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.

This interview is compiled in the bound book version for OH-02270. Born Ffolliott Chorlton in Butte, Montana in 1923, Fluff Le Coque embarked on a career during World War II that would span fifty-five years. Le Coque’s experience as an entertainer started at the age of seven when she began dance lessons during the Great Depression. She expanded her interest in show business at the University of Washington. Attending on a drama scholarship, she performed in theatrical productions and supplemented the scholarship by teaching coordination to university athletes through dance. Le Coque toured as a dancer in a road company during World War II. After the war she came to Las Vegas for the first time. Although she did not consider herself a singer, she performed as a vocalist with the Chuck Gould Orchestra at the Last Frontier. After a brief excursion to Hollywood, she returned to Las Vegas to work at the Thunderbird Hotel as a dancer. It was at the Thunderbird that she became part of the glamour publicity that would help shape the image of Las Vegas. Crowned “Miss Thunderbird,” Le Coque took part in publicity photo shoots designed to attract vacationing customers to the Las Vegas resort casino. While performing at the Thunderbird, Le Coque learned of an opportunity to showcase her talents in a wider arena. She joined a touring company that was preparing to take the production of Hollywood Extravangza to Europe. In Paris, Le Coque took on additional responsibilities in the production end of the business. She served the Hollywood Extravaganza as principal dancer, choreographer, and ballet mistress. On her return to New York, she firmed up her career-long relationship with producers Donn Arden and Ron Fletcher. Le Coque’s association with Arden-Fletcher Productions proved beneficial for an already successful career. She performed as principal dancer for Arden and Fletcher beginning with a six-month engagement at the Lookout House in Cincinnati, Ohio, in the late 1950s Arden wanted her to return to Las Vegas and she accepted immediately. The Las Vegas Desert Inn opened a newly remodeled showroom with Fluff Le Coque as a featured principal dancer. Arden-Fletcher Productions kept a number of performers busy throughout the United States from California to New York. Le Coque, now a valued talent, appeared in the Arden-Fletcher production at the Moulin Rouge in Hollywood. She worked there as company captain and principal dancer for ten years. Following her extended engagement at the Moulin Rouge, she toured the United States and Europe before returning to Las Vegas for good in the late 1960s. Arden again asked her to open a renovated showroom at the Desert Inn and again she agreed. This time Le Coque made Las Vegas her permanent home. She danced until she was forty-five years old and during the later years worked both sides of the stage, as company manager and dancer. Fluff Le Coque retired from dancing in 1970 to enjoy leisure activities and volunteer work. She learned to paint and served as publicity director of the Las Vegas Art Museum. She was wooed out of retirement by Donn Arden, to become company manager of the production show at the new MGM Grand Hotel [later reopened as Bally’s]. At the time of the interview, Le Coque continued to serve as company manager for Jubilee at Bally’s Hotel & Casino. Le Coque’s narrative provides a vivid account of the history of the Las Vegas entertainment industry. In addition to the organization of club circuits during the post-war years, the narrative provides clues about white-black relations during the era. It also informs a wider historical context. Post-war American society underwent significant changes economically, politically, and socially. Expanded work opportunities for women were among those changes. Le Coque’s choice to complete a college education during the 1940s was atypical. Her successful dancing career and later move into production management provides an example of career achievement decades ealier than the majority of American women. By extending her career as a dancer into her forty-fifth year, she resisted the evolving publicity hype that only an ingenue could be a dancer. Her narrative provides a compelling description of both the glamour and physical demands associated with the Las Vegas entertainment industry.

Dennis Wilson an experienced musician was born in Arabi, Louisiana in 1951. His parents both served in the Marine Corps. Dennis started playing the clarinet in the 4th grade but he did not stop there by the time he was in college he could play the alto saxophone, flute, and clarinet. He received a scholarship to Loyola University in New Orleans. The first introduction to Las Vegas was in 1971. At this time Dennis played for Wayne Cochran and the C.C. Riders traveling all around the United States with the band. In 1979 Dennis moved back to Las Vegas after a short stay in New Orleans. On his return to Las Vegas Dennis recalls his experiences playing with relief bands and performing weekly at Stardust, Dunes, Flamingo, Tropicana, Sands and Caesars. Dennis recalls what it was like working in Las Vegas and the rigorous schedule of a musician. Dennis has had a successful carrier as a musician he went on to play for Burt Bacharach and Dionne Warwick traveling the world. He then settled back in Vegas working on prominent shows such as Avenue Q, Spamalot, and Phantom of the Opera. Dennis still resides in Las Vegas and is now a paraprofessional at Johnson Junior High.

On March 5, 1980, collector Robbin McLaurin interviews three members of the Jones family, Willie, James, and Jamet Jones (born 1923, 1920, and 1961, respectively) in the Jones home. Mr. and Mrs. Jones were born in Forest, Mississippi, and relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada, for employment related purposes. This interview covers Las Vegas, past and present.

On March 14, 1978, Brian Corcoran interviewed Twenty-One dealer Daniel Kaminski (born November 17th, 1947 in New Jersey) about his life in Southern Nevada. The two discuss Kaminski’s occupational history and gambling practices amongst tourists. They then go in depth on the rise of gambling establishments across the United States and the impacts it may have on Las Vegas. The interview concludes with a discussion on the role of dealers in casinos.

On February 27, 1979, collector Judy Laliberte interviewed local school teacher LaVaun Hendrix in her home in Las Vegas, Nevada. The two discuss how Hendrix originally came to Nevada, her occupational history, and differences between the school system in Las Vegas and other states that she’s lived in. Hendrix explains how a changing school system has affected her job as a teacher and her students. She goes on to talk about the above-ground atomic tests, Helldorado, changes to the desert, and Nevada during World War II. The interview concludes with Hendrix describing her travels through Nevada.