Transcript of interview with Gordon Christie by Larry DuRussel, June 30, 1975

UNLV University Libraries Gordon Christie i An Interview with Gordon Christie An Oral History Conducted by Larry J. DuRussel 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 Gordon Christie ii © Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 2017 UNLV University Libraries Gordon Christie 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 Gordon Christie iv Abstract On June 30, 1975, Larry DuRussel interviewed carpenter Gordon Christie, (born March 9th, 1916 in Grand Rapids, Michigan) at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada. During this interview Gordon discusses having worked on the building of the MGM, Fremont Downtown, the Sahara Hotel, Desert Inn, and the Frontier Hotel, amongst others. Before becoming a carpenter, Gordon recalls working with his father at a furniture factory. He also discusses religion, politics, family life and the growth of Las Vegas. UNLV University Libraries Gordon Christie 1 This is side one interviewing Mr. Gordon Christie. Why did you and your family come here to Nevada? Oh, it got to be too many people down to California so we thought we’d come up here. You moved from California? We moved from California to Las Vegas. How many times have you moved in Southern Nevada? How many times? Mm-hm. In Southern Nevada? Mm-hm. Well when we first came here we lived at Kings Road (unintelligible) for about a year, then we bought this place here at 729 North 10th Street and we lived here ever since. What do you do while you live here? Hmm? What do you do while you live here in Southern Nevada? What’s your occupation? I’m a carpenter. Mm. Where have you worked at, you know? In town here? Yes. Oh. I’ve worked at— Such as building. The last one I worked in was the MGM. I worked two years there. (Unintelligible) UNLV University Libraries Gordon Christie 2 Mm-hm. That’s good. Well, when you first came here, what differences do you notice as far as buildings being here and—? Uh-huh. Then and now? There were no high rise hotels when we moved here. There wasn’t none. What about did you work on any of the new ones, say, such as the, the ones that have built up since you’ve came? I worked on the Fremont Downtown and I worked on the Sahara and Frontier. Hm. And Desert Inn and (Unintelligible) Oh yes. Did you go way up and have to work on it? Yes. What was it like while you were working up there, was it windy or? Kind of scary. Was it? Were you right outside, working? I used to hang on the outside. Oh no. In a (unintelligible) chair when they pour concrete. Yes. Then watch and pour, we call it, watch and pour. Huh. And when they pour the concrete in, the thing would just vibrate and the last one—I worked on MGM from the ground up, all the way, two years. UNLV University Libraries Gordon Christie 3 What about, did you work in the penthouses up there, in the MGM? Yes. I worked on them. What are they like up there? Very plush. Yes. That’s what I heard and they run like a thousand a day. There’s a gambling casino upstairs. Where about is that? It’s on the twenty-sixth floor. Twenty-sixth floor? Mm-hm. What do you have to do to get in there? Why is it private? I think, I heard, this is what I heard, that it would cost you twenty thousand dollars just to belong. To a club? Very exclusive. Yes. Mm-hm. Let me ask you now, have you noticed any changes or growth in your career field? I know you just mentioned all the hotels but as far as carpentry around? In this town? Ah, when it came Monday morning and like people had gone back to California, the place was dead. Where at? Where at? The whole town was, seventeen years ago. Seventeen years ago it was. Yes. Yes. There wasn’t too much going here yet at that time. Let’s see, what church do you belong to, Gordon? UNLV University Libraries Gordon Christie 4 Ah, we used to be a Baptist and now we go to the Las Vegas Christian Center and it’s held at Circus Circus. (Laughs) And what happens there? (Laughs) Well, eventually we intend to have our own church. What do you mean? Well, we just rent the grand ballroom, and that’s just where our church service is now. Whose we? The Christian Society? Las Vegas Christian Center, and Reverend Sharp is our pastor. Mm-hm. What, you told me before that Bishop— Well, it’s an interdenominational church and we even have Catholics come in and preach. Bishop (Unintelligible) spoke at our church oh two or three times. Were you active in politics, anyway, while you were out here? Um, not really, I—we always vote. You do? Yes. Mm-hm. Which—? Ah, well. Can I ask you which way you vote or would vote? I’ve been a Republican but I, I think a person should really vote for a party, you know, for the man, not the party. Were you a member of any social club or other special interest group? No. What do you think about the gambling here? UNLV University Libraries Gordon Christie 5 What do I think about the gambling? Well, if it wasn’t for the gambling, none of us would be living here. Do you gamble? Ah, occasionally. A little bit at the, maybe at the grocery stores. Oh. Really not my style. Just for recreational then? Yes. You don’t—? Ah, what I can afford to lose. Mm-hm. I’ve never had any big thing with it. Do you remember any visits of any prominent people? Such as presidents or heads of state or anything that you call—? I’ve met the governor. Which governor? Governor Calhan. Mm-hm. Spoke to him at Circus Circus, he—excuse me, not Circus Circus, I mean, the MGM. Mm-hm. What do you think of him? I think he’s a good man. Do you? Yes. UNLV University Libraries Gordon Christie 6 You like the way he runs it now? Yes I do. (Unintelligible) (Laughs) Well you weren’t here when Carole Lombard’s plane crashed. No. What about any other spectacular events, would you think that happened around here since you’ve been here? Spectacular events? Yes. Things that have happened that would be outstanding in your mind? Well, I think the growth of this town is really something super. The hotels, ah, some of the finest hotels in the world, I believe, and I believe that you’d probably find as good a food here as any place in the United States. The food is, well, it has to be good to, as a drawing card to the hotels. (Unintelligible) And they have the best shows in the world. It’s the entertainment capital of the world now, and the entertainers are the highest paid here than any place in history. Did you go to any of the shows Downtown? I have but not recently. Mm. What do you remember any of the above ground atomic tests that they’ve had here? Yes. I’ve felt a few of the shakes. Yes. Yes. And in recent years or was this times before, say, maybe fifteen years ago or so when they were testing? UNLV University Libraries Gordon Christie 7 I can’t tell you just exactly when but I know we’ve been told, you know, when these tests were gonna go off and we’d be waiting for it and then even the pickup truck on the job would be waving back and forth, it was that severe. You were on the job then when some of them hit? Yes. Yes. Were you ever up in the buildings and anything? Yes. I was working at the Frontier as, at maintenance, for about nine months, when one of the big tests come on, and they even had a plum bob hanging off of the ceiling and a big circle, to see how far this would go back and forth. Did you see it though? Yes. About how far did it go? Well. A couple of— I couldn’t, it’s been quite a while where I couldn’t tell you. Mm-hm. But it, it was quite a little action. One of the—I think one of the finest things that ever happened to this town was when Howard Hughes came here. I think (unintelligible) and it give big business incentive to go ahead. Since then (unintelligible) came in and those big corporations. I think we’ve had our best growth since Howard Hughes came in. You think he really helped the town a lot then? (Unintelligible) In my estimation, I think that he was very good for this town. You think it was his money that built this town? UNLV University Libraries Gordon Christie 8 His money helped give other people a confidence to go ahead. What, I asked you this before, what changes might you have noticed in Southern Nevada since, such as economic changes, as far as the way people live and the economy of the state and maybe as far as taxes would go? Oh, I think right up until this last eight, ten months, people probably lived better here than any place in the United States; even the working people have had good jobs, you know, and they all live well—had good cars and they look and act prosperous. Do you think industry other than hotel industry has come to Nevada? Or you know, what would you know about any industry coming here besides, say, the power over at Henderson and the hotel industry? I mean, small industries and small businesses. Well, I don’t think we have too much small industry yet but there, eventually, or gradually, there’s more and more of ‘em keeps coming in. Yes. What about since you’ve came in? You know at first—yes, since you came what do you think about the industry as far as the well, I’ll say something like swamp coolers and pest control etcetera. Yes. I would say that the biggest share of your homes has swamp coolers, when I first came her but now I would say that there’s very few swamp coolers and most everyone has converted over to refrigeration. Because they’ve made money here and they’ve prospered. What did you use? I had swamp coolers. Yes. And our, all of our places have refrigeration now. How many places do you have? UNLV University Libraries Gordon Christie 9 I just have, our four here on Canton Street and a ranch out at Pahrump. At Pahrump? Yes. And I had some property on North Las Vegas but I sold that. And you being a carpenter and doing your own work and doing the work around the town I know just in the last year you’ve added on to your house. Was it a, what do you think about the working conditions, as far as a carpenter would work? Well, there’s a, quite a bad recession, even here in Las Vegas right now. What about when you first came, how was the business and—? Well, there was— As far as the heat going and working? As far as what? Heat. Heat? Well, I’m not too crazy about the heat tell you the truth about it. But for eight or nine months out of the year you couldn’t beat the town of Las Vegas. Hm. It was terrific. Okay. There’s no place perfect. I don’t particularly care. Hm. But it only lasts couple months. Hm. What about the building supplies, when you first came and compared to throughout the time you were here? Well. UNLV University Libraries Gordon Christie 10 Say the prices and the availability. We had—availability, we have plenty of everything now but the prices are high. But they’re high all over the United States. When you first came was there plenty of wood and things available to do the buildings? Oh yes. Yes. Have you noticed any environmental changes? Well, even noticing smog, when we first came here. Mm-hm. But there’s days now that it looks kind of dreamy on the on the foothills of the mountains. What do you think is the cause of that? Oh, I would say automobiles. Mm-hm. When you first came was the Henderson Power Plant over there? Yes. Well, did that make any smog through the Valley? Why, I suppose it did but it’s quite a ways away from here and we didn’t notice it here. So you just—? Sometimes it the morning you’d, you’d see it a little though. Yes, I suppose it was smog yes. Well, do you know or remember any floods or fires here then? Well, not that flood but my wife used, she worked at the Showboat for about ten years as a waitress and all of our drains are surface drainage here and as they keep building on houses they fill in the natural drainage and at one time the water came right to the Showboat, a flood. There were onions and potatoes just floating out through the casino. (Laughs) how wide, was that about, how deep was it there? UNLV University Libraries Gordon Christie 11 Well, it wasn’t very deep it was, the water was floating out through the casino. Was that a flash flood? Yes. Do you remember any, I know the snowstorm of a couple years ago, you remember any earlier snowstorms here in this place? No. That was the only one I experienced here at it was quite a freak snowfall, seven or eight inches, I guess. Quite a surprise. How about any earthquakes? You noticed any of those? I’ve never experienced an earthquake here, not that I can feel. (Music playing) (Tape ends) The most beautiful place in Nevada I think is up around Gardnerville, and Carson City, Carson Valley. There’s a half moon circle in through there, half circle, from Yerington clear unto Sparks that’s gorgeous. Hm. But the most beautiful place I ever seen in my life is Gardnerville, with lush valleys and snowcapped mountains on each side. Hm. It’s prosperous. You mentioned farming out there. What kind of farming might they have? Oh, they have all kinds of hay and cattle. Mm-hm. Oh, it’s beautiful. UNLV University Libraries Gordon Christie 12 Do you--? It’s like a picture postcard. Do you ever see the ponderosa up there? Pardon, the pines? The ponderosa. Oh, that’s up at in the (unintelligible) Mm-hm. Tahoe’s a very beautiful place. There’s around a hundred, I’d say, around a hundred and fifty mile park of just beautiful valley. What’d you mention about the pines? The what? The pines. Pines? Yes, snowcapped mountains and lots of timber, pines. Well, did you see any, while you travelled through there, what they call a (unintelligible) or how do they get the timber down the mountain? Why that I don’t—probably in the olden days but the timber I see them log ‘em down and haul in trucks. Oh like haul it down? Yes. They have good roads? Yes. Gordy, where about or how’d you happen to get into carpentry and woodworking? UNLV University Libraries Gordon Christie 13 Oh, my wife’s dad was in the lumber business and he sold some hardwoods to the furniture factories in Grand Rapids and he talked me into moving down there and he got me a job in a furniture factory. Hm. So that’s my first woodworking. This was Grand Rapids, Michigan? Grand Rapids, Michigan. It, I don’t know if it’s still the furniture capital of the world or not, it used to be known as the furniture capital of the world. Then what kind of furniture did you make? Or what did you do, you know? Oh, dorm room sets, fancy furniture. Grand Rapids was known for good furniture. Have you made any furniture since you’ve been out in Nevada? No. (Unintelligible) The nearest thing I ever, was the furniture is the, Howard Hughes’s Nevada, that place is in the Frontier Hotel and his offices are pretty plush, so it’s the nicest furniture. They were very well, well-made offices. He made it so plush. I have to work on all the offices, his went on first, when Robert Mahee was in charge. What kind of woodworking was, well, as far as carpentry, what kind of woods would you say, they used when you first came, as they used now? Is the wood better or lesser grade that you’re using? Well, construction on those are entirely different from a finished one, you know. The hard woods and veneers that was used in the Frontier Hotel and Howard Hughes’s, ah, in the operations UNLV University Libraries Gordon Christie 14 offices some of the most fine workmanship as you ever seen. We started up from the, they have a real good shop there, we start off with the rough lumber and made the whole thing. Mm. We didn’t make our own veneer, it was (unintelligible) naturally but our hardwoods we from the rough piece and the finished product. You, how many additions, or you have put additions unto your house? How did you do this? All by yourself or (unintelligible)? Well, this old house was here at Cantor Street, was about probably seventy or eighty years old, and I’ve renewed the whole thing. You mean you’ve done the inside and the outside kind of thing? I tore it apart and done it over made anew. It turned out nice. Wow. Have you had any illnesses since you’ve been in Nevada? Well, I had a heart attack at the MGM. At? While you were working? I was working at the MGM. Because we were working sixteen hours a day and that’s enough to kill an elephant. And, not that I’m not healthy, you know, it was just too many hours. Then where, which hospital, and you know how’d they get you to the hospital? Oh, I was at the, ah, they took me to Sunrise Hospital, and I had two of ‘em after that. But it was just too many hours, just overworked. I feel fine today. I don’t think there’s a thing wrong with my heart now. But when they set a deadline on when they’re gonna open the hotel, they’re gonna open, regardless, and we was just working around the clock, seven days a week. What was your average, well, yes, let me ask you what was your average pay when you first came out here and started working as compared to now? UNLV University Libraries Gordon Christie 15 Well, you might make a hundred and twenty-five, a hundred and fifty a week. Is that when you first came out? And now, not bragging or anything but this is a fact, on your work at the hotels, on your, when there’s overtime, we would make as high as seventeen hundred dollars a week. Woo (Laughs) that’s a lot of money. That’s for sixteen hours a day. Mm. That was now. What’d you make when you first came out? Oh, probably a hundred and fifty dollars a week, maybe. Oh. But you didn’t have any overtime then? No. I used to hear about the fellows with the big checks, he’s making up two or three, two of them, a thousand or twelve hundred dollars a week and I didn’t believe it. But it is possible. Hm. And you start figuring out that double time it counts up. But no use to killing yourself for a buck though. It’s not worth it. You travelled up, you just got back from vacation, you travelled up to Northern Nevada? Yes. And what do you think of the country in between Las Vegas and where you went to, where was it you were at? I was, I went up above Reno. Above Reno, up into the mountains? To the mountains, yes. Sierra, Nevada, somewhere? UNLV University Libraries Gordon Christie 16 Between Northern and Southern Nevada, I think it has, a person should be satisfied with the two places. I believe it has about everything that anything has to offer. The Southern Nevada is a warm climate and the northern Nevada is more like back east. Hm. In the timber and the high country and so you have, right within the state you have practically everything that you can find any place you could do or get anywhere in the United, in the whole United States. What about the in between there? What kind of—I’ve never been up there. In between, it’s— I don’t know what it’s like. Mountains and high desert. Is it? Yes. It is desert? Yes. I’d say high desert. Have you seen any animals on your way up? Any wildlife? Any signs? Not too much. Some jackrabbits and maybe there’d be a desert fox, occasionally. What kind of sports or anything have you done, you know, while you were here? Do you fish or hunt? I love to fish and I used to hunt, I haven’t mounted too much in the last few years. It’s a good state to deer hunt in the northern part and the Colorado River is a terrific place to fish. Lots of trout and various kinds of fish but I usually go for trout. Is that where you fish most of the time, in the Colorado River, when you go out? UNLV University Libraries Gordon Christie 17 Yes. But I usually go down to and below Davis Dam to fish. Now they have the big stripers in there, it’s a very productive river. What do you, do you think, where, when you were deer hunting, whereabouts did you go, do you remember? Oh, I’ve hunted at Austin, I’ve hunted at Pioche. Mm. And I’ve hunted at a little abandoned gold mining town called Midas. Hm. What was that like, Midas? Midas? Terrific hunting. Oh yes. It’s really up in the boondocks. Oh how’d you get back to the town? I had a friend that lived up there. In the town? Yes and I was invited. Hm. Wow. As a guest up there and I been up there around three or four times. Hm. What’d it look like the ghost town or the part that was left? Oh, it’s about forty miles up a gravel road and it’s near a canyon up in the mountains and they tell me it used to be a real productive gold mining town. There’s a M-I-N-A and this is M-I-D-A-S. It’s up on the Idaho border. It’s above Winnemucca and Golconda. That’s five hundred and seventeen miles from Las Vegas. Which way would you go up there? UNLV University Libraries Gordon Christie 18 You cut off at Tonopah and go up through Battle Mountain and Austin and up in that direction. Gordy, what do you think is one of the spectacular events that have happened since you’ve been here? Spectacular events? Oh (unintelligible)? (Unintelligible) Oh, well, the oldest hotel, the first one, it burned up, since I lived here. You mean, which one? The El Rancho and we were working across, right across the street from it, building a new shopping center there, on Sahara, North of Fifth Street and we came to work next—I seen the smoke, you know, from—I lived at Kings Road (Unintelligible) and I see the smoke from a distance. I thought it was up towards Red Rock and we came to work and El Rancho was leveled. It was still burning when you went to work? Still smoking, still smoking. Geez. What, you mentioned before that your wife worked at the— (Unintelligible) You have two children and they’ve been here for the seventeen years that you’ve been here, that’d be almost half their life. Yes, yes. Is there anything you might want to tell about them? My oldest son Paul has probably worked on every high rise hotel in this town. Hm. UNLV University Libraries Gordon Christie 19 And on the University, on practically every phase of it. He does this, oh, is kind of ornamental (unintelligible), you know, all this fancy stuff on the front of the university. Hm. He does all these fancy arches and that sort of stuff. He’s married? Yes. Does he have any kids now? He has three children. What does he think about Nevada and things here? Oh I think he saw that. He likes it? Yes. Ah, let’s see, how long have you had this lot here now? Excuse me? How long have you had this lot here now, that you live on now, here? This place here? For about fifteen years. You’ve had it fifteen? Fifteen. Where did you stay in the city before that? Well, we lived in a trailer about the first year or so and then I got rid of the trailer and I bought a place in North Las Vegas on Fifth and Carey, and I lived there for a few years and then I moved up here on the hill. Originally, you were from Michigan? UNLV University Libraries Gordon Christie 20 Michigan, originally. We came west in 1941 to California, and we came here in ’59. And you were raised or—how were you raised? How were you raised? How was I raised? What do you mean? Well— Oh, I was a farmer boy until I was sixteen years old and then I started working in a furniture factory (unintelligible) from there I came to Los Angeles, California, and from Los Angeles, I came to Las Vegas. (Music playing) (Tape ends)