Barry Holt interview, February 11, 1977: transcript

UNLV University Libraries Barry V. Holt i An Interview with Barry V. Holt An Oral History Conducted by Lee LaVecchia Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas Special Collections and Archives Oral History Research Center University Libraries University of Nevada, Las Vegas UNLV University Libraries Barry V. Holt ii © Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 2019 UNLV University Libraries Barry V. Holt 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 Barry V. Holt iv Abstract On February 11, 1977, collector Lee LaVecchia interviewed Barry V. Holt (born January 20th, 1946 in Las Vegas, Nevada) at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the interview, Mr. Holt speaks about the differences between growing up in Las Vegas in the fifties and sixties compared to how his children are growing up at the time of the interview. He also discusses education and the religious community in the city. UNLV University Libraries Barry V. Holt 5 Today is February 11th, 1977, at 8 p.m. The place is 3800 El Jardin, Las Vegas, Nevada, which is the informant’s home. The collector is Lee LaVecchia. 3288 East Russell Road in Las Vegas, Nevada. The project is History 117 and it’s for the History of Las Vegas. Can you give me a rough background of your family tree? Yes. My father was born in St. George, Utah, which is about 110 miles northeast of Las Vegas. He came to Las Vegas about 1935 and was—he built part of Hoover Dam (unintelligible) and he’s been here ever since. My mother was born here in Las Vegas in 1921 and she’s been here ever since, with the exception of living in New Hampshire when she was a child for about three years. But other than that, she’s been here her whole life. My maternal grandmother lived in Las Vegas for about thirty-five years, having come from New Hampshire originally. And my paternal grandfather lived in St. George Utah all his life as far as I know. He never lived here. And the—yes, my maternal grandfather, my mother’s father was in the state legislature in Nevada in the 1930’s. And also on the board of regents of the University of Nevada system in the 1930’s. And he also owned a mining operation in Good Springs, Nevada, which is about twenty-five miles south west of Las Vegas. So your family really was here a long time? Right. They’ve been here a long time. Can you give me a description of what it was like during your childhood days as compared to now? When I was a youngster in Las Vegas, it was a totally different city than it is now. First of all, when I was born here in 1946, Las Vegas had a population of about 16,000 people in the entire city. The county, which would comprise Las Vegas and what is now the suburb part of Las Vegas, Paradise, had a total population of about 30,000 when I was born here. So it was a small, UNLV University Libraries Barry V. Holt 6 small community. The tempo and the character of the town at that time was one of the hometown U.S.A. type thing. Everybody knew everybody. There were virtually no minorities in Las Vegas at this time. It was absolutely families that had moved out from Northern and Southern Utah and Southern California. That’s where most of the people were from. It had very few paved streets when I was a boy. The Strip, which is now Las Vegas Boulevard, used to be called Fifth Street. That’s the old Highway 91, which is the—what we used to call the Los Angeles, Salt Lake Highway. This was the main and only thoroughfare through Las Vegas on the north and south end. There was no Eastern Avenue, no Paradise Road, none of this stuff. Okay, as I was saying, the character of Las Vegas in those days, in fact the tourists sullied part of this town, was the Western type character, not the jetsetter, like it is now. There’s virtually no western atmosphere in this town left at all, with the exception of maybe one or two clubs Downtown. But the Strip does not hit on the Western type thing as it was when I was—as a matter of fact, the general businessman’s dress up suit in this town was a cowboy hat and boots, and then you know, shoestring tie. (Unintelligible) Yes. All the time. As a matter of fact, he wore cowboy boots to work for years and years and years. And I wore cowboy boots and a hat to school when I was a little kid. Oh, you did? Yes. Now, when I was a real small boy, where I lived, which is in the vicinity of the Huntridge Theater, which is right in the middle of Las Vegas now, in that entire area, there were farms, ranches, marshes, swamps, the whole thing. We got snakes and rabbits around our house. And for years we had—there were horses and cows within two blocks on my house till I was about eight years old. UNLV University Libraries Barry V. Holt 7 Did you have any horses? No, but we couldn’t have. We didn’t live—as you went south of Charleston in those days, this was the early 1950’s, late ‘40s, there were smaller farms with cows and horses and things. Unknown voice: (Unintelligible) Yes, that is an interesting point. Where the Showboat Hotel is now, which is, I supposed one of the major hotels, my father owned that property years ago, where the Showboat is now. And that was—it could have been long distance from Las Vegas in those days. Way out of town. (Unintelligible) Yes. It was out of town. And we used to have donkeys, as a matter of fact, in a little corral, right where the Showboat is now. And my father got his start in real estate in this town by selling the Showboat Hotel property, I think 1953 or 4, in which they built the hotel years later. But that was extremely rural in those days, way out in the middle of nowhere. As a matter of fact, there would (unintelligible) What made your father sell the land? The money. He had bought it for an incredibly low price, probably in the early ‘40s and (unintelligible) since ’35. And he was not hurting. In the early ‘50s, (unintelligible) probably twenty times what he paid for it. If someone had the foresight to know that would be a good place for a hotel, the Showboat—the original Showboat looks nothing like it does today. Back in those days, it was a very small, little place. Actually the whole hotel was built on a show boat. The rooms are actually on a boat. Is that the first hotel? Right. That was the first Showboat. That was about ’55 —’54 or ’55. And it was considered real popular in this town. And the attraction of the Showboat was to catch the tourist coming up from UNLV University Libraries Barry V. Holt 8 Phoenix, from Highway 93, that way, and Route 66 from the south. Because it was the first thing you saw coming this way to Las Vegas. You remember, there was nothing south of the Showboat years and years here, except little Henderson. And Henderson, you know where that is, the industrial community, now is practically is part of Vegas. You can hardly tell the difference. In those days, there were just another sixteen miles and desert between Las Vegas and Henderson. There was virtually nothing. So the Showboat really made a big hit? It did. Yes. The first big hotel—of course it was still the only big hotel on that side of town. But it was nothing compared to what it is today. It’s just a totally different environment. It’s amazing, that kind of change. Oh yes. Also, it was not uncommon in those days to be able to leave your house unlocked. Particularly, where I lived, which is about a mile from Downtown, the city center, and strolled up to Downtown, walking both that way. At first (unintelligible) house is locked. And you’d go up and look at the lights, turn around and come back. Of course, in those days, the lights were (unintelligible). But it was still fun. You could walk Downtown, see people you knew, walk home. (Unintelligible) Oh yes. (Unintelligible) (Unintelligible) Well, you know, the normal (unintelligible) Can you give me the schools which you attended in Nevada? Yes. My grammar school that I attended in Las Vegas, was of course, the only grammar school when I was born. It was the Fifth Street Grammar School. And it now sits on the place where the UNLV University Libraries Barry V. Holt 9 federal building is Downtown. The big four story federal building on (unintelligible) Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard South and Bridger. That used to be called the Fifth Street Grammar School. And that’s where I went to school at. As a matter of fact, my mother went to school there also. Oh she did? It was built in 1910. And then it was burned down in the ‘30s, and they rebuilt it. And the part that remains there now has been dedicated (unintelligible) because it is about one of the oldest major structures in this city. Anyway, that was my grammar school. And virtually everybody my age in this town went there or else they possibly could have gone to a school called Sunrise (unintelligible), which came along two years later. When I was a real small child, that was the only school in this valley. It was the first grammar school? Yes. First and only. (Laughs) That’s really something. Did you find that most of the children that attended your grammar school attended your high school? Yes. Most of the kids—that’s kind of a (unintelligible) answer, because yes, they—most of the kids that I went to school with first, second, and third grade followed me right through my high school graduation. They stayed in the city—most of them did. Some of them left, but most of them been here that long, their parents were established. So a good percentage of them went up through high school. Then of course, I went to high school at Las Vegas High School, which for years was the only high school in this town. By the time I graduated, which was 1964, of course, was the Rancho High School was up there (unintelligible) So there weren’t a lot of high schools? UNLV University Libraries Barry V. Holt 10 Well, when I started in high school, there was only two, Las Vegas and Rancho. And then when I was about a junior, they built Western High School. Of course, now there must be about ten or eleven high schools in Las Vegas. Do you—? Well, yes. Yes. I did go to Junior High School. Oh, they had a junior high school? Yes. They just—as a matter of fact, my seventh grade year was the first year they had junior high schools in Las Vegas. Oh. Which would have been about 1957. (Unintelligible) Junior High School and I was the first seventh grader class at that school. And was junior high school—was that to ninth, or seventh to eighth grade? Right. Seventh, eighth, and ninth. And of course, in Southern California bigger communities, junior highs had been there for years. Then Las Vegas, you went to eighth grade and graduated then you were a freshman in high school until about 1950s. So what changed? Is it still like that? My big sister graduated from Fifth Street Grammar School in the eighth grade and went right up to Las Vegas High School. She didn’t go to—anybody a year older than me, never went to a junior high school, or two years older than me. They never went. Do you have any lingering friendships? Oh yes. In fact, my five closest boyhood friends—they all lived around the Las Vegas High School area. All grew up there, and now they all live in the Western Las Vegas area. Oh really? UNLV University Libraries Barry V. Holt 11 Yes. They all live in (unintelligible). That’s interesting. Yes. It is. One of my friends, Bill Brady, he is the president of what is called Brady Industries here, it’s a (unintelligible). But he took that over his father. It used to be called (Unintelligible). He lives about two miles from here. And then, one of my other close friends, Gavin (Unintelligible) is an accountant in Vegas we all knew. I think you’ve (unintelligible). Oh, yes I did. His father was a teacher at Las Vegas High twenty-seven years. (Unintelligible) years. He lives in (unintelligible). And then I have some other good friends, the Crosby brothers, one of them used to go here. And (unintelligible). That’s society (unintelligible). You’ll find the one thing guys my age, early 30s, whose fathers were here, the boys are still here. Now, I myself am still here. I work (unintelligible). That’s really something (unintelligible)? As a matter of fact, (unintelligible)? No, but I heard of it. They (unintelligible) that property. Oh, it did? Yes. (Unintelligible) Yes, my brother got that property from (unintelligible) Oh he did? Which was considered the same thing in those days, because it was extremely (unintelligible) back in those days. UNLV University Libraries Barry V. Holt 12 They didn’t know what would happen. No. My father had an (unintelligible) foresight for that type of thing. When he bought it, I don’t even remember it, 1952 or 3, (unintelligible). He was—well I said he was quite a real estate mogul at one time. Never ever (unintelligible). Of course, (Unintelligible) I would say he had a great insight. Something (Laughs). That is really great. After high school, did you continue your education? Yes. I did. I went to college at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Oh, so you went to college in (unintelligible)? No. One of the reasons is that I entered college as a freshman at UNLV where you’re going now, was a very, very small school. As a matter of fact, in 1964, my freshman year of college, there would have been probably 2 buildings on campus. Really? Which would have been the (unintelligible) and possibly the (unintelligible). And of course, it used to be called the Nevada Southern University. Oh it was? Yes. And in my day, I can’t verify this for sure, but I don’t think there was a bachelor’s degree in my field, (unintelligible). It was very crowded for kids my age that they either go to Utah, Southern California, or Southern Arizona for school, or Reno. Did you find many of the students in high school went to college? Yes. All those boyhood chums I mentioned to you, all of them went to BYU, every one of them. But let’s see, (unintelligible)4r he didn’t go to BYU, no. The kids that came a lot later than me UNLV University Libraries Barry V. Holt 13 (unintelligible) UNLV has not been a major university except for about the past four or five years. Before then, it was a good school, but (unintelligible). So you majored in Sociology? And what reason for that? I’m still trying to figure that out. (Laughs) (Laughs) Well, I had hopes to be a social worker. Oh. That’s technically, what I was in professionally for two years, then I— (Unintelligible) Yes. I’m a teacher by profession. I (unintelligible) Yes. But I think I maybe (unintelligible). Where do you hope to do your teaching? Where? I hope a high school on this side of town so I don’t have to drive too far. (Laughs) But— I hope so too. I’ll take whatever they give me. (Laughs) I’m a teacher, I (unintelligible) That’s good. (Unintelligible) Oh, so do you work every night then? Oh no. Just Monday, Tuesday. UNLV University Libraries Barry V. Holt 14 Between grammar school, high school, and college, what major changes, or what progress did you notice in Las Vegas? When I was a real small boy, much (unintelligible), in fact the feature of the town was really about (unintelligible) in fact, no one ever knew it could get this large. They didn’t expect anything? No. As a matter of fact, I can remember—I remember it specifically, an article I read in what is now called the Review Journal, which was Las Vegas’ oldest paper, when I was about fifth grade, I read an article that said Las Vegas—the total Las Vegas area would not get 200,000 people till the year 2000. And of course, as you know now, we’re knocking at the door of 400,000. So, it’s just exceeded everyone’s expectations. Vegas grew very slowly, very steadily, but slowly for many years. It wasn’t until about 1960, when air conditioning became fully used in this area, and they started to pipe in huge amounts of water from Lake Mead (unintelligible). And of course, from 1960 to now, it’s just growing at an impressive rate. But the major changes I’ve seen, is the size of the town. It’s just so much bigger now. In fact, greater Las Vegas—people find this hard to believe—but greater Las Vegas goes into North Las Vegas, Las Vegas Valley is bigger in area than Philadelphia. It’s spread out. It is. Yes. It’s very spread out (unintelligible). People that haven’t been here in years find that hard to believe because it has changed so much, so quickly. Yes. It’s true. I can’t see the changes since I’ve been here. Right. But it—to the old timers, we still can’t get over the fact that it is as big as it is now sometimes. That’s the main thing we’ve seen. Then too, you have the great changes in the cultural structure. There now is a great (unintelligible) Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish surnames. UNLV University Libraries Barry V. Holt 15 And it’s (unintelligible). When I was a boy, girls really didn’t go out. That’s really changed. The other thing that’s really changed is the type of person who lives here now. What type do you mean? Okay. In those days, the type of people that were attracted here were the small businessmen type of person. Now it’s people who work for the large hotels, those types. (Unintelligible) The (unintelligible) population has changed. And quite frankly, to the old timers, it’s a little disheartening. So for you, really, things have changed? Oh yes, yes. It is not—it’s very rare that you would ever go Downtown anyway for anything. Sometimes you would shop (unintelligible), but in the old days, you couldn’t go Downtown without seeing someone you knew. (Laughs) Now, you can very rarely see some people you know. That’s true. (Laughs) Are you married? Yes. It’s (unintelligible). How long? Seven years I’ve been married. Oh. Is your wife native Nevadan? Yes, she’s been here since 1973, which in itself makes her (unintelligible). That’s true. That’s been sitting a long time. Anybody here in front of you (unintelligible) (Laughs) Did you get married here? UNLV University Libraries Barry V. Holt 16 No. We were married in Oakland, California, which is where she’s from. And how many children do you have? Four. Two girls, two boys. Since you’re married, have you noticed any increase in the divorce rate? Oh yes—oh yes, Of course, this would not be (unintelligible) (Laughs) This would not only be a trend in Las Vegas, but a trend nationally. Since 1970, the divorce rate has gone up in Nevada. And of course, Nevada and Las Vegas is no exception. Divorce here is probably higher than most of the (unintelligible). But I would just say, the general social conditions, in fact, it’s a social fact, social conditions that divorces are higher. There’s no question about it. You’re also a teacher, right? What else do you do? Okay. My occupation, as far as making a living now, license examiner for the state Motor Vehicle Department. (Unintelligible) I do driver’s tests, paperwork for the department for almost two years. And I got into that because I love social work. You knew I was a teacher. (Unintelligible) Since you have been employed at the Department of Motor Vehicles, and you’re constantly in contact with (unintelligible) in Las Vegas, what reason do you think these people are attracted to this area as a (unintelligible)? Well, you’d have to break that down into age groups. I think by far, the biggest influx into this area now is retired people. Retired? UNLV University Libraries Barry V. Holt 17 (Unintelligible) as well. Because, I don’t have any accurate records, although, I can get them from the Department of Motor Vehicles. (Unintelligible) that I would say. It’s probably 1000—anywhere from 1000 to 2000 people a month (unintelligible). The majority of them seems to me (unintelligible) retired and have the means to come out here. It’s expensive to live out here. (Unintelligible) But they all tell me as they take the driver’s test, thank your grandmother, I love the weather. And they arrive back home and tell other people about it. And then they all come (Laughs) (Unintelligible) That’s true. Yes. I think the major attraction to this area for retiring is the weather. The major attraction for the middle aged people has got to be jobs. You see, a couple could move out here, and the man could be a dealer, his wife could be a cocktail waitress, and together they could make (unintelligible) a year. (Unintelligible) Yes. (Unintelligible). And then for the youngsters, for the younger people my age, the fresh college graduates, they find the banking opportunities, the employment, and the government (unintelligible) So just many people come here every year— Right. Yes. Rather than (unintelligible)? It’s a growing economy. Does that give us a signal when it’s up? Do you know? Yes. There’s just a little bit left. So, we can still— Okay. UNLV University Libraries Barry V. Holt 18 How do you compare the crime rate of Nevada yesterday and Nevada today? Even though you said it wasn’t that much. Well, when I was a boy here, there was a different type of crime. It was the type of crime that the average citizen who lived in Las Vegas read about in the papers, and it was—I guess you’d call it syndicated crime down on the Strip. And it did go on. In the olden days, it was kind of a behind the scenes fun type business. But every company in the city, as far as the residents had ever felt it, ‘cause they didn’t care about it. You probably heard of Bugsy Siegel. Yes. And (unintelligible) gambling. There is kind of a backroom type atmosphere in those days. But it was almost an innocent, harmless thing compared to the violence and crime in the streets today in Las Vegas. I don’t think any old timer here would ever stroll down Fremont block at night. No? Oh no. They wouldn’t do it. I don’t think they would. Especially if you walk east from Casino Center. (Unintelligible) Of course, years ago it was a very common thing, to stroll down Fremont Street. So you still learn all these changes? Right. Just more—for example, last night in the paper, there was a quarter on Sixth Street and Carson at the Mission Inn Hotel. Now this type of thing, this was rare when I was a boy. There were murders here, it was the back route somewhere of the Flamingo Hotel (unintelligible) (Laughs) But very rarely in the city (unintelligible). Oh crime, burglary, rape, murder, has gone up quite a way in Nevada as the towns gotten bigger. Of course, that’ll be too increased, as it gets bigger. But it’s been worse here because of the nature of the town. People come here, they just want to UNLV University Libraries Barry V. Holt 19 get angry and this type of thing. And they’re desperate, so they’ll go out and kill or steal (unintelligible) That’s (unintelligible) Whereas before, the gaming era was a different type then. It was a Western harmless, fun type thing. No one took it that seriously. Now people come here to seriously try to make money. And they come here, they get drunk, they can’t get out. I’m sure a large percent of the crime is the (unintelligible). They’re trying to get back out, and I used to be a social worker here. We had people all the time that literally came here with their life savings, $20-25,000, and they’d lose it in one month. And they’re desperate to get out, to get back what they started for. That’s why (unintelligible) is forever. That’s right. In my opinion. (Laughs) (Laughs) What were the problems of the youths in Nevada yesterday? The youth? The youths, yes. When you were a child. Probably the biggest problem we had as kids was how to run across the street without burning our feet in the summertime. (Laughs) Usually were no problems. There weren’t any? No. (Unintelligible) yes, maybe throw a rock at a teacher or something. As, compared to what trouble is today for young people in this city, which could be pretty major, you could get into like drugs and so forth, there were no problems for young people years ago, virtually. On a comparative basis, though, we had our things which we thought (unintelligible). But there was a UNLV University Libraries Barry V. Holt 20 lot more community involvement in those days. For example, the Helldorado celebration in May was something that, when I was a boy, you look forward to all year. What kind of celebration? Helldorado. It was the new western celebration in May. Oh. Of course, you’ll see a picture here in a minute. It’s a very (unintelligible). We used to have a parade. It was nationally televised on the news years ago, back in the 50s. It was a big thing, it was like passing (unintelligible) down. (Unintelligible) and of course newcomers to Helldorado don’t go. (Unintelligible), when I was a boy, it was the biggest thing. Any events (unintelligible)? Yes, in direct answer to your question, the problems of youth when I was a boy were so minor compared to today, that they’re already (unintelligible) just the normal little things. To start the day (unintelligible)? Their problems were so little, of the youths that I knew of. (Laughs) That’s amazing to hear. I’m surprised to hear that there weren’t really (unintelligible) Well, here again, it might be germane to say that in my subculture, which was whatever we lived in background, Mormon church here in Las Vegas, which is still part of this county, as it was when I was young. (Unintelligible) Even non LDS kids, though, looked (unintelligible), very strong as it is now (unintelligible) they’re very religious. So they’re very religious? Very religious, as far as the residents. What type of transportation did you have, and did you use when growing up in Nevada? For many years—are you speaking of local transportation or interstate? UNLV University Libraries Barry V. Holt 21 I’m speaking of local. Okay. Local. Well. Continue about it. Okay. Las Vegas in those days was a small community, area wise. So the family car was the main thing. They never had stream cars here for that time. No Metros? No, no. They never had anything like that. They didn’t have a bus line. Of course they still don’t have a—the bus line in the olden days, in fact, I can remember going on the bus with my grandmother when I was a child, was kind of a big thing. (Unintelligible) Las Vegas has always been hotel and bars. You know that now (unintelligible). Yes. There’s never been any mass transit, there’s never been trolleys (unintelligible) and the bus system if you had to ride them, you just have the fare and you’re good to go. (Tape one ends) We’re continuing our question on what type of transportation did you use when growing up in Nevada? Okay, I think it would be interesting here to point out that when I was younger in Las Vegas, the railroad played a big part in this town. In fact, Las Vegas back in its inception was a railroad town, 1905. (Unintelligible). But as you know now, there is no passenger rail service here. No? Because we’re not on an Amtrak. When I was a boy, one of the main source of transportation in to Las Vegas, was the Union Pacific Railroad from Los Angeles or Salt Lake. And, yes, as a matter of fact, where the Union Plaza is now, that was the train station. UNLV University Libraries Barry V. Holt 22 Oh really? Yes. And it was one of the—it was a landmark here for many, many years. And whereas everyone now, you take the (unintelligible), you know in valley, one of the fun things to do is to go out and watch the jets come in. (Laughs) I don’t know, maybe it’s fun. We take our kids out there. The big thing when I was a child was to go down and watch the trains come in. It was a thing we did. Oh, so that was your (unintelligible)? Yes. Now I can’t say anything more here without mentioning that McCarran Field was amazing, which was on the other side of the terminal from where it is now. In other words, it’s on Paradise Road now, the main terminal. In the olden days, it was on the Fifth Street side by the Strip sign. It was a very, very small, almost bus station at the time. And there probably used to be ten flights a day here, when I was a boy. The old DC3’s, the (unintelligible), and it was a real thrill to be able to go out and watch an airplane come in. It was only going to happen like four or five, six times a day. Now of course, I read the paper the other day where McCarran field is the twentieth busiest airport in the country. (Unintelligible) Right. The planes standing right next to it. You have to understand, to the old timers, this too is an amazing thing, ‘cause Vegas in the olden days, like I said, was not (unintelligible) like it is now. It was just very, very small. (Unintelligible) UNLV University Libraries Barry V. Holt 23 Yes. Railroads and the bus line too. The bus system (unintelligible). I could say it was not uncommon to go Downtown, and every hour you’d see a passenger train at the train station. (Unintelligible) So it’s just reversed today? That’s exactly right. As a matter of fact, Las Vegas doesn’t even have a train station. (Unintelligible) (Unintelligible) Okay. What do you feel on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up in Nevada as compared to a big city such as New York? Well, hate to keep saying, “When I was a boy” — (Laughs) But if you grew up in Nevada in the fifties, or the forties, anywhere in there, in Reno or Las Vegas, it was about the same. They were both small—small communities, and as far as I’m concerned, it was an incredible thing to be in the type of environment (unintelligible). Everyone had their own little house. There was (unintelligible), sidewalks, you know, (unintelligible) the whole thing there. I think it was an advantage to grow up in that type of environment. Now a lot of Nevada today is a different story. If you’re growing up in Las Vegas or Reno today, my own opinion is it’s a disadvantage. In fact, I moved my children out of here. You did? Yes I did. And if we go anywhere and stay in Southern Nevada, we go out to Boulder City. Do you know where that is? Yes. Okay. That is reminiscent of Las Vegas when I was a boy. UNLV University Libraries Barry V. Holt 24 That is interesting. Of course Vegas was bigger than that when I was a boy. But still in all, the flavor, the temper of the town is about the same. Of course, Boulder City is a town, I guess of a 1000 people. And that type of atmosphere is what I grew up in, as a boy here. Had the same type of feeling. You knew everybody, as I mentioned before. I would think today, for a youngster to grow up in Las Vegas or Reno—of course it’s not as bad as living in L.A. or New York. That’s true. But comparatively, we old timers, we best, when children could do in the old days, which they can’t do now. Such as (unintelligible) Yes. I would. Do you think there are more today (unintelligible). Yes. For young people, I would say it’s a definite disadvantage. Here again, a lot of it depends on where you live in Las Vegas. Now out where you live in the valley is nice. It’s very nice for children I think, especially if you have an income to have horses and things like that. Where we live here, in my opinion, is the nicest I should say urban residence here in Las Vegas, which is called the western end of town. The reason is, is that this block I live on for example, is a very quiet street. It’s very conservative, it’s very old fashioned. All the parents have their kids in early. They’re all church going people (unintelligible), whereas other affluent sections of Las Vegas, it’s kind of a jet set type atmosphere. People coming and going all night long. You know, (unintelligible) because Vegas now is such a big area with so many different neighborhoods. When I was a kid, it was all the same neighborhood. But I wo