"Interviewed by Stefani Evans. Arriving in Las Vegas in 2015 directly from her hometown in Cebu Province, Philippines, Lucela M. Wattin was struck by the dry climate, "like an oven!" But she immediately felt at home in her apartment near Spring Mountain Road and Chinatown, because she could buy familiar food items, and because her new next door neighbor also came from Cebu Province.
A postcard illustrating an ace of hearts playing card with a man holding a woman next to a table with poker chips and playing cards in the center ca. 1910-1919. The caption reads, "Game of Poker: Kitty gets it all".
A postcard illustrating five cards (the ace of hearts through the ten of hearts). The caption reads, "I offer you without a blush, my heart and hand for I am flush. To my Valentine".
Rosemary Christian, David Peinado, Dale Pryor, Virginia Velasquez, and Greg Venezia are among the elite of Las Vegas bartenders. The bars that they work and have worked span from one end of the Strip to the other; the original Aladdin, The Silver Slipper, O’Sheas, the Monte Carlo, Slots ‘A’ Fun, the Luxor, Caesars Palace, and the Rio. Their stories take us from family ownership to corporate. Families allowed all casino bars to be set up in an identical fashion, each type of glass and each liquor bottle was set in the same location all over town. A bartender could walk into a new location and start work without a moment’s hesitation. Corporate thinking changed that need for an outside bartender to work in random places. When women began in this lucrative field, tension occurred but lessened as men recognized that women could lug beer kegs with the best of them and they could easily calm down a drunkard using her womanly touch. The thread throughout this roundtable discussion sews together the exceptional lives of these five bartenders with their membership in UNITE HERE Bartenders Union Local 165. In conjunction with the Culinary Workers Union Local 226, insurance, wages, job satisfaction, uniforms, giving back to the Las Vegas community, and many other benefits occur, seemingly, without effort. “We are skilled craftsmen.” “We have security working for the union and health benefits and a pension. So it's something that's long term. It's longevity working for a union. You know you always have someone backing you.”