Transcript of interview with Joseph L. Haughaboo by James F. Haughaboo, April 1, 1976

UNLV University Libraries Joseph L. Haughaboo i An Interview with Joseph L. Haughaboo An Oral History Conducted by James F. Haughaboo 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 Joseph L. Haughaboo ii © Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 2019 UNLV University Libraries Joseph L. Haughaboo 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 Joseph L. Haughaboo iv Abstract On April 1, 1976, James F. Haughaboo interviewed his father, Joseph L. Haughaboo in his father’s home at 954 Lulu Avenue, Las Vegas, Nevada. The two discuss Haughaboo’s personal family history, his occupational history, and Mr. Haughaboo’s observations of Las Vegas city life since he moved to the state in 1953. UNLV University Libraries Joseph L. Haughaboo 1 This is an oral history interview with Mr. Joseph L. Haughaboo. He’s been a resident of Las Vegas for twenty-three years. Mr. Haughaboo, where are you originally from? Is it on? I’m originally from Covington, Kentucky. Now when did you come out here? I come out here in 1953. Oh, what was the reason for you deciding to come out here? Well, I was in the gambling business in Kentucky, and things were a little slow, so I thought I’d come out here to see how it was out here, the gambling business. Did you bring your family with you? No, I was separated from my wife and I came out here alone. What was the major—what was some of the differences in the gambling here and in Kentucky? Well, in Kentucky, I used all chips, and tables were what they called, “N-Layouts,” a dealer stood at each end, and the tables here, are what they call “Side-Lads,” a dealer will stand on the back of the table. And here they used silver dollars at that time, when I first came out here, and I have the—in Kentucky, they used the pit bosses, or bosses, stood on the ramp and overlooked the game. Where out here, the bosses are in the pit and didn’t overlook the game. Were there—what were the things you noticed most about the town when you first came out? Oh the town at that time was small. I bet the population was about twenty-five thousand. The Strip was like, almost like a two-lane, and there were no high-rise hotels, more or less on the ground floor. And each hotel was on the Strip was, oh maybe, anywhere from three to five hundred rooms. I worked in the Sands when I first came here, it was a proper major hotel at that UNLV University Libraries Joseph L. Haughaboo 2 time. The Desert Inn was a big hotel then, and it had the only golf course of any of the hotels at that time. Most of the gambling concentrated between the Sands, the Desert Inn, the Sahara, and the Thunderbird, the El Rancho, and the Frontier, and the Flamingo. They were all the major hotels at the Strip at that time. What about the Downtown area? Well, the Downtown area, they had the hotels down there, they weren’t exactly hotels, but the gambling places were the Golden Nugget, they had the Horseshoe, the El Cortez, and the Pioneer Club, California Club, and the Boulder Club and Las Vegas Club. And it was concentrated in, all within two blocks. It was more or less like it is now, with the exception of when they started building the hotels around there. Fremont, Mint, and Evening Plaza, they’re all high-rises now. I think the only hotel that had any rooms at all was the Horseshoe at that time, Downtown. About when did the other hotels start following suit, so to say? What do you mean by that? Following—starting building the high-rises? I think the first high-rise that was built was the Riviera. Then the Sahara started building the high-rise, and that’s about the only two high-rises in the beginning, of the high-rise hotels. Was there any other business out here besides the gambling? I mean, important business? No, not at that time. I remember all the businesses that were here depended on the gambling. The only other business they had, that I know of, was in Henderson, where they had that plant out in Henderson that employed quite a few people. The other thing I wanted to say, when I was working at the Sands, I used to see Howard Hughes in there. At that time he wasn’t a recluse. And the way he was dressed, he looked like a bum. He had, oh, a two-dollar shirt on, with frayed UNLV University Libraries Joseph L. Haughaboo 3 cuffs, he had a rope around his pants for a belt, and he wore sneakers, and he always needed to shave, and I saw him oh, quite a bit. How about the entertainment down on the Strip, such as the showrooms and things like that? Well, the entertainment was good, not like it is today, only it’s a lot higher priced today than it was then. And when the Sands first opened, they had Danny Thomas, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and a few others that I can’t think of, but they were all big name entertainers. (Unintelligible) the shows was, that they had at the Sands, was South Pacific, with that Ezio Pinza played there. What about the residential area in town? The schools and things like that. Well, when I first came here, they had one high school in town, that was the Las Vegas High, and oh, grade schools, I really don’t know. I can remember when they first built Gorman High though, that was oh, a couple years after I was here. That area over where Gorman High is now, was all desert. Paradise Road was a two-lane road, all the way out past the airport. The airport runway didn’t cut out Paradise Road at that time. I lived up off of Sunset Road which would be on the other side of the runway now at that time. The runway didn’t come that far or that big, and the main part of the airport, the administration building of the airport was on the Strip. What about some of the other—like Tropicana, and Maryland Parkway, the other large roads. What were they like then? Well, Tropicana was Bond Road at that time. And it ran—it was the only connection between the Strip and Boulder Highway that far out. And Maryland Parkway only ran to as far as Oakey, at that time. And Sahara was called San Francisco, and it was paved to where Sixth Street is now. The rest of it was dirt road. UNLV University Libraries Joseph L. Haughaboo 4 What was the most populated areas of the town? Oh, the most populated was around, over in the, as far as residential was concerned, was around Huntridge, over in that area. Around the—then they started moving out, they built Twin Lakes subdivision, and people started moving out that way, and that grew up pretty good out on the Westside of town. How about shopping districts and things like that? Well, all the shopping was located Downtown on Fremont Street. (Unintelligible), a pretty big store, on Sixth and Fremont. Ronzoni’s was located Downtown between, I think it was between Third and Fourth, and that was your, one of your big department stores. J.C. Penney’s was on the corner of Sixth and on Fremont. And of course, the hotels, they all had clothing shops in at that time. The main, the main influx of people to Las Vegas, was it from California? The same as it is now? Well, the main, mostly people drove in from California or flew in from California, and we got a lot of eastern business at that time. Just like we do now, we weren’t any (unintelligible) or anything like that, they had the—they had anniversary parties, for the hotels when they were built and when they were opened. Outside that, most of the people were from California. The hotel and gambling industry, how many, how many people would you say the average hotel employed at that time? Well, I couldn’t say. But I mean, oh, close, but I’m—I would guess about, oh maybe five hundred. What would you guess they employ today? Oh probably either, three or four times that much—fifteen hundred to two thousand people. UNLV University Libraries Joseph L. Haughaboo 5 How long were you at the Sands? I was at the Sands for two years, and I left there when—in 1955, when the Dunes opened up. And the Dunes wasn’t very successful at that time. 1955 was a bad year for all of ‘em Strip Hotels. The Riviera was built in 1955, the Hotel Nevada was built in ’55, the Frontier, the New Frontier opened up in ’55, and we had a lot of hotels open up that year, and there just wasn’t enough business to go around. So the Dunes closed completely, and in January of 1956, and then I went to the Desert Inn at that time and worked. And at that time, the Desert Inn, oh had a, had as much business as anybody in town with their golf-course, and they had a tournament of champions, it originated there at the Desert Inn. I worked there about five or six years, I’m not sure exactly how long. Then at that time, the Stardust was open, and I was affiliated with the Desert Inn, and I went over there and I worked at the Stardust for, oh about six years. Then Caesar’s Palace opened up, and I went there, oh about a year after they opened, and I worked there about five or six years. And by that time, the Strip was a, well, like it is today almost. The MGM opened up, I left there and went to the MGM. Comparing the town now, as it was then. What would you say are some of the most important changes that have occurred? Well I think the biggest change, I think the biggest change at the time is the traffic. At that time, when I first come out here in ’53, you could drive all over town and never have to worry about traffic or anything like it is today. And to me, it’s just too crowded today to get around in. The streets aren’t adequate to hold the traffic. And as far as gambling is concerned, the hotels were all run by individuals or by a group of men who are now, most of ‘em, are called corporations. And corporations to me are a little cold. To corporations, you’re just a number, where it used to be you were on a name basis. UNLV University Libraries Joseph L. Haughaboo 6 What was considered “in town” as compared to “out of town”? Like now, the center of town would be centered around the university and that area. Oh well, I don’t know if that’s the center of town now or not, but I can remember when they finally put Maryland Parkway all the way through, I was living down off of Sahara and the run-on road out, right off of Tropicana, and I could remember when I was moving there, I was driving past the university. And the university was only one building then, now. I forget what it was called, I think it was the Maude Frazier building, it was the only building they had at that time. And Maryland Parkway was only two-lane. (Audio cuts off and returns mid-conversation)—What about property at that time, how expensive was it? Well, most of the property at that time was built, they started to build right down around, off of Sahara, on the north side of Sahara, and on the west side of town, where most of the homes were three bedroom homes or smaller. And the—most of them had the swamp cooler. Which at that time, were adequate. I don’t think the humidity was as high then as it is now. And the price range was about, oh, fifteen, sixteen thousand for a fairly nice home. The first house I bought was sixteen-five. And I had that home for, oh about, five years, and I sold it for twenty-one thousand. Then the home I bought was around twenty-thousand. What about apartments and things like that? Well, there were very few apartments at that time. When I first came out here, the people that were moving here at that time had a hard time finding any place to live because there weren’t any apartments, hardly at all. And you got the paper, read the ads, by the time you got there, it might be twenty people for one, looking for one apartment. There were quite a few one-room places, like efficiency apartments, but anybody with a family, it wasn’t big enough. UNLV University Libraries Joseph L. Haughaboo 7 When did they start building out here, for more of a residential type city instead of just a transient—(unintelligible) between? Well, most of the buildings started around, in 1955. And from then on, it just took off, and it’s been going ever since. What were some of the recreation they had in the city besides the gambling? Well, that was about the only thing that they had for people who lived here and worked here. There was Lake Mead, we would go fishing out there, and at that time, ‘course the boats were small, they didn’t have the engine size they had now. There wasn’t too much water skiing, and Mount Charleston, people used to go up there for picnics. They had one lodge up there, that you could have a place to eat. As a matter of fact, they had a little ice rink where you could ice skate, but they didn’t have any ski resorts, or any lifts, or anything like that. Nobody skied at that time. The movies in town were located on Fremont Street. The one was on Fremont and the other was El Portal. And they had one on Maryland Parkway, the Huntridge. That’s the only three movies I know. And they had one drive-in, it was located on the Strip, right behind where the old Nevada Annex is now, next to the Stardust. That’s about the only type of recreation that we had. One other thing, Helldorado at that time was a pretty big thing, and all the people used to dress in western clothes, even on the Strip. At the Strip hotels, like Downtown, now, for Helldorado, most of the people dress western. But they don’t on the Strip anymore, but at that time, when I first came here, everybody had to, oh, the western shirts and pants, and boots and the parades were a real big thing at that time. All the hotels that were built at that time, were, had an entering the parade, and it was a lot bigger then than it is now; seems to be dying out now. Are there any other holidays that seem to be fading out around here, so soon? That were big at that time? UNLV University Libraries Joseph L. Haughaboo 8 Well, not that I know of. I don’t recall any. At New Years, did they always bring in all the big people and everything to the hotels, or was it more or less just anybody came? Well New Years was always a big holiday. You could invite a guest, just like it is now, and in fact, they are probably bigger now than it was then. What about the rest of the state back then? Was it, like Reno and Tahoe, were they considered big gambling places at the time? Not at that time. I guess Reno was bigger than Las Vegas, as far as gambling is concerned. But after they built the Desert Inn, it seemed to take off here and it got a lot bigger here than it is in Reno now. One other thing at that time (Laughs), which I guess I should mention, is that they had a place out on the Boulder Highway, it was called Roxie’s. It was legal prostitution, and it was run by the sheriff then, who was Glen Jones. And his two chief deputies, one was Ralph Lamb, the other one was Lloyd Bell. (Laughs) And they used to be his oh, I guess that was his vice squad on the Strip. And they were running—they were partners. Was there any other main prostitution in the town? Or within driving distance? No, that was the only one that I know of. And from I gather, they tell me that it was oh it was run pretty tight. ‘Course like I said, I was married at the time, I didn’t go out there, but I heard all about it. And it was like if somebody was drunk or something like that. They couldn’t get in. If they had been drinking they could get in, but if they were drunk they couldn’t get in. It was run real tight. Was there no prostitution in the hotels at the time? UNLV University Libraries Joseph L. Haughaboo 9 Not nearly as much as now. Because at that time, there were no, like, if the girls got picked up, they usually got run out of town. There were no ifs, ands, or buts—they just got run out of town by—because the town’s run by Glen Jones, the sheriff, and he saw to it that they didn’t come back. Now, they got all these lawyers and everything to get a map when they get picked up. So you didn’t see too much of it that time on the Strip. Or Downtown? Yes, Downtown neither. And one other thing, you didn’t have to worry about walking out in the parking lot or walking up and down the Strip then, nobody bothered you at that time. And now, anytime you walk out in the parking lot, you’re subject to get robbed. Didn’t a lot of these, other parts of the country sort of look down on Nevada as a sort of a state that did everything that they outlawed? Like they legalized prostitution, they legalized gambling, and—didn’t the rest of the—? No, I couldn’t say about that. I don’t know what the other states did. But at that time, the state was probably only about, oh, maybe two hundred, three hundred thousand people in the whole state. And I guess the other states didn’t care much about what this state did at that time. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Haughaboo.