Search Results
Chet Buchanan oral history interview: transcript
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Oral history interview with Chet Buchanan conducted by Barbara Tabach on November 28, 2017 for the Remembering 1 October Oral History Project. Chet Buchanan begins this interview with a discussion of his move to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1999 after he was offered a job as a radio show host for 98.5 KLUC. He talks about the specifics of his job, including his career background as well as the Chet Buchanan Toy Drive. For this interview, he specifically goes into detail on his coverage of the Las Vegas October 2017 mass shooting and discusses being in San Diego, California at the time, yet still striving to reach people through his broadcast with the help of CBS San Diego. Throughout the interview, Buchanan examines his desire to make a difference in the community with his show and his interactions with the public.
Text
Photographs of Rummel Motel sign, Las Vegas (Nev.), February 23, 2017
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Site address: 1809 S Las Vegas Blvd
Sign owner: Yeh Chia-Hong
Sign details: The motel was founded by Marvin Rummel in 1945 (VintageLasVegas, n.d.), although the Clark County Assessor lists the original construction year as 1951 (Assessor, n.d.). Undated vintage postcards, one describing the motel as "new" (Rummel Motel, 1809 So. 5th St. U.S. 91 - L.A. Highway Las Vegas, Nevada original vintage postcard, n.d.) show that a two-story building was later added to the back of the motor court (VintageLasVegas). The addition may explain the discrepancy in construction dates. The Roles family purchased the property in 1958 (VintageLasVegas; Noted bowler, hotel owner dies, 2002). Ralph Roles also operated the Del Mar Motel (the Del Mar's sign, designed by Betty Willis, is now at the Neon Museum). A vintage postcard from 1958 shows that motel was endorsed by the Automobile Association of America and another automobile club (Garofalo, 2011). The motel was severely damaged by fire on April 30 2017 (VintageLasVegas; Hershkovitz, 2017) and is currently closed.
Sign condition: The condition is 2, fair. The lower portion of the cabinet is dented and access panels are damaged or missing. The upper portions of the cabinet display numerous metal patches. The plastic on the reader board has holes. The remaining neon tubing appears to be intact. All incandescent light bulbs are missing.
Sign form: Pylon sign
Sign-specific description: The sign is supported by a rectangular blue metal pylon. A blue metal-framed reader board and orange metal upper cabinet are cantilevered out from the pylon toward the street. In the center of the upper cabinet is an amoeba-shaped area which is painted black and outlined by white skeleton neon. Inside the black amoeba are individual cursive letters which spell out "Rummel Motel" in white paint traced by white skeleton neon. Atop the upper cabinet is a smaller orange metal cabinet which is wing-shaped. Above the wing is a blue metal circle. Inside the channel of the circle are six concentric circles of empty light sockets. On the outside of the circle is a semi-circular metal frame which holds five white skeleton neon five-pointed stars.
Sign - type of display: Neon, incandescent and reader board
Sign - media: Steel and plastic
Sign - non-neon treatments: Incandescent light bulbs and a reader board
Sign environment: This is located on Las Vegas Boulevard South just north of the Las Vegas Strip
Sign - date of installation: The current sign dates back to at least 1958, but probably is not the original motel sign. A vintage postcard shows that before the two-story addition, the motel had a simple double pole sign with the name "Rummel Motel" enclosed by an open oval (Rummel Motel, 1809 So. 5th St. U.S. 91 - L.A. Highway Las Vegas, Nevada original vintage postcard, n.d.). The colors, lettering style and oval shape of the former sign appear to have inspired the design of the sign seen in a postcard from 1958 (Garofalo, 2011). The latter sign, with heavy modification, is the sign seen on the property today. The sign as currently configured is recognizable in a postcard from the late 1950's or early 1960's (Las Vegas motels then and now, n.d.).
Sign - date of redesign/move: The circa 1958 sign (Garofalo, 2011) was supported by double poles. The pole on the street side of the sign can still be seen on the upper cabinet, but it no longer reaches to the ground. The pole on the motel side of the sign ran from the ground toward the center of the sign, and then doglegged inward toward the motel to support the sign from the side. That pole appears to be the same one now enclosed by the pylon. The shadow of the pole can be seen inside the current reader board, which was a later addition attached below the circa 1958 sign. Automobile club shields at the bottom of the circa 1958 sign have been removed. A black metal directional arrow pointing toward the motel from the street side of the sign has also been removed. A circular white or light yellow metal cabinet with concentric rows of incandescent lightbulbs in the interior and a semi-circle of neon stars on the exterior has been moved from the top of the former directional arrow to the top of the wing-shaped cabinet. The circa 1958 wing-shaped cabinet was flush with the street side of the sign and contained skeleton neon which advertised, "HEATED POOL". The current wing-shaped cabinet contains no neon and has been pushed to the center of the sign. The lower cabinet of the circa 1958 sign was painted orange and black, which is now all orange. The amoeba shape was painted blue and is now black. Below the amoeba were skeleton neon letters which spelled out, "NO VACANCY" and "24 HOUR ROOM SERVICE". The neon is now gone. A small black metal cabinet attached at the bottom of the sign contained what appear to be either painted or skeleton neon letters which state, "COOLED BY REFRIGERATION". That portion of the sign is now gone.
Sign - thematic influences: This sign showcases 1950's and 1960's Googie trends. This also conveys earlier motor court designs in the building and the sign.
Survey - research locations: Clark County Assessor, Parcel No. 162-03-310-007, Retrieved from http://www.clarkcountynv.gov/assessor/Pages/PropertyRecords.aspx?H=redrock&P=assrrealprop/pcl.aspx Garofalo, M. (2011 November 2). Still standing-Rummel Motel. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/vintageroadtrip/6304823598/ Hershkovitz, R. (2017 April 30). Fire damages vacant downtown Las Vegas motel. Las Vegas Review Journal. Retrieved from https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-las-vegas/downtown/fire-damages-vacant-downtown-las-vegas-motel/ Las Vegas motels-Then and now. (n.d.). Rummel Motel. Retrieved from http://stefanidrivesvegas.com/8.html Noted bowler, motel owner Roles dies. (2002 July 30). Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved from https://lasvegassun.com/news/2002/jul/30/noted-bowler-motel-owner-roles-dies/ RoadsideArchitecture. (n.d.) The Rummel Motel. Retrieved from http://www.roadarch.com/signs/nvvegas3.html Rummel Motel, 1809 So. 5th St. U.S. 91 - L.A. Highway Las Vegas, Nevada original vintage postcard. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/Rummel-Motel-1809-So-U-S/dp/B00P9LEQCS VintageLasVegas. (n.d.). Rummel Motel. Retrieved from http://vintagelasvegas.com/post/160953547509/rummel-motel-1809-s-las-vegas-blvd-built-by
Surveyor: Mitchell Cohen
Survey - date completed: 2017-09-18
Sign keywords: Pylon; Neon; Incandescent; Reader board; Plastic; Steel
Mixed Content
Transcript of interview with Susan Jones Watson by Claytee White, February 20, 2013
Date
Archival Collection
Description
A resident of Southern Nevada from the age of three, Susan Watson shares her memories of growing up and living in Las Vegas. After a year in Boulder City, Susan's father bought an old army barrack and converted it to a home in North Las Vegas; Susan remembers playing in the desert with her siblings and attending elementary and middle school before starting at Rancho High. Watching her mother design costumes for Strip performers and beautiful dresses for her own high school dances no doubt helped Susan develop her own sense of taste and style - something that she would put to good use over many years as an interior designer. Before that though, Susan shares her memories of what life was like in the Las Vegas of the 1950s and 1960s: cruising Fremont Street; movie nights; after-school work; favorite teachers; lunches on the lawn; and dance club. All combine to paint a vivid picture of a smaller town and a simpler time in the Las Vegas valley.
Text
Meeting minutes for Consolidated Student Senate, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, December 05, 1978
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Text
Meeting minutes for Consolidated Student Senate, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, December 7, 1976
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Text
Scrapbook of poetry and other clippings
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Scrapbook of poetry and other clippings
Mixed Content
Catherine Cortez Masto oral history interview: transcript
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Oral history interview with Catherine Cortez Masto conducted by Claytee D. White on August 10, 2018 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. Catherine Cortez Masto grew up in Las Vegas near where the town ended and the desert began, which at that time was near Decatur and Pennwood. She grew up playing in the streets and riding horses and motor bikes with girlfriends and cousins. Her father, Manny Cortez, began as a valet at the Dunes before entering politics. He served 16 years on the County Commission and then 13 years as the chief of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. As the head of the LVCVA, Manny oversaw campaigns to increase tourism, enlarge McCarran International Airport, improve taxicab service, and served as a visionary for the entire region. Catherine followed in her father's footsteps while being her own woman and making her own mark on the region. She attended college at UNR and law school at Gonzaga University School of Law. After a clerkship, she worked for a small local Las Vegas firm for 4 - 5 years, then moved to the governor's and then served two terms as Nevada's Attorney General. Currently she's in the US Senate with committee assignments that include Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; Energy and Natural Resources; Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Rules and Administration; Indian Affairs, and the Committee on Aging. Subjects discussed include: Dunes, Manny Cortez, County Commission, LVCVA, Judge Carl Christensen, Judge Mendoza, Taxi Authority, Tourism, and Mike O'Callaghan.
Text
Marisa Rodriguez oral history interview: transcript
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Oral history interview with Marisa Rodriguez conducted by Maribel Estrada Calderón, Monserrath Hernández and Claytee D. White for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. Marisa Rodriguez discusses her childhood and living in North Las Vegas as a teenager; she was born in Chicago, Illinois, moved to Mexico with her family at a young age, and returned to the United States at age 12. She recounts what it was like acclimating to American life, learning English, and studying abroad in Spain before becoming a law student. Marisa attended the William S. Boyd School of Law and is currently a civil litigator in Las Vegas. Subjects discussed include: La Voz Hispanic/Latino Law Students Association at the William S. Boyd School of Law; Huellas mentorship program.
Text
Horacio Lopez oral history interview: transcript
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Oral history interview with Horacio Lopez conducted by Laurents Bañuelos-Benitez on September 05, 2018 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. In this interview, Lopez discusses his early life in Cordova, New Mexico and arriving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1963. He recalls the establishment of the Nevada Association of Latin Americans (NALA), the increase of Latin Americans in the southwest region of the United States, and his role as the Vice President of the Latin Chamber of Commerce. Lastly, Lopez discusses his thoughts on the future of Latino culture.
Text