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Transcript of interview with Walter Weiss by Claytee White, November 2, 2010

Date

2010-11-02

Description

In this interview, Walter Weiss discusses how Judaism and boxing kept him out of trouble in his youth. Weiss grew up in the Boston area, and started boxing as a teenager. Weiss talks about his boxing training, becoming a runner for a bookmaker, and coming to Las Vegas in the 1950s to be a bookmaker for the Stardust Hotel, and working the slot machine floor. He had several different jobs in various casinos, and discusses different people involved in the gaming industry in Las Vegas.

Walter Weiss life story begins in a Malden, Massachusetts during the Great Depression. His early background was a blend of observant Judaism, secularism, and the effects of the era. He was a troubled youth whose older brother encouraged him to join him in boxing. As Walter explains: I was a wild kid and ... boxing saved my life. His aptitude for boxing led him to be a sparring partner in New York City's famous Spillman Gym. There he met and worked out with some of the greatest fighters of the era, including Rocky Marciano. He recalls how he turned professional while attending the University of Miami and how he first came to Las Vegas in 1958 to escape his personal troubles and find work with a local bookmaker. Thus began his diverse employment history in the casino industry. He details his various positions and the cast of famous and infamous characters of the times. For six years he return to New York and worked as a Wall Street broker before arriving back in Las Vegas in 1973. He talks about his property ownership, lobbying for an amendment to Senate Bill 208, his personal religious changes and a sundry of observations about the changes that occurred as the state took over gaming.

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Transcript of interview with Guy Hamblin by Barry Merrell, February 22, 1975

Date

1975-02-22

Description

On February 22, 1975, Barry Merrell interviewed former railroad worker Guy Hamblin (born 1896 in Clover Valley, Nevada) in his home at 4306 Kay Place, Las Vegas, Nevada about the history of Southern Nevada. Specifically, the two discuss Hamblin moving from different towns in Nevada before settling down in Southern Nevada, viewing the above-ground atomic bomb tests, early Fremont Street, and his work on the railroad. In addition, Hamblin also discusses the demographic and economic changes that he has seen in Las Vegas.

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Interview with Richard Van Nutley, November 8, 2004

Date

2004-11-08

Description

Narrator affiliation: Safety Engineer, Department of Energy

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