Abstract
Oral history interview with Tony Grasso and Doug Charles conducted by Coleen Seifert on February 29, 1980 and March 01, 1980 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Grasso first provides details on his background and how he ended up moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1951 before talking about his experience as a dealer in some of the early casinos. Grasso then talks about issues and controversies related to the gaming unions, the Nevada Gaming Control Board, and his then-current work at the Aladdin casino. Doug Charles discusses his career in the gaming industry. Charles also talks about his family background, his arrival to Las Vegas in 1957, and the early development of the various gaming properties in Las Vegas. He later goes into detail over some of his experiences as a dealer, his opinions on mob control over gaming, and some of the political and legal issues that have arisen in Las Vegas gaming.
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Scope and Contents Note
Oral history interview with Tony Grasso and Doug Charles conducted by Coleen Seifert on February 29, 1980 and March 01, 1980 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Grasso first provides details on his background and how he ended up moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1951 before talking about his experience as a dealer in some of the early casinos. He also talks a little about the different roles and games that casino workers deal and how players are invited to visit casinos. Grasso then talks about issues and controversies related to the gaming unions, the Nevada Gaming Control Board, and his then-current work at the Aladdin casino. The interview concludes with a discussion on gaming unions and Grasso’s future plans. Doug Charles discusses his career in the gaming industry. Charles also talks about his family background, his arrival to Las Vegas in 1957, and the early development of the various gaming properties in Las Vegas. He later goes into detail over some of his experiences as a dealer, his opinions on mob control over gaming, and some of the political and legal issues that have arisen in Las Vegas gaming. Digital audio and transcript available.
Access Note
Collection is open for research. Where use copies do not exist, production of use copies is required before access will be granted; this may delay research requests. Advanced notice is required.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections and Archives website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish. Some transcripts do not exist in final form, therefore any editing marks in a transcript (deletions, additions, corrections) are to be quoted as marked.
Preferred Citation
Tony Grasso and Doug Charles oral history interview, 1980 February 29, 1980 March 01. OH-00714. [Cite format consulted: Audio recording or Transcript.] Oral History Research Center, Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
University of Nevada, Las Vegas History Professor Ralph Roske donated materials for this oral history project to UNLV Libraries Special Collections and Archives in the 1980s.
Processing Note
Interview materials were processed by UNLV Libraries Special Collections and Archives in 2017 and 2018. Miguel Dominguez wrote the collection description. This interview was transcribed and edited by UNLV Libraries Special Collections and Archives as part of an ongoing effort to transcribe legacy interviews. This interview transcript received minimal editing and all measures have been taken to preserve the style and language of the narrator. The interviewee/narrator was not involved in the editing process. A digital version (PDF) of the transcript is available for research use. The audio cassette(s) for this interview have been reformatted by an external vendor into a digital format. MP3 files of the audio are available for research use.