Transcript of interview with Stella Iaconis by Gary Gione, February 26, 1976

UNLV University Libraries Stella Iaconis i An Interview with Stella Iaconis An Oral History Conducted by Gary Gione 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 Stella Iaconis ii © Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 2019 UNLV University Libraries Stella Iaconis 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 Stella Iaconis iv Abstract On February 26, 1976, Gary Gione interviewed Stella Iaconis (born September 16th, 1910 in Italy) about her life in Southern Nevada. The two discuss Iaconis’ reasons for moving to Las Vegas as well as her childhood memories of Hooverville. Iaconis also talks about seeing the above-ground atomic tests in Southern Nevada from Los Angeles, and the drastic population growth that occurred after the construction of Hoover Dam. UNLV University Libraries Stella Iaconis 1 Testing one, two, three. I’m interviewing Mrs. Stella Iaconis. 620 South Seventh Street. Mrs. Iaconis, when did you come to Southern Nevada? In 1912. Nineteen-twelve. Why did your family come over here? My father was working in mining camps. And the mining camps were in Nevada? In Nevada, in the gold mines. Some were gold. When he came off, why’d he come over from Italy though? Well, because he wanted to better himself. Uh-huh. Things were very poor over there. Mm-hmm. Were you educated in Southern Nevada? I was. What schools did you go to? Las Vegas (Unintelligible) School and Las Vegas High. Are they still here today? The high school burned down, they built a new one; it’s here on Seventh Street, Las Vegas High. I just wanted to ask you some question about the Mormon Fort. What name do you remember best; do you remember the Mormon Fort, the old Ranch, or the Stewart Ranch? I—all of them actually. It went by all those names, they changed them year to year—time to time. Can you relate a specific incident that happened at the old Ranch? Like something of importance? UNLV University Libraries Stella Iaconis 2 Nothing in particular. The swimming hole there, kids could go in and swim, wade, play. It was like a park. It was the only shady place to go on a picnic. Can you describe an individual who worked there, or was associated with the old Ranch? What he, what he’s dressed like, his mannerisms, and stuff. Can you remember anything about that? Oh, except that he dressed just like, when we went to school, played, old dirty clothes. Can you describe any of the buildings of the old Ranch? There wasn’t any old buildings except the old Mormon Fort. What did it look like? It was just like an Indian village, I would say. It was made of adobe. Uh-huh. That’s another question I had to ask. Can you describe the location and condition of the adobe walls surrounding the original Mormon settlement? And what year approximately? Well, I can remember like it was, maybe, 1917, 1918 as an adobe house and a swimming pool, and like, picnic grounds. Was this like a, like a park? Like a little park. Mm-hmm. Do you remember the use of the property as a gravel testing laboratory for Boulder Dam? Do you remember anything about that? No. No? Okay. Were you married in Las Vegas or Southern Nevada? I was married here both—two times. (Laughs) Two times (Laughs) where were you married? UNLV University Libraries Stella Iaconis 3 Here in Las Vegas. I was married the first time, I was married in our home on Second Street, which is now Casino Center Boulevard, 500 Block. And the second time I was married in the little Church of the West. Mm-hmm. Which was on the New Frontier Grounds. Was church activity an important part of your life? Did you go to church regularly? We went to a catholic church—Saint Joan of Arc, which was the only Catholic Church in Las Vegas during those years. Where was that located? On Second Street, which is the Casino Center. Do you remember, like, the visits of any presidents or any other important people to Las Vegas area? Yes, President Roosevelt when he dedicated the Boulder Dam. And I was asked to ask you—any spectacular events, such as the 1942 crash of Carole Lombard’s plane? Do you remember that? I was living in Los Angeles at that time, but I do remember that. Oh. I used to wait on Clark Gable when I was working at the Apache, which is now the Horseshoe. Uh-huh. Okay. Were you active in any kind of politics? I vote as democrat and President Roosevelt was the first president I voted for. When President Roosevelt came, you saw him? I sure did. UNLV University Libraries Stella Iaconis 4 Where was he? He was riding down Fremont Street— Uh-huh. Him and—he was going down to dedicate the Dam. Was a big thing then, huh? Oh, you better believe it! We all stopped work and waited out to see. ‘Cause it was really something unusual. President coming to Nevada? You better believe it. Because it was a small town in those days and before the (unintelligible) Boulder Dam, our population was probably the highest around three thousand. And after the building of the Dam, it probably went up to five, six thousand, maybe even more. We’d never seen that many people here. Did you ever, do you remember when they were building the Dam? Oh sure. Yes? I was working at the Apache, they started the building the Dam in the mountains. And I think it was ’31. 1931? Mm-hmm. Why did the Dam bring so many more people here, to Nevada? Because it was a depression, and people were all out of work, and coming in here any which way. And North Las Vegas now, next to the cemetery, they had what they had Hooverville. Mm-hmm. UNLV University Libraries Stella Iaconis 5 At that time, President Hoover was the president of the United States, and the depression was on, people were out of work, and they had, they had put carton boxes of any kind to live in, and they all came here to look for jobs. And did most of them find jobs at the Boulder Dam? Oh, yes. Lot of ‘em. How long did it take to build the Boulder Dam? If I remember, let’s see. About five years, oh four or five years. I don’t remember just exactly the town built itself up—oh yes, it built itself up. Up until the time that they started with the (unintelligible) What year was that? And hotels started too, by—1940. Which, which—? The first hotel was the El Rancho Vegas and it was the new Frontier. Those were the first two buildings? Those were the first two hotels. Were there casino gambling in those two hotels when it first started? Yes, because gambling was legal in Nevada. And it became legal in 1930. 1930 it became legal? I think it was 1930. They had gambling before, we had clubs Downtown. (Unintelligible) the Boulder Club— Like social clubs? No, they were gambling clubs. UNLV University Libraries Stella Iaconis 6 Oh yes? Mm-hmm. And they were illegal when they, in the gambling joints, and then when they—? I think it was—yes. I may be wrong about that, I wouldn’t swear to it that it was in ’30, it might’ve been before that it was legal because we, I remember we had the old Las Vegas Club, the Northern Club, and the Boulder Club that I remember well. All on Fremont Street. Now they’re all gone, right? No, the Las Vegas Club is still on Fremont, on the corner of Main and Fremont. That’s the old Las Vegas Club. The Boulder Club is torn down; they’ve enlarged the Horseshoe. That’s where they built the Mint and the Horseshow and hotel. And, I think that’s all about there’s left. How were the roads back in those—the transportation? Just the roads? They were dirt roads. Dirt roads? Dirt roads, muddy (Laughs) How would you get around? By wagon? Well, I remember horse and wagon. Mm-hmm. My father used to have a ranch, and he used to come to town on horse and wagon. At the ranch? You used to live at the ranch and work at the ranch? I lived in town all the nine months of school. Oh you had to stay in town for school? No, I grew up—my father and mother room and boarded me out in homes. Oh. UNLV University Libraries Stella Iaconis 7 But I stayed in town because they lived in the ranch, and the ranch was about twelve miles out of town, out near the Paradise Hunter Road today. And it would take my dad like about three hours to get to town. One trip? So instead of me living out the ranch, I used to—he used to (unintelligible) I see. And then the three months of vacation, I lived on the ranch. What did he do with the ranch? Did he raise cattle? No, mostly, he did have the cattle. And he had pigs, and he had about three thousand chickens. But he raised mostly vegetables and fruits. He had lots of grapes, apricots, peaches. And then he raised pears. And then he raised all kinds of vegetables. He was one of the first—he and the Jap were one of the first that had ranches in Las Vegas that the markets got fresh vegetables. My father used to sell from the wagon, his vegetables to different families. He used to call on ‘em. Like a delivery? (Unintelligible) and all the old-time families. (Unintelligible) (Laughs) And all the old time families that lived here—he’d go from house to house and sell his vegetables. How’d he grow ‘em? I thought like, the way that— He had a lot of water. He had a lot of water? Yes, he had spring water. Yeah, what happened to the springs, they dried up? UNLV University Libraries Stella Iaconis 8 Everything dried up. Oh. So back then, Las Vegas was like a fertile land? Oh yes! You know, if you had water, and he had good soil— How did he acquire the land? Did he— He bought it. Did he buy it—? He bought the land? He fought for it— From the Nevada government? No, no. He bought it from a private party. It was called the old (Unintelligible) Spring Ranch. And then in 1921, we had a big flood, and its flash floods. Mm-hmm. And my father had a big creek, with a, roughly about fifteen feet wide and about twelve feet high. Maybe a little more. When he had this flash flood, all—the animals went wild. Cows and the horses and everything were just going crazy. We could hear a roar, but we didn’t know what it was. And we were just having lunch, and our house was set up below a hill. We were higher up. Mm-hmm. And all of a sudden, this flash of water came. It filled that whole creek. Really? Just as high as it can go, cleaned everything out. Everything you had? Everything! It didn’t leave a grape vine; it didn’t leave a fruit tree. It didn’t leave nothing. All it was, was rocks and bare dirt. UNLV University Libraries Stella Iaconis 9 And then how did you—how did you overcome this? Well, my father always had a way. They that when there’s a will, there’s a way. And he had it. That’s interesting. Okay. Was gambling an important recreational activity in your family? No. No? What other kinds of activities did you have? My father was a—well he worked as a bartender. Mm-hmm. And my mother worked as a cook. She used to cook for the Union Pacific Railroad men that worked at the Union Hotel. Tell me something about railroad; I was supposed to ask you something about the railroad. Well, the railroad is what started Las Vegas. It was a main stop between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles. And it was, ‘course there was no air conditioning in those days, it was hot. And that’s where the (unintelligible)—what’s the name of that hotel? Where the Fremont and Main Street—the Union Plaza. Union Plaza? There used to be the old Union Station. Wait, the Union Plaza used to just be a station? Yes. The Union Pacific Station. And we lived at the Union Hotel—this was before my dad bought the ranch. And my father was a bartender there and my mother used to do the cooking, three meals a day for the railroad men. They used to come in and eat. How much did they get paid for doing that every day? Oh, I don’t know—around a dollar a day? A dollar a day? UNLV University Libraries Stella Iaconis 10 That’s pretty—well, according to today’s standards, that’s pretty cheap. Oh, yes. Well, ‘course, you could buy five loaves of bread for a dime too. (Laughs) Just everything, everything must’ve been— It was paid accordingly. Uh-huh. Now the wages are so high, that’s why we have inflation. So when the railroad came, that really made the city too? That’s part of Las Vegas. Did you come here on the railroad? Yes, we came by train. Form Italy? Yes, well, from New York. From Italy—? From Italy we landed in New York, and from New York we came to work for Utah, and then from (Unintelligible), Utah, we came to Las Vegas. You came all the way by train? Uh-huh. From New York? Okay. Do you remember anything about the early aboveground atomic blasts, tests in Nevada? Oh, I used to feel ‘em in Los Angeles. You used to feel ‘em in Los Angeles? (Laughs) In fact, they’d tell me that you felt it more in LA than you felt them here. The farther the distance, it seemed that you could feel it more. We were living out in Westwood in LA—West UNLV University Libraries Stella Iaconis 11 LA. And when we got up on top of the hill, which is Fox Studio, I don’t know if you know LA, or not— No, I don’t really— But anyway, it was on Pico Boulevard, and we used to take the bus from, where I lived, into LA and when we got up there, on top of that hill, in the morning, when I was going to the hospital for x-rays, and one morning, and five o’clock, I could see the flash. You saw the flash? Of the atomic bomb. Where did they set it off? In—In—? In Indian Springs, where they had the atomic bomb. And you saw the flash at—? The flash, we saw it in LA. We happened to be on top of the hill and was high enough, evidently, and then the bomb was so high, that you could see the flash. And you must’ve felt it? And the bus drivers stopped. That’s really something. What kind of changes, like in Southern Nevada, have you seen since you first arrived here? (Laughs) Everything? Every kind! I guess that’s like a general question. I say, from the day, from the first airplane— Uh-huh. UNLV University Libraries Stella Iaconis 12 To the days of atomic bombs, Boulder Dam, all kinds of changes. Uh-huh. And we never moved! Like the Strip now, is like really a famous place. Now how did—? And that was all desert. It was all desert, and they— Las Vegas itself was from Stewart Street, which is two blocks north of Fremont, to (Unintelligible). In fact, my father had one of the last houses on the block up until about 1922. Mm-hmm. And Main Street, to Fifth Street, which is Las Vegas Boulevard South. That was the main part of the town, up until the late thirties. The late thirties? This section of town wasn’t even built. How did the hotels get built up so, you know, so expanded—I heard there were gangsters in town that started—? Oh yes, well, they always said there was gangsters. It started with their money. Of course, (unintelligible) I was thinking of a man named Bugsy Siegel? Well Bugsy Siegel had the Flamingo, but he came in later. See, the Flamingo was about the fourth hotel. I believe the Thunderbird was done before the Flamingo was. And they came in and built it up with their money? Yes. Evidently, it was supposed to be the gangsters that built it up. This was the only place that had legalized gambling, right? UNLV University Libraries Stella Iaconis 13 Well the whole state of Nevada had legalized gambling. And how did Las Vegas get to be so big then? Well, in the first place, Reno was always the biggest city in Nevada. In 1929, my father took me to Italy. And people asked me, where do you come from? It’s a natural question. I’d say, Las Vegas, Nevada. They’d say, what’s a matter? Where’s that? You mean Reno? (Laughs) No, we were about 400 and twenty-five miles from where we—they had never heard of it. Never heard of it. (Laughs) (Unintelligible) Now everybody hears of it. When you came here, like, did you speak English? Or you had a— I was seven months old when I came from Italy. Oh, but your parents must’ve spoke— My parents didn’t speak English. My father came here first. My father and mother were married in 1907. No, six. It was 1906. Then my father came into America and stayed for a couple of years. He stayed in New York? No, he stayed in Utah. Utah? Uh-huh, Mercury, Utah, because he had a sister there. In fact, he has a nephew born there. And after a couple of years he went back to Italy to get my mother over here. But in the meantime, I snuck up on ‘em. So— They waited till I was about seven months old. What did your father do when he first came here? Just mine? UNLV University Libraries Stella Iaconis 14 Mine. Just in the mining, in Utah? (Unintelligible) he couldn’t hardly speak English— He learned from his fellow workers? Right. And then when your mother came over, she—he must’ve taught your mother. She learned a little bit, but my mother never spoke as well as my dad. ‘Cause my mother never was in public like my dad, she always lived out in the ranch mostly. What did she do out in the ranch? Worked just like my dad. She did the same thing? She did the same. Head out, dug, plowed, and worked just like a man. Well that’s something, just because of those floods and everything and the creeks would dry up and there was no more fertile land just the clay and the alkaline. (Unintelligible) When you first came, was the temperature and the climate the same as it is today? More or less, only thing now, we don’t realize as much, because in the first place, we had no air conditioning, we had trees to keep us cool. And the nights, the evenings, you would go outside and never stayed in the house where it was too hot. Yes. And we didn’t have—it was desert, it was dry. Now we have a lot of golf courses, we have a lot of swimming pools, it brings more humidity. (Unintelligible), but as far as time itself, we’ve always had four seasons. And normally it’s about the same. Mm-hmm. UNLV University Libraries Stella Iaconis 15 Not too much rain. Right. Since I’ve been here, it’s only been rain once. (Laughs) But those were the flash floods, were there a lot of ‘em in the year? We’d get ‘em all the time here. Mm-hmm. What happens, is it will rain like up at Mount Charleston, Red Rock Canyon, Potosi Mine, all those places that are in the mountains. It will pour rain, and here it will be dry, maybe the sun will be shining, and then all of a sudden, it just— Just comes? Just comes in on ya’. We still have ‘em. Were the people that first came to Nevada, where they from all over the United States? Or? I would say they were. A mixed kind of people? Mixed up. And what was like the main thing? The main thing was the mining and the railroad? Yes, railroad was the main thing here. What do the men do on the railroad? Did they—? Well, we had all kinds of, you had to have your engineers, your firemen, they worked—you know, your conductors that worked on the railroad. And then you had, shopped, where they chose trainers, repairmen, water men, in those days, they had to put water and take care of it before they moved on. Let’s say this was the biggest stop. This was the biggest stop between Utah and California? So this is like where they’d refuel? UNLV University Libraries Stella Iaconis 16 Everything. You see, we were just about in the middle of it, like LA is just about three hundred miles from here; Salt Lake is four hundred miles from here. So this was one of the (unintelligible) stops. Did you ever think when you first came here that Las Vegas would get so big as it is today? No, never. It really amazes me that like, it’s grown and everything. Like a dream, you know. Sometimes I think, my mother died in 1927. And I stop and I think sometimes, and think, “Gee, if she was alive, she could see Las Vegas from 1927 to today, 1977,” I wonder what she’d think. She wouldn’t think she was in the same place. It’s really amazing how such a small place like this can build up to such a big, you know, worldwide now. No, no, all over the world—it is the most fabulous city in the world; I don’t care for (unintelligible) you’ll never find another place like Las Vegas. You take your Monte Carlo and different places where they have gambling, there’s nothing like this. Why do you think they only legalized gambling in Nevada? Did other places have, like Utah, had gambling? No. Not even, no— California has gambling, but it’s not legal. (Laughs) To put it that way. Like, why did they decide to legalize gambling here? Well, I think it was because in Nevada, it was a poor state. It’s a big state—I think it’s the fifth largest state in the union, but it’s the most sparsely populated state in the union too. Mm-hmm. So the gambling was to bring people, supposedly bring people here and—? UNLV University Libraries Stella Iaconis 17 Well, it helped, let’s put it that way. Because by building big resorts, like they have now and everything, even the tourist. The tourist come to town, they come with the cars, instead of a railroad or anything, even their automobile. Well after they leave, let’s say Salt Lake, or they come from New York or whatever, you have to stop some place and get a meal, get a room, rest up, and Las Vegas is one of the best stops. In other words, it was a tourist stop at all times, because you had—if you had, if you came through Salt Lake, (unintelligible) and that way, where else would you go after you left Salt Lake? You’d drive four hundred miles and maybe might stop and see your city, but you’re still about three hundred and fifty miles. Mm-hmm. And you’re gonna’ stop in Las Vegas, that’s for sure. I see. (Tape one ends) Testing one, two, three, testing. So you said your husband was a tailor, right? My husband’s a tailor. When did he first come here? Nineteen-nineteen he started his trade as a tailor? Mm-hmm. In New York—in Boston. His son, (Unintelligible), had his own tailor factory in Boston. He was working in the factory (unintelligible). And then around 1925 we moved to Dunsmuir, California, and then we went to San Francisco. Mm-hmm. He spent most of his time in San Francisco until he went to LA and met me. UNLV University Libraries Stella Iaconis 18 And then— And then I hooked him (Laughs) (Laughs) and then you moved to Nevada? Then we moved to Las Vegas. He was working for Phillips in Westwood in LA. And when he came here, what did he work for? Jackman’s in Sahara. Jackman’s in Sahara? Then he went to the Sands, he had the Valley shop at the Sands. And then he went to the Dunes, with Mort Wallace. You said you worked in the Sahara? I worked in the Sahara Showroom. As what, a waitress? I just— And those pictures on the wall from—? Some of the stars that appeared on stage. And you went behind the stage and they gave you—? No, they, they gave us all one. Oh they gave— All the workers got a picture of whoever worked on the stage at the time. Oh. They gave ‘em to us. Like what kind of performers were here when you, when you—? UNLV University Libraries Stella Iaconis 19 Oh, we used to have like, Donald O’Connor. Oh what’s that guy’s name, that guy that had the big band? (Unintelligible)? What? (Unintelligible)? Huh, no, it wasn’t (Unintelligible). But he used to play the—big band, and I never got his picture. I’m glad he gave us the earrings—he gave all the girls earrings and he gave all the men in the showroom cufflinks. In fact, he even gave them to all the men in the whole hotel, he gave them cufflinks. Was the Sahara, when you were working there, like the Sahara that is now? No. No way. What was the difference? It was a one-story building. (Laughs) It was more expanded, but it wasn’t high-rise. It had been the Bingo Club. I can’t even remember my boss’ name. (Laughs) Anyways, he bought it. He made it into the Sahara—so that’s when they started to expand it. They made rooms, and because when it was a Bingo Club, they didn’t have rooms. They had rooms and a casino and all. So I’ve worked there for three years and my husband was there five years. (Unintelligible) I think Las Vegas. The husband at that time, Louis Premont, that’s the first place they entertained here. First time they brought entertainment, it was at that— UNLV University Libraries Stella Iaconis 20 At the Sahara. And then it became— ‘Course he was famous before. But he was, that band from (Unintelligible) kept playing that Italian song, a dirty Italian song, it got banned. So did, any other— Now my husband, when he had the village shop at the Sands, like Sammy Davis, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra— Was that when they were starting out? Or they were pretty famous then? Oh they were kind of starting out. They were famous already, they were well known, but not like they are today. But he used to do all their alterations for them, pressing, and cleaning, and he took care of all the valet for all the actors. And that’s who gave ‘em the pictures. Back when your first year, what were the hospitals like? If you had ever been sick. For the hospital, we only had, at first we only had at least one hospital, and that was on North Second Street. What was it called? Las Vegas Hospital. And it was a two-story building. The only one in town. Straight from the hospital was the jail. (Laughs) And that was where the Horseshoe is today. Along with the Apache, and where the Apache was, for many years before they ever built the Apache, was (Unintelligible), was nothing, but boards. Was a big hole there, somebody looked like they had started a building or something. Yes. And in those days, when you dug two feet, you hit water. UNLV University Libraries Stella Iaconis 21 Oh! You couldn’t go down. ‘Cause you’d hit water. And evidently, it was about, I would say roughly fifty by twenty-five feet, with just boards of process, so people wouldn’t fall in. And they finally built the Apache there. The Apache is what today? Horseshoe. The Horseshoe Club? Mm-hmm. Yes. You said you had to live in a tent? We lived in a tent when he, my father first started moving. (Unintelligible) People were all living in tents. Was there a community of people, like of tents, until they started building their own homes? From Fourth Street to Fifth Street, which is now Las Vegas Boulevard South, was all the rich people. The VIPs of Las Vegas, or the blue bloods, they were known as. (Laughs) The lawyers, the doctors, they all had their homes on Fremont Street. Right. Between Third and Fifth. That was at the center of all the city activity! The VIPs, yes. And Fremont Street was the main drag. And where you lived, was outside? UNLV University Libraries Stella Iaconis 22 We lived out of, almost out of town because (Unintelligible) was the last feeding town, and we lived out of ‘em, between (Unintelligible) and Bonneville. Which Bonneville, its (unintelligible). And everybody lived in tents? All lived in tents because there were no homes. Did you all provide for each other? Or do you all just take care of each other, or was it all, one family for each other? No, more or less, each one took care of themselves. And the person (unintelligible) we used to get a lot of hobos, tramps coming around looking for work. Yes. We used coal and wood stoves in those days. Coal and wood stoves? Mm-hmm. And our job after school was to (unintelligible) and sometime we would get some of these hobos that come around and they want a sandwich or something to eat. And my mother used to always say, “Don’t turn anybody down, feed anybody that comes along, and make them work for it.” So I used to tell them, “There’s wood out there,”— (Laughs) So you would make ‘em to chop wood? (Laughs) Chop wood, and then I would make my sandwich and give it to them. Ah. (Laughs) She would never let me send anybody away hungry. What a kind woman. Yes, we helped to—I think the people helped each other more in those days. I remember we had a family live down the street from us, in a little shack, and they had four or five children and they—something happened, I don’t remember just what the case was. But anyways, the kids, UNLV University Libraries Stella Iaconis 23 they were about five children in the family and they had nothing to eat. And we booked a storm to buy canned goods. Bread, milk, and give it to them. No money—you always gave them food. Because you know, a lot of times, if you give them money, they go gamble. Yes. They don’t—and a lot of times, I know men didn’t take care of their children, on account of going gambling. They get their paychecks and go and gamble. And their family would be neglected. Mm-hmm. So we never gave money, but we always gave food. Always gave them food? We would give them lunch or something, or old clothes, dresses for the kids. And the whole family lived in that one tent? And you had a little room, like a stove, and I guess, candlelight, right? Candlelight, electric lights, lamps. We had the oil lamps. And the rich people, did they have the cars yet? Well, then they started building homes, you know, they had homes. The nice homes lived on Fremont. And then when the (unintelligible) the car, do you think? The cars didn’t actually start until around 1918, or—when they started with cars. The first car I saw was the (Unintelligible) and my gosh, I tell ya’, that was something else to watch on Fremont, on Main Street. A car. Car going down the street. UNLV University Libraries Stella Iaconis 24 That was the main attraction wasn’t it? (Laughs) Yes. They had little thin tires on ‘em and the old Model T4s, and oh— Did your family ever have a car? Yes, we had, my father had a Model T—well, he had a truck— Uh-huh. To haul the vegetables before. He always had Fords most of the time. And to haul the vegetables, he had a big truck. Then he bought Model Ts, we owned a Model T car; I used to drive that. Yes? Now I don’t drive. (Laughs) (Laughs) You see some of the Model Ts still around, like people—if you kept it, it would be worth a lot of money. Oh my, you have (unintelligible) I should say, amazing. Were there, how were the police back in those days? Were there any police? Oh yes, we always had, Sheriff Sam Gay, he was this great big fat man, but the greatest man you ever wanted to know. Yes? They didn’t arrest people like they do now, ‘course I don’t think we had the kind of people we have now either. I remember after my mother died, or even before, we used to leave the house—we never locked the doors. Yes. We never locked, we didn’t even have the key, we never took the key with us. I’d go to school and leave the room unlocked just to shut it, but there was nothing gone. That was— UNLV University Libraries Stella Iaconis 25 But you don’t dare do that today. No, no, no. I keep everything locked when I’m in the house. You have to. You don’t know what you’re getting into anymore, you know? Even right today, I got (unintelligible) to the door if you hadn’t called and talked to me, I would have never—I’m very careful even on the phone. I very seldom give my name out, or my address. I never give them my telephone. They get the wrong number, and they say to me, “Well, what number do I have?” and I say, “What number do you want?” (Laughs) You get some people go on the phone. I guess now it’s hard because you’re living by yourself during the day. And I would—if I was you, I wouldn’t want to give out my name either. No, ‘cause if you tell them who you are, and you more or less will get your information found, I told my husband last night, I said, “I got a young voice, I’m from college.” (Laughs) (Laughs) Well, telephone, the telegraph,