Transcript of interview with Toni Clark by Joanne Goodwin, July 2, 1996

An Interview with Toni Clark An Oral History Conducted by Joanne L. Goodwin ______________________________________________ Las Vegas Women Oral History Project Series I. Gaming and Entertainment University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 1997 Revised 2006 ii ? NSHE, UNLV, Women’s Research Institute of Nevada, Las Vegas Women Oral History Project, 1997, 2006. Citation of material from this interview should include: An Interview with Toni Clark conducted by Joanne L. Goodwin, 1997, rev. 2006, Special Collections, Lied Library, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV. Produced by: Las Vegas Women Oral History Project Women’s Research Institute of Nevada, University of Nevada, Las Vegas 89154-5020 Director and Editor: Joanne L. Goodwin Project Assistant and Text Processor: Dona Gearhart iii iv v This interview and transcript have been made possible through the generosity of the Foundation at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The History Department and the Women’s Research Institute of Nevada at UNLV provided a home for the project and a wide variety of in-kind services. The department, as well as the college and university administration, enabled students and faculty to work together with community members to generate this selection of first-person narratives. The participants in this project thank the university for its support that gave an idea the chance to flourish. The interview would not have taken place without the great assistance given by Toni Clark and her companion Larry Finuf. Together they provided me with numerous newspaper and magazine articles, photographs, and publications about the Desert Inn. These materials have been added to the Wilbur and Toni Clark Collection in UNLV’s Special Collections. They also took great pains to identify individuals in the photograph collection, track down names and dates they did not have, and to review and edit the transcript correcting and clarifying information. The researcher is encouraged to consult the other materials on Toni Clark contained within the Wilbur and Toni Clark Collection. In 2006, all the original copies produced in 1997 were missing and WRIN rebound revised copies and deposited one each at WRIN and Lied Library, UNLV. At that time, the number of photos included in the transcript were reduced, front matter was updated, and spellings were corrected. The following interview is part of a series of interviews conducted under the auspices of the Las Vegas Women Oral History Project. Additional transcripts may be found under that series title. Joanne Goodwin, Project Director Associate Professor, Department of History University of Nevada, Las Vegas v i List of Illustrations Toni and Wilbur Clark announcing their Las Vegas TV station frontispiece (photograph by Mark Swain for Wilbur Clark’s Desert Inn) Courtesy of Toni Clark Photo Portfolio following the text Courtesy of UNLV, Lied Library, Special Collections Department Gaglionese Family Portrait around 1919 (back row) Josephine, Salvatore, Frank; (front row) Rose, Dominick, Lena Wedding Day for Wilbur and Toni Clark, 2 August 1944 in Reno, Nevada. Governor E.P. Carville and Larry Allen, an A.P. war correspondent, congratulate them. The entrance to Wilbur Clark’s Desert Inn Toni Clark received the Fashion Foundation of America’s Best Dressed Hostess Award for 1958. Socializing in the Desert Inn’s Skyroom following the Tournament of Champions. (Standing, left to right) Lori Adelson, Toni Clark, Averille Dalitz, Shirley Fruchtman, Katherine Simmons, Betty Grable, and Evelyn Roen. (front) Muriel Rothkopf, Bo Weinerger, and Mrs. Bo Weinerger. On the Set with Elvis (left to right) Charley O’Kern, Moe Dalitz, Juliet Prowse, Elvis Presley, Toni Clark, Wilbur Clark, Cecil Simmons, and Joe Franks. Party at the Stardust post 1965. (left to right, back row) Jay Sarno, Toni Clark, Hank Greenspun, Kirk Kerkorian. (front) Jean Kerkorian, Charlie Harrison, Mrs. [Jay] Sarno, Theda Harrison, Harold Ambler, and Barbara Greenspun. vii Preface Toni Clark (born Lena Gaglionese) spent her youth in Seattle, Washington where she was born on April 4, 1915 to Angelene and Salvatore Gaglionese. Her father and mother moved to the Seattle area when they immigrated to the United States from Naples, Italy years earlier. Salvatore worked as a street cleaner for the city of Seattle and Angelene cared for the house and family until her early death. Toni grew up with three siblings, her father and step-mother, and an uncle and cousins next door. After attending Seattle’s Franklin High School for three years, she left. “I just didn’t like school so I quit,” she said, and spent the next couple of years at home. From these simple origins, Toni became “the first lady of Las Vegas” as some admirers called her, referring to the role she played in the transformation of Las Vegas from a frontier town into a glamorous resort town during the1950s and 1960s. In 1941, before the Second World War began, Toni traveled to San Diego to visit friends and decided to stay. After a year of caring for a young boy, she moved into the Barbara Worth Hotel which was owned by Wilbur Clark. Clark’s father ran the hotel and suggested that Toni apply for a job at his son’s new bar and restaurant, the Monte Carlo. She had not met Wilbur Clark at the time and her shyness dissuaded her from making the move. Nevertheless, she did apply and went to work as the hostess of the Monte Carlo in downtown San Diego. Wilbur and Toni’s courtship began slowly. He gave her the name Toni, saying she “looked more like a Toni than a Lena,” and she kept it. In 1944, around the time Wilbur Clark relocated to Las Vegas where he had purchased the El Rancho Hotel, the couple married in Reno, Nevada and permanently made Las Vegas their home. vi ii Clark’s involvement in Las Vegas clubs and gambling expanded with the Monte Carlo downtown and the Player’s Club on the strip. But his dream to create a luxury resort hotel came to fruition when the Desert Inn opened in 1950. The fifth major property on the strip, the Desert Inn had several features that distinguished it from other places. The Skyroom offered a private club atmosphere for talking, music, and dancing. The Monte Carlo Room served French cuisine. The Doll House provided round-the-clock childcare for children of hotel guests. The Painted Desert Room, the property’s showroom, featured top performers and the Donn Arden Dancers. All these features combined to create a resort that offered guests an exquisite setting for a gambling vacation. Toni Clark had a special place at the heart of the Desert Inn’s social life. She brought a gracious and elegant charm to social events associated with the property. Although she said she was never involved in the business of the hotel-casino, she played a unique role setting a new tone for the enterprise. She entertained guests and dignitaries at the hotel as well as her home; organized fashion shows featuring the top designers of the time for the wives of high-rollers; and created celebrations of special events, notably her husband’s late December birthday, with annual parties. When Wilbur Clark died in 1965, Toni Clark remained active in the city’s social life. She did not disappear as others had, but continued to plan and attend social functions. As part of her service to the community, she took particular pleasure in her work with the Variety Club. She continued to reside in Las Vegas until her death in 2006. ix Toni and Wilbur Clark announce their Las Vegas TV station. Photo credit: Mark Swain for Wilbur Clark’s Desert Inn. Courtesy of Toni Clark. x An Interview with Toni Clark 1 This is Joanne Goodwin. I am interviewing Toni Clark at her home in Las Vegas. It’s July 2, 1996. Mrs. Clark do you agree that you have read the release forms for this interview, and you’ve granted your permission for this interview? Yes I have. Thank you very much. And thank you for this interview. I want to start out with your childhood. Where were you born? I was born in Seattle, Washington, April 4, 1915. And tell me your parents names, and what they did. My mother’s name was Angeline Botton. She was a housewife. My father’s name is Sam [Salvatore] and he was a street cleaner for the city of Seattle. And what was Sam’s last name? Gaglionese. What name were you born with? Lena Gaglionese. Were your parents born in Seattle, or did they move to the area? They were both born in Naples, Italy. So they came to Seattle directly? I think so, yes. Did you grow up with any brothers and sisters? My real brother’s name is Don and I have a half-brother and a half-sister. My other half-sister Rose did not grow up with us. She lived with her uncle and later became a nun. 2 So you grew up with three of them in your house? Yes, the four of us. Did you have family in the area? My uncle lived next door to us, my father’s brother, until he passed away. He had three children: two boys and a girl. They were my cousins. Did your family ever talk about why they chose Seattle? They never did mention it, no. What are some of your earliest memories of your parents? My mother passed away when I was about four years old and then my father took care of us until he married my stepmother. Your mother passed away when you were four or five? Yes. And then my father re-married and I had a wonderful stepmother that raised and took care of all of us. What was her name? Angelene Panfillio. Had she been born in the area? She was not from the area. She was married once before and had about four children when my father married her. They were grown up. Do you have any early memories of your mother? Not really, no. 3 You were so young? I remember my father said she used to sing all the time. The neighbors loved to hear her sing. Seattle was a pretty small city when you lived there. I think so, yes. Do you have any recollections of the town, or outings that you family might have taken? We used to go Mt. Rainier on picnics a lot, to the parks and things like that. Seattle has wonderful beaches. Yes. But none of us ever swam so we didn’t go to any of the beaches. Would you describe your family home in Seattle? It was a two-story house and we had a big garden with fruits and vegetables. Both of your parents loved gardening? Yes, my mother and father both loved gardening. How many rooms were inside the house, do you remember? Do you remember anything about the inside? [Pointing to a rendition of the house] This is my sister’s and my bedroom. This is my brothers’ bedroom, and this is the parlor upstairs. This is probably my parent’s bedroom. There was a sitting room, a dining room, and kitchen downstairs. Tell me a little bit about your education in Seattle. How far did you go through school. I graduated from grammar school in 1930. 4 Grammar school went up through what grade at that point? Eighth grade. I went to Coleman Grammar School. Then I went to Franklin High School for three years and then I quit. Do you have any memories of high school before you left Franklin High School? Were you involved in social activities? No, I wasn’t. How would you describe yourself as a student? Just average. What do you mean? I was not very smart in school. You had other interests? I don’t know what my interests were at that time. So you tried it for three years and said This is it. Had the depression started at that time, or would that come later? I don’t remember. When you decided to leave school, do your remember how you came to that decision? I just didn’t like school so I quit. Ok. And what did you decide to do next? I really didn’t have anything to do. You went to California right after high school? No, I went to San Diego in 1941. 5 So between high school and 1941, you were in Seattle. Is that correct? Yes. How would you describe the years between high school and your move to San Diego? How did you occupy yourself? I stayed home with my stepmother. Father had died in 1939 and I went to San Diego to visit some friends. When they left and went back to Seattle, I stayed in San Diego. And when you decided to leave Franklin High School, were you still living with your family? Yes, I was. Did you ever do any kind of wage work? No. My father would not allow it. You were in the home during that time? Yes. Did you have certain responsibilities to your family? I cleaned the house all the time. I was a good housecleaner. I bet that was appreciated. That was my job. And there were other children in the home? My two brothers and my sister. Did you ever work in any kind of waitress capacity? That was common. In San Diego, I did. That came later. So in 1941 you decided to go to San Diego with friends. 6 To visit my friends, yes. Can you tell me a little bit about that trip, and your decision to make it? I just decided to go. Had you been on such a long journey before? No, never, never. Did you go by car? Yes. When you arrived in San Diego, you decided to stay? I went and stayed with my friends and visited them, and then they left. And I stayed. I took care of a little boy for this friend of mine that I had met. And I took care of this little boy for about a year. Then I moved to the Barbara Worth Hotel, which Wilbur Clark owned. I didn’t know him at the time. The Barbara Worth Hotel. Is that one word or two? It is two words. And you stayed in this hotel. What kind of work were you engaged in at that time? I wasn’t doing anything at that time. When did you decide to waitress? This was after I met, excuse me [takes a drink of water]. I stayed at the hotel and I met his [Wilbur Clark’s] father. Wilbur owned this hotel and his father was there running it. Then Wilbur was opening this new nightclub called the Monte Carlo. It opened the day that the [Second World] War started. 194l, when the war started. And this was a club in San Diego? 7 It was a nightclub and restaurant. Well, it was a bar and restaurant called the Monte Carlo and he was getting people to work. So his father said [to me], “Why don’t you go see Wilbur. Maybe you can get a job there.” I was so shy I wouldn’t even go. And he made me go and we met Wilbur and he put me to work as a waitress. Actually, I was on the door. I was a hostess first. Ok, so you worked for the next two years, 1941 to 1943, in the Monte Carlo restaurant and club. Yes. How did you end up meeting Mr. Clark? Well, I was sitting in the lobby one night and Wilbur came up and his father was behind the desk. He [Wilbur] had to go out to Mission Beach to see his bar because the bartender had gotten drunk. He had to go out there and see what was going on. So his father says to me, “Why don’t you ride out with him.” I didn’t really want to go but he insisted, so I rode out with Wilbur to this bar. And the bartender was on the floor. Wilbur got the money out of the till and handed it to me. We went in the car and came back to the hotel. And then I never saw him again for a long time. I went to work at the Monte Carlo after that. Did you work in two different places in San Diego? Just the Monte Carlo. You just told how you had met Mr. Clark and that you accompanied him on a kind of rescue mission. Yes, that’s right. He was involved in a number of businesses it seems. 8 He had three or four bars and card rooms. I think they came after the Monte Carlo. I don’t think he had any bar [before that]. Only this one out at Mission Beach was the only bar he had till he opened the Monte Carlo. Then he opened several others after that. How would you describe the different kinds of businesses? One was the hotel you stayed in, one was the restaurant you worked in. And these others were a kind of social club? No, they weren’t; they were card rooms and bar. They had a lot of card rooms around San Diego. You would say that he was involved in approximately how many businesses? He had the hotel, and then he had probably three or four restaurants. Then he had the Monte Carlo. Then he had a place out in Chula Vista called the Silver Dollar, which was a bar and restaurant. He sold them all and came to Las Vegas. All but the Monte Carlo. He didn’t sell that. His brother was in partnership with him. And that was where you worked. The Monte Carlo Club. And where was that located? I can’t even remember. It was right downtown I know. Because it was next to the Knickerbocker Hotel. He used to work, oh what do you call them, at the Knickerbocker when he first came here. A bellboy? He was a bellboy at the Knickerbocker. It’s strange, he opened the club right next door to it. 9 You mention when the war broke out, Mr. Clark was concerned about how it would affect his business. Can you tell us a little more about that? Oh, yes when he opened up the door, the next day the war started. And he said, “Oh my goodness, I’m going to lose everything.” But his business was very good and he had a good business and it prospered very nicely. How were you affected by the war? Did it impact your life personally? It frightened me and everybody else. But I guess you just kept going on. California, and the West Coast, was such an active part in the war. Any other ways, rationing, you seemed to have had job security during the war. Yes. Not much impact? I was really more of a hostess than a waitress though. Yes, it sounds like it. What would you do? You’d come to work in the evening, and what would your job be? I would have to check the I.D. cards of the servicemen. And then you would get a waitress to seat them at their table? No, I used to seat them. I used to seat them and check their I.D. cards. Because San Diego is such a big naval town, did you have a lot of military patrons? Lots. Mostly all military. During the war, in San Diego, did you personally experience any kinds of shortages? Well, we had blackouts every night. And we had shortages of [hosiery] and shoes, and things like that. And food, I ate at the restaurant so I didn’t have to worry about that. 10 What do you remember about the blackouts? Well, it was kind of scary. Everything was black. You had to keep your shades down in your hotel rooms and in your businesses and in your homes. Was there a curfew? At a certain time everything had to be turned off? I think so. I think there was a curfew, yes. Because you were a hostess in a restaurant, you probably had a certain kind of dress code you had to uphold. Did you have any difficulties during the war getting any kind of clothing. Our [hosiery] mostly. We couldn’t find [hosiery] anywhere. And shoes. Hosiery was nylon? No, silk stockings then. We wore silk stockings in those days. I remember sometimes the servicemen used to bring me stockings. I don’t know where they got them, but every once in a while I’d get a pair of stockings from a serviceman that came. Did you have a regular clientele? Did you get to know people? Well the men usually came and went but we had a lot of servicemen there. Tell me how, if you will, your relationship with Mr. Clark developed. I can’t remember when we had our first date, or anything. I know I worked there, but we didn’t go out for quite some time. It sounds like his father was instrumental in your first meeting. Yes, he was. Did he help the relationship move along later? Not really, no. 11 So this was something that just gradually developed? Yes. And do you remember when you started feeling like this was getting serious? Let’s see. I think Wilbur fell in love with me first. Did he give you some kind of an indication? He used to play a song on the music box, “Does your heart beat for me?” That was one of our favorite songs. During this period, you’re busy working; he’s very busy with many properties; then, in 1944 you decided to get married? We came to Las Vegas and he bought the El Rancho Vegas in 1944. I came with him and we were married on August 2 of 1944 in Reno. So at that point you had been steady for a while? Yes, yes. You’d made a commitment of some sort. Now, he had been to Las Vegas, in fact to Nevada, earlier. Is that correct? He came in 1938 with Guy McAfee in the gambling place at the Green Shack. He said that anyone that ever came here should have their head examined. It was so hot, he couldn’t stand it. He left and came back to San Diego. Now was the business called the Green Shack? The restaurant was called the Green Shack. Guy McAfee later opened the Golden Nugget and had the gambling there. 12 This was a partnership between them? No, Wilbur just worked there. He was just a dealer. I see. He just worked there. But he didn’t work there long. No, no, I think maybe a couple of weeks or so. Or a month maybe. Had he been in Nevada previously? I don’t think so. Any Reno connection? Reno, later I think. You mentioned Guy McAfee. Was this a personal friend or a business associate? Did you ever meet him? Yes, I did. He opened the Golden Nugget. I don’t know what year it was though. And they had known each other in San Diego? No. He met him in Las Vegas. Did he ever talk about if he had such a wonderful situation in San Diego, why he would come to the desert. I guess he needed a job. So he came here to work and he didn’t like it. Now in 1944, the first business venture that you are aware of, that brings you both here, is the El Rancho Vegas? The El Rancho Vegas. He bought that in 1944 and sold it in 1946. And he bought the property where the Desert Inn is now in 1945. Paid cash for it, too. 13 So when you came to Las Vegas, Mr. Clark had already been involved in the El Rancho Vegas. That property was built by-- No he bought the El Rancho Vegas from Joe Drown and Tommy Hull. What can you tell me about them? Tommy Hull had the Hollywood Hotel in Hollywood. And Joe Drown had a lot of interests in Beverly Hills. How had they decided to start developing in Las Vegas? I have no idea. They just wanted to build a hotel and they did. They had it for several years and then we bought it from them. And that was where you came when you first came here? Was to the El Rancho. Yes. Now Mr. Clark comes for this brief work experience in 1938 and then he moved back to California. And it wasn’t until 1944 they you both came back. Yes. When did you decide to marry? I wanted to marry him when we first got there but we waited till August the 2nd and we drove to Reno and got married [by a Justice of the Peace] August the 2nd, 1944. How did you decide to marry in Reno? He didn’t want to get married in Las Vegas because of all the [attention] being at the hotel. He wanted to get away. So we drove to Reno, got married and then we had lunch with Governor [E.P.] Carville the next day at Lake Tahoe. 14 And how had either of you known Governor Carville? Wilbur had met him before. And do you know anything about their relationship, their friendship? I really don’t know. I don’t know if somebody told [Carville] we were coming, or what. [Carville] had called and said he wanted to take us to lunch the next day. So we went to the mansion there in Carson City, and then we went over to Lake Tahoe and had lunch, came back. And then I think we left and came home the following day to Las Vegas. Were you still in touch with your family at this time, the time of your wedding? Oh, yes. And who were the people you were closest to in your family? My brothers. My sister passed away some years before that. So I had my two brothers. We were always very close. And what were their names. One was Don and the other was Frank. And what about Mr. Clark, was he still close with his family? Oh, yes. His brother Harold and his sister Merle. And his father, you said, had been running his hotel? Yes. And he was still alive? Yes. 15 When you first came to Las Vegas, where did you live? The El Rancho Vegas. I had a little bungalow there. We had bungalows at that time. What was your response to the desert? I cried everyday for weeks because I didn’t like it. It was so hot. And I missed my friends and my family. Then after awhile I got to meet people and I began loving Las Vegas very much. If you had to say what your biggest adjustments were, how would you describe them? I’d never been in the desert before and it was very hot and I didn’t like it at all. Did you have swamp coolers? Yes we did have swamp coolers. But it’s still extremely dry and hot. Yes. How would you describe the town in 1944. Where did it begin and end? Well, the El Rancho Vegas was there and the Frontier and a place called the Bingo Club. And that was all that was out on the Strip, as far as I remember. The town was very small, very friendly. Local people were very kind, very nice to us. Accepted us with open arms. So if you were living at the El Ranch, you were outside of town? Yes we were. You would have to drive to downtown? Oh, yes. I always had to drive. I don’t think there even was a bus or anything at that time. 16 But you began to meet -- People. How did you meet people? They all came to the hotel, the El Rancho, all the locals. That’s how we met them all. When you arrived in town, who were some of the leading families that you began to meet? For example, you mentioned Guy McAfee. Yes. He had been a business partner? No, no business partner, just a friend.1 Those first few years, who were the people that came to be your friends; the people that you socialized with? The local people you mean? Yes. The Art Hams [Senior], the Guy McAfees, the Houssels [Senior], the [Harley] Harmons, and the Silvanes. They all were probably the backbone of our Las Vegas. Tell me a little bit about your relationships with the Houssels. The Houssels. Well, I know he owned horses. We used to see him at Del Mar a lot. And he owned hotels here in Las Vegas. He owned the El Cortez Hotel in downtown Las Vegas. 1End tape 1, side 1. 17 What were your responsibilities at that time, when you were at the El Rancho Vegas? Wilbur and I would entertain our guests in the evening. In the afternoon I’d sit around the pool with them. And did you have any other responsibilities with the business? No nothing with the business, no. I had nothing to do with the business at all times. Were you traveling very much during those days? Not too much in those days, no. We’d go maybe to San Diego to visit the family or to Los Angeles. In addition to the El Rancho Vegas, Mr. Clark began the Monte Carlo Club. Downtown, yes. That opened in 1945 on April Fool’s Day. He opened the Monte Carlo Club and Grace Hayes opened the lounge for us. What do you remember about the opening? Well it was April Fool’s Day and they called to say that the place was on fire. Wilbur didn’t believe it, but it was. Someone had caused a fire down in the basement or something. But he got it all clean and open for that night. What was an opening night like in those days in Las Vegas? Well, I guess we kind of started something, having people come dressed for the evening. We had the lounge and the entertainment. When you say people came dressed for the evening I mean dressed. Not formal, but beautiful dresses and clothes. You wouldn’t see anyone in tennis shoes and overalls. 18 So there was the Monte Carlo Club, and just within a few years [Clark] bought the Player’s Club from Johnny and Mitzi Hughes? Yes. Where was the Player’s Club? Gosh, it was on the strip there, further up from the Frontier there. It was on the same side as the Desert Inn but further up, going towards the Los Angeles Highway. And was that also a total remodel like you had done with . . . No, no. It was already, it was a beautiful club, it was already built and everything. I’m curious if Mr. Clark ever commented about the differences between the kind of older, more established people who owned casinos in Las Vegas like his generation of casino owners. Did he ever comment on any kind of differences between-- Between the people that are there now you mean? And the people who had come in like himself? People did go western. A lot of the people wore western clothes a lot. But other than that I don’t see anything different. That was never a theme that he developed. No, no. Now these years of very busy business, how was the Monte Carlo different in appearance? Well, for one thing he was the first one to put the glass windows all the way down to the sidewalk. They were all closed in. And after that, everyone followed suit. The had their glass windows in the front. 19 And in the interior-- And then he had blue satin tufting in the lounge. It was beautiful. Very glamorous, quite different from -- Oh, I should say, from the other places downtown, yes. Now these first years when [Clark] owned and managed the El Rancho, the Monte Carlo, then by 1947, the Player’s Club, these are also the first years of your marriage. Yes they are. Very busy, busy years. How do you, when you look back on that, how do you think about those years? How do you see them? Very happy years. The town was very small. We knew practically everyone in town. When did Mr. Clark sell the El Rancho? June of 1946. And this is about the time he began to plan the Desert Inn? Yes, he bought the property in 1945. And then when we left there, we started making plans for the Desert Inn. Did he ever discuss these plans, or what his dream . . . Yes, he did. He used to go out with a stick and say, “This is going to be this, and this is going to be this. The Sky Room is going to be here.” And all that. He always had it on the sand there, on the property where the Desert Inn is now. 20 His blueprint he would draw in the sand. Yes. He used to go to California to the man that was our architect. I can’t remember his name but he used to fly in every week and have a meeting with him. And we put all the plans on a blueprint. Did the two of you discuss things that you might like to see in the design? No, I left that all up to Wilbur. It took several years to complete the building. Yes, we started the rooms and we ran out of money and then he needed partners. It took him that long before he got someone that he really wanted in the hotel, as his partner. How did he go about that process? Well, someone brought these people to Wilbur. They were in Cleveland and they wanted to come to Las Vegas. . . . He said he wanted the place to be called Wilbur Clark’s Desert Inn. We had other people come and they didn’t want that name so he didn’t have them. But these people agreed to have it called Wilbur Clark’s Desert Inn. Earlier, you said that it took quite a length of time because he wanted to keep his name on it. That’s right, yes. This was his dream. Let’s see. We started building in 1947 and then they couldn’t get the supplies and we had to stop. And then he finished some rooms, and everybody said that it was going to be a motel. He had to wait to get partners to get the money, and then we started to finish the hotel. We opened in 1950, April 23rd. 21 What was it like being this close to the project, over four years with so many ups and downs? Well, it was very bad. He used to go around and telling people about Las Vegas and they’d laugh at him. They’d say, “What do you want to build a place in Las Vegas for?” When he was trying to find support? Find people. And these might have been people in California? I think they were in California and I forget, other places. Mostly California, I think. But he had the vision of what Las Vegas could be. Yes he did have that, very much so. Were there ever any moments that either you or he felt like it wouldn’t work? Oh I think there were times when I thought it wouldn’t work, but I thought Wilbur always said it was going to work somehow. He had faith in the town. He loved Las Vegas. And how was it for you, still rather recently married-- I kind of went along with him. You had seen it work before. Yes I knew that he would do it. When the Desert Inn was being built, where did you live? We built four apartments on the side. We lived in one and rented three out, on Dio Drive. And during this four-year period of construction, what were your responsibilities then? Just being a housewife I guess. 22 Yes, taking care of home. You’d been very socially active up to that time. Yes, a lot of friends. A lot of people came over. We used to have parties at that little apartment. Everybody loved coming over to the Clark apartment. Very small, but it was very cute and very nice. The Desert Inn, as you said, opened in April of 1950. Do you remember the opening night? I certainly do. It was a big event. Everybody was so dressed up. We had flowers that went from the ins