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Jack Weinstein and Polly Weinstein interview, April 12, 2018: transcript

Date

2018-04-12

Description

Tower of Jewels is one of those iconic Las Vegas businesses that continues to thrive. At the time of this interview, Jack Weinstein is in his nineties and “retired.” With him is his daughter Polly Weinstein, who in addition to being involved in the business management has her own custom designed jewelry line, aptly named The Jeweler’s Daughter. As the youngest of six children born to Jewish Russian immigrants Joseph and Pauline (Polly is named for her grandmother), Jack was raised in a dangerous neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan. His youthful enterprise included collaborating and then splitting up with his brothers in a jewelry business, before eventually moving west to Los Angles in the early 1960s. On his own, Jack became a wholesale salesperson representing lines of watches to other businesses. Included in his list of clients was Al Sanford’s Tower of Jewels in Las Vegas. The two became friends and Al suggested setting up a partnership between Al’s son and Jack in 1964. Eventually

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David Ober interview, October 11, 2017: transcript

Date

2017-10-11

Archival Collection

Description

Tucson, Arizona, native David Ober moved to Las Vegas twice. He arrived reluctantly the first time in 1978 with his parents as a high-school student, when his father, Hal Ober, came to Las Vegas to begin building and marketing the U.S. Home (now Lennar) brand. While the elder Ober soon left U.S. Home to open his own home-building business, R.A. Homes, his youngest child left Las Vegas shortly after his high school graduation to return to his native Tucson, follow in the footsteps of his siblings, and attend the University of Arizona. After graduating from the University of Arizona David Ober opened his own mortgage company and began building a life in Phoenix. In the late 1980s he agreed to take a large pay cut, return to Las Vegas, and learn his father's business from the ground up. At the time, Hal Ober was developing his award-winning, master-planned community, Desert Shores. David Ober, the youngest of the five children of Hal and D'Vorre (Dee) Ober, agreed to participate in the

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Transcript of interview with Freddie Glusman by Barbara Tabach, October 29, 2015

Date

2015-10-29

Description

In this interview Glusman discusses his early memories of being raised in Vancouver, Canada and how he ended up in Las Vegas. He reflects on how he first got his start in the town and his early dealings with casinos and their owners while he was working as a carpet and drapery salesman and while working for Fabulous Magazine. Glusman explains how he started his restaurant and tells about the people he encountered while doing this that where significant to both the Jewish community and Las Vegas as a whole. He recounts stories that include such people as Meyer Lansky, Al Sachs, and Moe Dalitz.

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Transcript of interview with Jerry Fox by Barbara Tabach, November 12, 2014

Date

2014-11-12

Archival Collection

Description

Interview with Jerry Fox by Barbara Tabach on November 12, 2014. In this interview, Fox discusses his father's restaurant, Foxy's Delicatessen, which opened on the Las Vegas Strip in the 1950s, and his own business endeavors including the Tinder Box and an embroidery business.

Jerry Fox grew up in Los Angeles until his family moved to Las Vegas in February 1955, where his father opened Foxy's Delicatessen, the city's first Jewish deli. Jerry would go on to follow in his father's entrepreneurial footsteps, operating several ventures across different industries, including his own restaurant, Foxy Dog. Jerry sold Foxy Dog in 1975 after going through a divorce, the same year that Foxy's Deli closed.

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Transcript of interview with Deanne Alterwitz-Stralser by Barbara Tabach, November 1, 2014

Date

2014-11-01

Description

Interview with Deanne Alterwitz-Stralser with contributions from her son Daryl Alterwitz on November 1, 2014. In this interview Deanne talks about her Jewish upbringing near the Illinois-Indiana state line, meeting her first husband Oscar, with whom she had four children, and the difficulties with keeping kosher. The family moved to Las Vegas from Gary, Indiana for opportunities in the furniture business. Daryl weighs in on his father's personality, business decisions, and their move to Las Vegas. They discuss the location of the store the Alterwitz's bought (Walker Furniture) and purchasing the building from Jackie Gaughan, and the different tastes in furniture in Las Vegas. Then they talk about the Jewish community and the division between the east and west sides.

On New Year's Day, 1931, Deanne Alterwitz-Stralser was born Deanne Friedman in Hammond, Indiana, the daughter of an insurance salesman and a stay-at-home mom. Deanne spent her childhood in Calumet City, just across the state line in Illinois, and was raised with a strong Jewish identity. At the age of sixteen, she met her first husband, Oscar Alterwitz, at an Alpha Zadik Alpha (AZA) dance in Gary, Indiana, and the two were married in 1950. Deanne and Oscar settled in Gary, where they had four children?Aimee, Larry, Daryl and Linda?and took over the Alterwitz family furniture business. Eventually, the couple grew the business to three successful retail furniture stores. However, a decline in the city's safety and opportunities forced the Alterwitz's to consider relocating, and in 1973, after a family vote, Deanne and Oscar moved their family to Las Vegas. Upon arrival, Deanne and Oscar bought Walker Furniture from original owners, George and Ruth Walker. Deanne used her artistic eye and training from the Art Institute of Chicago to lead the design and merchandising elements of the business. Socially, Deanne integrated into the local Jewish community, and ensured her children participated in Jewish life as well. Deanne and Oscar's children still remained involved in Walker Furniture operations, including Daryl, who serves as the company's general counsel; Larry, who is the company's president; and a daughter who now oversees the store's design and merchandising.

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Transcript of interview with Ralph Vandersnick by Dennis McBride, October 18, 1997

Date

1997-10-18

Description

Ralph Vandersnick was interviewed on October 18, 1997. Ralph owns Snick's Place, the longest-operating gay bar in Las Vegas and whether he'd agree or not, he's one of the most respected members of the Las Vegas gay community.

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Transcript of interview with Gordon Smith by Claytee White, January 29, 2013

Date

2013-01-29

Description

Gordon Smith was born in Utah, but moved with his family to Babbitt, Nevada in 1947. His father, a barber, moved the family to Las Vegas in 1955. In this interview, Gordon recalls school and after-school pursuits; changes in the town; summer jobs; and college. He also talks about his military service and returning to Las Vegas to take up the razor himself - starting a successful barbering business of over 30 years.

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Interview with Corbin Harney, August 4, 2005

Date

2005-08-04

Description

Narrator affiliation: Western Shoshone Spiritual Leader; Protester

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