interviews with individuals who are selected for their ability to provide first-hand observations on a variety of historical topics in Las Vegas and Southern Nevada. The OHRC is also home to legacy oral history interviews conducted prior to its establishment including many conducted by UNLV History Professor Ralph Roske and his students. This legacy interview transcript received minimal editing, such as the elimination of fragments, false starts, and repetitions in order to enhance the reader's understanding of the material. All measures have been taken to preserve the style and language of the narrator. The interviewee/narrator was not involved in the editing process. UNLV University Libraries Bob Campagna iv Abstract Kathleen Neumann interviews her friend, Bob (Bobby) Campagna (b. September 18, 1950 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania) about the history of Nevada. During the interview, Bobby discusses hotels, schools, city recreation, and Lorenzi Park. He also describes relocating to Las Vegas, his goals in life, and his life in Nevada. Occupations he has held include meter reader and carpet layer. The interview takes place at Bobby’s place of residence in Las Vegas. UNLV University Libraries Bob Campagna 1 The narrator is Bobby Campagna and the date is March 17th, 1978, at 8:00 PM. The place is 204 South Wallace Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada. The interviewer is Kathleen Neumann, 204 South Wallace Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada. The project is Local History, The Oral Interview, Life of a Las Vegas Old-timer. Bobby how long have you lived in Las Vegas? For twenty-six years. What brought you and your family here? Oh, my brother was the first one out here. When he first came out, he kinda checked out the town first, then he came back, got my mom and dad to come out here, and we’ve been out here ever since. Mm. What does your mom and dad do? My mom is a hostess for El Cortez. My dad’s retired. My brother, he owns his own construction company. Plus, we have a restaurant and I work for Southwest Gas. And what kinda work did your dad used to do? He used to work for a titanium company, which produced rocket fuel. And he used to, for about ten years, for about twenty-five years, but ten years, the first ten years, he worked for the railroad in Pennsylvania. So how long has he worked here in Las Vegas? For twenty-five years. At the Air Force Base? No. Out in Henderson. And how ‘bout your mom? She had any other job besides working at the El Cortez? Yes. She used to be a checker for Park Market. And—(Unintelligible) market in Las Vegas. UNLV University Libraries Bob Campagna 2 What, at those grocery stores? Yes. Were they a chain or something? No. They’re just like privately owned little stores. What’d they do, go out of business? Yes. They more or less got sold out. And then my mom became a hostess. So, do you remember when the train ran through Las Vegas? Uh. You know, like passenger train. Oh, it was running when we first got here, which was in 1950. So, it’s been running. And just about six or seven years ago, it was discontinued. What hotels were here when you first saw the Strip? Well, the main ones on the Strip were probably like the Thunderbird, the (Unintelligible), Riviera, Silver Slipper, and then, Tropicana, were probably the main ones. Was the El Rancho Las Vegas still standing? Yes, it was still standing but it was all run down. It was just—they had a fire, there. And, they just let it go. What kinda hotel was it like? Big names go there, and—? Well, the El Rancho was the, was probably the oldest, was the oldest hotel. Matter fact, it was probably the first one ever built. Mm-hm. Yes. So, they had all the big names and, until they had the fire, they just let it go. Was it, do you know if the fire was deliberate, or, what, just an accident fire? UNLV University Libraries Bob Campagna 3 No. Just an accidental fire. Mm. So, how long, when did this burn down? Probably around 1950. Is anything standing in its place now? No. It’s all been cleared, gone down. What year did they extend the pavement on Charleston? On Charleston? I’d say, right around 1960. And they extended it all the way towards Nellis, towards the mountain. Where did they start the extension from? I mean, you know, like what street did it stop at and then they started again? They started the extension from the intersection of Boulder Highway and Charleston all the way toward the mountain. Which is probably about a good twenty miles (unintelligible) Oh. So, they put a twenty miles extension on it? Yes. Was there any housing or anything out there when they extended it? Scattered homes, you know, nothing like today. What about the, do you remember when Sahara was paved, when it was first paved? When it was—do you remember, like, when it was just a dirt road? Well, I know when we first came here, Sahara was, only went to like Eastern, and it was paved then. They extended that, just like they did with Charleston. And that’s been, probably about twenty-five years now. But that’s, I can never remember when it was a dirt road. What about Las Vegas Boulevard? Has it always been called the Strip? UNLV University Libraries Bob Campagna 4 Yes. Well, ever since, when we first came here, which was in 1950, the Strip’s always been the Strip, and they’ve changed the name a couple times, like the township was called Winchester Township at one time. But that didn’t go for too long and they changed it, they changed that back to Paradise. How many names has Las Vegas Boulevard had? Las Vegas Boulevard has always been Las Vegas Boulevard. It was never Fourth Street or something like that? No. Not as I can remember, it’s always been Las Vegas Boulevard. Or— And from, from the Sahara on out is, you know, is the Strip. Do you remember when the university was first built? The university was first built probably around 1965. And it wasn’t, they only had two—two or three major buildings at that time. And in the last probably ten years they’ve really turned it into a pretty big university. What were the major buildings out there? A student union was one and then they had a dorm building and then they had a science building, were the, probably the main three. Oh, so they didn’t have a PE complex? Well, not like the one they have now. I mean, they had a, you know, they had a gym and everything. How many high schools were there besides Valley? Besides Valley, there was probably five other ones: Rancho, Vegas, Western, Gorman, and Basic. I guess, you considered Basic as one of them. UNLV University Libraries Bob Campagna 5 Did they always have air conditioning units in the classroom? Yes. They, most of the schools they built came with air conditioning ‘cause of the climate here, couldn’t stand ‘em without it. What about, do you remember when they first started tournament playing men’s sports? I don’t know. Let’s see. For as long as I’ve gone to school, it’s, they’ve always had tournaments and stuff. Before that, I really don’t know exactly when. When I was going to school I remember going to some tournaments. Like did they always have state playoffs and tournaments in baseball, football and basketball, ever since you can remember? Yes. That’s always, I probably wasn’t going to high school anymore. Our athletes, anyway, was going to state, going to zones. What, like what kinda awards did you win when you were in high school? When I was in high school, let’s see, I played, well, in JV, I was the most eligible player on the JV basketball team. And then, I was the most eligible player on the varsity basketball team. And then, in my senior year, I was an All-American. Then, I made first team all-conference, first team, all-state, in basketball. And first team all-conference, first team all-state, in baseball. And I got baseball scholarships to Arizona. I went to Arizona. And then what? What about college? After college, what happened? Then I got drafted by Houston Astros and played a year of professional basketball. Then what happened? Then I got married and that’s my life story. Oh, okay. Do you remember when they first started women’s sports in high school? UNLV University Libraries Bob Campagna 6 Well, in high school, when I was going, the only girl sports was like intramural stuff. Mostly volleyball and basketball. And then like, and now, in the last, probably in the last, I guess in the last ten years, girls teams have really started to, you know like, grow and stuff, to where they play I know, volleyball, basketball, softball. They have even women’s track teams and I guess the competition for the girls is about as competitive as it is for boys. How about how’d you get to school? What were your means? Oh, when I first started high school it was, the only way you could get there was our parents would drive us, till after we turned sixteen and then, I usually got to get the car to go to the store, back and forth. Were there school buses or did you use city transportation? Did you? No? Well, there was school buses. And like there was, I don’t know, it wasn’t bussing, it’s just that they would bring in most of the colored people from the Westside and bring ‘em in to the different schools. Like, what kind of city transportation were there? Did they have like the city busses they have now? Yes. They had school buses and they had, you know, commercial buses, I guess. Were there as many as there are now? Like say there’s that Las Vegas Transit, and other— Yes. There’s always been the Las Vegas Transit and it’s always ran. It’s ran ever since I’ve been here. It’s probably the only major transportation beside, you know, the taxi cab. How much did it cost to ride a bus back forty years ago? Back then? Yes. Back then, it probably cost you probably about thirty-five cents, I guess. I don’t know what it is now. ‘Cause I’ve never been on a bus. UNLV University Libraries Bob Campagna 7 (Unintelligible) a dollar now? (Laughs) I couldn’t tell you. What was the main source of recreation outside of the schools? Well, I guess, out of high school, I guess was just partying. Drinking and just having a good time. ‘Cause there’s not very much, there wasn’t very much to do other than that. Were there like any recreational facilities at Mount Charleston? Well, at Mount Charleston they always had the picnic grounds and the lodge. That’s where most of the people would go and then they have that, you know, ski lift. And, other than that there’s nothing else to do up there. Do you remember when the ski lift was put in? I guess Mount Charleston’s has always had one. I mean I don’t—I’m not a skier, so I couldn’t really say. Were there any recreational activities at the lake? Well, the lake ain’t nothing like a beach is, I can say that. I mean it’s pretty bad. I mean, it’s all rock and stuff. But they do have a marina and then they have the dam, for most of the people that are from out of town come and they go there and go on tours, down through it. And other than that I guess the most recreation at the lake is just fishing and water skiing. Describe Lorenzi Park as you remember it, and as it is today. Well, Lorenzi Park about twenty years ago was not as big. It had the, it’s got the same pond. The same, well, it doesn’t have a swimming pool anymore, they took that out. And Lorenzi Park is, in those days was used for mostly picnic, company picnics and functions like, of that kind. Today, they have four baseball parks there, a tennis court, basketball court, a great big place for a picnic—picnics and it’s just grown just to the point where it’s just unreal. UNLV University Libraries Bob Campagna 8 What about, could you go fishing, take a boat on there, you know? On their lake? On that little pond? Oh, it’s a— You could just go out there, and you know, like they’d have rowboats and you’d just go out and row around. Just, and the little kids then could fish, could go fishing for goldfish; was mostly what was in there, in the pond. What about did they ever have any art exhibits or, you know, shows of any, movies, anything? Not that I could remember. I don’t think that that’s what they used that for. It was mostly for, like I said that, company picnics and just stuff like that. Wait a minute, is the swimming pool still there? I don’t think so. I think it’s been taken out. You know why? Just that when they put in all this other stuff, and when they opened up other pools and stuff, that they just took it out and filled it in. Oh. And so, there’s just straight cement there now? Yes. How ‘bout, do you remember when the mall was first built? I guess the mall was first built probably around 1965, I guess. It’s been there for about thirteen years now. And it was probably the biggest shopping center that Vegas ever had, other than the one that they’re building now. Which is Diamonds and it’s probably going to be the biggest one. Where did people used to shop? Would they, I mean, go to the hotels to shop, or what? UNLV University Libraries Bob Campagna 9 Well, most of the shopping, when we first came to town, was done Downtown. That was where all the major shops were. And till like when the mall was first built. And most of the big names, like Sears and Clover Jewelers, those big companies like that all moved down to there. And it kinda made Downtown kinda scarce. Well, not scarce but most of the people go to the mall now to do their shopping. What about Montgomery Ward’s and J.C. Penney out there, in kinda North Las Vegas? How long has that been there? I guess Montgomery Ward has probably been there about ten years. Like, Penney’s was, used to be Downtown until they moved out in (unintelligible) and they probably would have been here the longest. I think Penney’s has probably been here fifty years. Where it is now out there? No. Downtown is where originally where it was. As a teenager what radio stations did you listen to? Well, the two major stations probably were Keno and KBNY. And now there’s like, well, let’s see, most of the rock stations are those two. And then you have your country western stations, which I don’t listen to. And then there’s KLUC, which kinda goes half and half. Were there news stations like there are now? Like that, you know, would, that news station used to be, 24 Hour News. Would they ever have stations like that? I don’t know. I don’t even know about that one. Mm-hm. What movie theatres were here? Ah, let’s see, the main ones probably were the Huntridge, the El Portal, the Guild, and then your drive-ins probably be Skyway Nevada, and I think those, that was it. Those were the only two that was first here. UNLV University Libraries Bob Campagna 10 What was probably the biggest theatre and the movie—what was probably the biggest movie back then? Biggest theatre? Mm-hm. As capacity was. Probably the biggest theatre was the Huntridge, which is on Charleston. And the biggest movie in those days, I really don’t know. I really couldn’t say. What about Gone with the Wind? Everybody liked that. Oh, yes. Gone with the Wind, you know and some other ones. I mean they’re nothing like today’s kinda movies, like Star Wars and (Unintelligible) and stuff like that. Movies have changed in the last twenty years. More violence, more sex. What, like, did there used to be entertainment Downtown, like there is now on the Strip? The big names and— No. Downtown was just, went just with the gaming and stuff. The Strip had all the big names and all that. Like, what were some of the big names that did come to Las Vegas? Oh, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., oh, let’s see, Debbie Reynolds, Paul Anka, you name it, they’ve all been here. Has there always been the Sun and the Review Journal newspapers? Or have there been other ones? Yes, they’ve been here. Probably for fifty years, they’ve both been here. Those are the two, the only two newspapers that are in town, except for, well, I guess you can’t call it a newspaper, but like the (unintelligible) gives you all, people are usually selling stuff, it gives everything that people are selling. UNLV University Libraries Bob Campagna 11 Has there always been city sanitation here? Oh yes. It’s always been here and there ain’t no doubt about it that you have to have it. What about Nevada Power, has it always run the electricity situation in Las Vegas? Yes. They’re the only utility, power company, utility company and they control all the power, you know, in the town. They are the number one company. They have no competition; get away with murder. What about Centel, is it always also been the number one telephone company here? There’s another one but I, I don’t know I can’t think of the name. It’s either Central Tel, Central Tel? Yes, Central, that’s the telephone company, and I think there are two, Centel and Central. And those are the two telephone companies and there’s Southwest Gas. And the gas company is the only gas company in town, which supplies probably about sixty-five thousand customers. And it’s probably grown by about five thousand people, five thousand customers a year. What about, has there always been, just, I mean, there’s never been anybody else to compete with these guys? No. There’s only like one power company and one gas company. There are two telephone companies. There haven’t been any other companies in—that have competed, tried to compete with them, and I don’t ever think there will be. When you first came to Las Vegas, were, like, what was the population in this town, about? I’d say roughly over a hundred thousand people. Roughly. Like what were your places of residence? How many places have you lived here in Las Vegas? I’ve lived in just two different places. The first one when we first came here was on Fifteenth Street. It wasn’t your fashionable-type of home but, you know, it was comfortable for us. And UNLV University Libraries Bob Campagna 12 we lived in there for probably about, I guess probably about five years, I guess. And then we moved to where we are now, and we lived there probably for about twenty-three years now, inside the same house. Where’s your house located? It’s on McWilliams right off of Eastern and Bonanza. So how much was that house when you first bought it? When we first moved into it, it was $15,000 and since we made our improvements on it, and whatever now, it’s probably worth about $65,000. Did it have—did houses back then come with pools? No. They, pools in those days were—very rare you heard of people putting in pools. But now, nowadays that’s what everybody goes for. Oh. Did they have air conditioning or was it swamp cooling? Most of the houses were swamp coolers and I don’t know I guess they started wising up then and contractors started putting in air conditioning. ‘Cause it just gets too hot here in the summer time for a swamp cooler. What, did they also have street lighting? Did they put light poles all around? Oh yes. Well, most of the streets then were, didn’t have it. But then after a while, I guess, after a while, after people complained enough the city started putting streetlights all over. That was the first thing they anymore, is put in the streetlights. Could you have an option, like when they put in the water, could you say, “Go to (Unintelligible) and get soft water,” or what’s it always been, hard water? Well, see, to get soft water you have to go down and you have to go to a company to get it. I mean, the kinda water that you get in the home now is hard water. UNLV University Libraries Bob Campagna 13 Yes. What about when they built houses, were they always electricity or could you have gas? Most of the houses, I think, when we first came were kinda half and half, half power half gas. And I think that’s the way most of them were built today. Like, what is it they call it? I can’t think of the word, but anyway, then most of them are built with gas. Gas heat. Gas hot water heaters and stuff like that. Were the homes track homes or were they just individual homes? Most of the homes were built in the early fifties and the late sixties were track homes. But now you get all your custom homes are like scattered throughout the city. What about insulation? Was the insulation better than it is today or was it worse than it is today? I think insulation then was better. I mean, I think they put the houses together better than they do now because I think they just throw ‘em together now. When the wind blew did it like get, did it bring in dirt from the outside, like were the windows calked really good and everything? Yes. Construction in those days, I guess, was really good. They didn’t try to skip anything or try to like, cut corners, like they do now. Nowadays, they, you know, they just throw things together. Two by fours and they just throw up sheet rock and that’s it. I mean, your house is built. But when the wind blew and there was dust it never entered your house? Oh, yes. Sure it’s gonna get in, I mean, you know, you can’t be foolproof all the time. What about occupational history in Las Vegas. What jobs have you had? UNLV University Libraries Bob Campagna 14 My job well I—when I first started working I used to work for this carpet company. I used to lay carpet. I worked for them probably for about two years. And then I got married and then I started working for the gas company as a meter reader. Been there doing that now for over seven years. I really enjoy my job. It’s been good to me. It’s got good benefits. I really like it. Has the benefits always been as good as they are now, as they were, say, ten years ago—or did they offer more? Let’s see, well, ten years ago I couldn’t tell you, because I wasn’t working, I was still in high school. But if the benefits or anything like that got, I mean, I don’t think, there’s any other company that, well, I’m sure they have benefits, but not as good as the ones we do at six—since we’re a non-union company we kinda get extra benefits out of our company, more or less. What about history of family illnesses? Well, other than, let’s see, my dad had cancer in the colon and then my brother had—oh, he had hemorrhoids, I guess. Those are probably the only two in our family that ever had any kinda operation or anything, serious illness, as you would say it. What kind of property or wealth achievements have you achieved? Well, the only property of anything that we’ve got or I’ve got some property in Sunrise Mountain. And then my brother has some property that he’s building a restaurant on. And then our house, I guess, which we’ve been in for a long time. That’s probably our biggest asset, I guess. Your, the restaurant you own, is that, you know, on your land? Well, the restaurant we’re gonna build is gonna be on our land and we have one now that’s, it’s our restaurant but— (Tape one ends) UNLV University Libraries Bob Campagna 15 ‘Kay, where’s the land where your restaurant’s gonna be built? It’s gonna be on Paradise Valley, I mean, Paradise Road, across the street from the airport. You own this land already? Yes, we own it. And it’s gonna be a restaurant and a hotel. Oh. How long you’ve owned this land? Well, my brother owns it. He just bought it probably about six months ago. So, what special skills and interests do you enjoy doing or having? Skills. Well, I can lay carpet, that’s if you can even call that a skill or not. And interests I’d like to play softball, I like to bowl. I like to water ski, snow skiing I’ve never tried yet. But other than that I just like to go out and have a good time. You know how to do plumbing or electrical work? No. I’m not too good with my hands. Mm. Not too smart either. What about church memberships and activities? Well, belonging to the church, since I’m Catholic and I went to Catholic high school, I used to go to church. But nowadays since I’m an old man now, just don’t bother going anymore. Oh. What about any, you don’t belong to any special church activities, either? No. Not really. What about memberships and activities in other organizations? No. I don’t belong to any organizations. No. No car clubs. Nothing like that. How about any athletic clubs? UNLV University Libraries Bob Campagna 16 No. I don’t belong to any athletic clubs, either, well, I might join a racquetball association in the future. But that’s still up in the air. So what about, what are some key points in your life, the highlights of all your twenty-six years? The highlights, of it—the highlights of my life. Well, let’s see, I think the biggest highlight of my life is when I played pro ball. I think that was the biggest thrill I ever had. I got married; and that was—it wasn’t a disappointment, until I got divorced but then now everybody can laugh about it but being married was okay. I guess that was probably the biggest disappointment, ‘cause then we got divorced. What are some of your motivational aspirations and goals in your life? Okay. I think the most inspirational thing I want to do, is I wanted to have the best girls’ softball team in the state and win the state championship. In what school or summer? In summer. Mm-hm. And I’m pretty sure that we have the girls this year that can handle that and looking forward to it. What about any goals? You have any goals, like to go back to college or—? I think my, I don’t know, my goal is to someday have enough money to where I can retire and just sit back, and don’t have to worry about anything—just enjoy the good times. Let the good times roll. What name do you remember best, what biggest effect has one person had on you? The biggest name—the person that has had the most effect on me? Mm-hm. UNLV University Libraries Bob Campagna 17 I think has been my boss. Why is that? Well, he kinda coached me into going to work for the gas company and since I turned down the job twice, he kept after me, you know, and I finally took the job. I think he’s kinda pushed, well, not pushed himself to the point to where he kinda forced me to take it, you know, like I said, I turned it down twice. When I finally decided to take it, you know, it was probably the best thing I ever done. Since he newly retired this year I hate to see him go. And he’s been probably the biggest motivator in my life. What about, when you first came to Las Vegas, I mean you were a little baby, but as you grew older and you paid attention to the town, what do you remember most or best about this town? What sticks in your mind? Well, Vegas Day sticks in my mind. And I did that when I was a little kid as a (unintelligible), I should add. The tourists would come in and—and that’s what this town is. It’s a tourist town. If it wasn’t for them there would never be a Las Vegas. Other than big names, Howard Hughes, and he owned most of the hotels. Without him and without the tourists coming in, this place would be a ghost town. What about the climate? What did you think of that? Well, coming from snow country to coming here is—it was really a big change. Not having to go out in the snow and cold in the winter time and then (unintelligible) 120, 125 degree heat and sunlight. But that didn’t take very much getting used to. I tell you, I love the summers. And I love the heat. It didn’t bother you, just thinking it was too hot? UNLV University Libraries Bob Campagna 18 Well, at first it did, you know, you just have to get used to it. You’re not used to those kind of things if you’re coming in from the east. What about the desert, did you not like it ‘cause you couldn’t grow anything, and everything was a bunch of weeds, if you turned the dirt over? And— No. I like the desert. I mean—I mean, it’s dry and everything and sometimes driving through it is kinda nasty and whatever. I never had any complaints. Since, you know, to me, it’s always been like buying my home. When I came here when I was about a year old I really don’t know about much of the, you know, back east. No, I never minded the desert, at all. What about—what can you say is the lookout for Las Vegas? I mean, you see it as good or bad or? But, in the next five years it’s gonna be a lot of construction, more people coming in; and the more people coming in, the more—or the less—jobs there’s gonna be. And that’s gonna hurt this town. ‘Cause it’ll just throw the crime rate up sky high. How do you see it as compared to the Atlantic City, what’s it gonna do to Las Vegas tourism and the people coming here to gamble? I don’t—Atlantic City, I don’t think is gonna hurt Las Vegas, due to the fact that the winters are so bad there that all the people are gonna still come out here. Because they know what kind of climate we have and, you know, what kinda weather that there is during the weather here. And as far as people from California and stuff still coming here or going to Atlantic City, there’s no question that they’re not gonna drive all the way to New Jersey, go gambling when they could just drive four or five hours to come here. So, it’s, Atlantic City has no (unintelligible) in my opinion on Las Vegas. ‘Kay. Is there anything else you’d like to contribute to this interview? UNLV University Libraries Bob Campagna 19 No. I think that’s all I have to say. ‘Kay. Thank you.