Pirates to Pyramids: Las Vegas Taxi Tales

by Carlson, JJ

  FRANK, DEAN, SAMMY AND ELVIS

  A big part of Vegas' attraction as an adult playground started thanks to Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. Their spirits and their pictures occupy the hallways, and you can still feel their mark all over town. After WWII, Bugsy Siegel built the Flamingo and over the next ten years other mobs built hotels. We owe the mobs because back then no banks or insurance companies would ever confront the puritan ethic of America long enough to build them. Big name stars brought their shows and attracted many war veterans and others to relax and have fun in the desert sun.

  Originally black entertainers could not stay in the same Las Vegas hotels in which they performed. This segregation finally came to an end, largely because of Frank Sinatra. He was appalled and personally confronted the hotels. He said if his friends were sent away he would never again appear in their showrooms. That put a stop to segregation in the hotels of Vegas.

  Young Shirley MacLaine said Dean Martin was like a big brother to her and kept an eye on her when she entertained here back then. She claims he never drank much liquor like his stage persona pretended and often went to his room early. Unlike Dean, Frank Sinatra liked his drinks and famous for his partying was famous. This ended badly one night at his beloved Desert Inn casino.

  The story goes that Frank Sinatra was feeling no pain after drinking for some time and had gambled away $50,000 at the tables. He asked for another marker and was declined. Since everyone knew of his wealth, he thought he was being abused or mistaken for someone else. So he demanded a pit boss straighten out the matter. Unfortunately this was the new policy under the new management.

  The pit boss’ answer made him angry and Frank became loud and belligerent until security had to intervene. Nothing was calming Frank until, finally, his ego and alcohol mixed in a volatile decision to swing at the pit boss. Security reacted professionally and Sinatra was quickly subdued but now he was missing one of his famous front teeth.

  Frank Sinatra's tooth is broken by a security guard at the Desert Inn? Las Vegas shuddered. Would Frank ever be seen in this town again? Yes, of course, he was. But Frank was never again seen without a private bodyguard and, much like Howard Hughes, he was never seen again in the Desert Inn.

  Las Vegas has never forgotten Elvis and Elvis never forgot Vegas, either. They were forever joined at the hip after he got bounced off the hit music charts by the British bands in the late 60's and early 70’s. His movies did not help. What helped were the 500 concerts he gave at the Hilton Hotel, formerly the International. His concerts were spread over years just like Celine Dion recent concerts at Caesars Palace. This was the hotel where Elvis had the whole top floor to himself and sometimes shot up the ceiling with his pearl-handled pistols.

  This town stills celebrates his birthdays and now the Strip even has a tribute show called Viva Elvis.

  BOB STUPAK

  I was going to title this story "What Next, Bob," but I am saddened to say he died while I was writing this story about him. There goes maybe the biggest character in Vegas history. What? You never heard of him? You can judge for yourself.

  I first heard of Bob Stupak when I visited the most God-awful hotel/casino on the Strip. Bob owned the Vegas World Hotel and Casino which was at least 30 stories tall and painted brown, ugly brown. But who would care about the outside after seeing the inside with its theme and decor we still haven’t got over. It was from outer space

  The facade had a rocket ship and a giant astronaut flying over it on a tether cord. Inside, planets hung from strings and the walls were painted in black crinkle coat with sparkly glitter trying to resemble distant stars. It looked like a high school science project.

  Cheap food and drinks were all over the place because this was the "old Las Vegas," the one the old timers always cry about being gone, before the theme hotels took over in the 90's. Glass display cases teased guests with piles of money in differing amounts. Winners of microphone loud contests that were continually broadcast into the crowd would announce the next lucky person who got to enter the "money cyclone".

  I never wanted to be the winner, myself. The winner entered a glass enclosure and was to grab as many dollar bills as possible in one minute. The trouble was they were bombarded by winds like a hurricane in a closet. It always seemed to be a happy/sad event for them because it looked both pitiful and yet fun, in a sick sort of way.

  Bob Stupak was always a risk taker. I was told he raced motorcycles back home, but he became known as one of the last casino owners who would accept a bet for a million dollars. The story is legend: a guy came to his casino who wanted to beat the house for a cool million on one single bet. Bob faced up to the man and agreed to cut cards, winner take all. Bob won.

  Bob made the papers again later when the FBI charged him with election tampering, a federal crime. Could this be happening to a casino owner?

  Well, it seems Bob got a little too personally involved in his daughter's race for a Las Vegas' City Council seat. Her opponent was a popular owner of a topless club, so she probably didn’t need all that much help.

  But one day local newspapers reported Bob was being charged with hiring a female private investigator to pose as a friend of an unemployed stripper. They tried to get her hired at the topless club owned by the other candidate. She was underage and this was just a trap. But the trick was discovered and reported to the FBI, local police and newspapers one week before the election.

  The night of the election was one that Bob Stupak would try to forget. But Las Vegas, even with its storied past, probably never will. See for yourself if you see karma:

  1) The election results showed that Stupak's daughter lost to the topless club owner.

  2) That night’s lightening storm sent a bolt directly into Bob's Vegas World Hotel sign.

  3) The lightning bolt started a fire on the roof.

  4) The fire resulted in the evacuation of the entire hotel. Guests were moved into other hotels.

  Not done yet:

  5) The fire melted the sign on the roof until the sheer weight snapped one of its legs which

  let the sign swing down off the building. Unfortunately, the other leg held on for days.

  6) The sign became a huge guillotine over Las Vegas Boulevard threatening anyone who came near it.

  7) The fire department closed off all travel through this part of Las Vegas Boulevard, blocking Vegas’ most famous artery for almost a week.

  8) Businesses, commuters and resort travelers cursed Bob as the days slowly passed. Everyone eagerly waited for the cranes and workmen to disassemble the three ton deathtrap.

  But the federal charges against Bob for election tampering were dropped which I thought was out of sympathy. After all, his daughter lost an election to a topless club owner, his hotel caught fire and guests had to find rooms elsewhere, all in one night! So it was very surprising to read, some short months later, that Bob Stupak was again front page news, perhaps, for the last time.

  In a regrettable lack of judgment Bob took his grown son for a joyride on a Harley Davidson.

  He was a racer in his youth so you may want to forgive him thinking that a display of excessive speed was mandatory. Or maybe he thought the lateness of the hour provided a level of safety for this stunt. That was a mistake in a town that has all-night stores and restaurants for the three shifts at every casino, just like the one he owned.

  Someone said Bob was approaching 100 MPH when a sleepy driver pulled her car out of a parking lot never expecting to get hit by a missile. How much braking or dodging Bob managed was irrelevant because he drove his head through the back window of the car and the son flew tail over head into the air, miraculously surviving. Poor old Bob had broken every bone in his face but most attention was on his brain that swelled until his skull had to be de-capped to let out the pressure. He went into a coma, of course, which was a mercy.

  We thought we had heard the last of the poor guy. Weeks went by until almost no one believed he would make it. One night
the media reported that Bob’s friends were gathering at his hospital for a prayer vigil.

  Maybe I should have been a psychic because I told my wife, "Watch Bob come out of his coma and say that he saw the light, talked to God and now he is a changed man."

  A few days later Bob sat up in bed and spoke my script almost word for word. I got no credit but I wanted none because I just wanted to see it happen for him, one of the greatest characters in Las Vegas history. He lived a long time after that.

  Have fun on the other side, Bob.

  THE REST OF THE STORY OF EARLY LAS VEGAS

  I meet so many people that think Bugsy Siegel gets all the thanks for starting Las Vegas. Las Vegas means "the Meadows" in Spanish which shows us the mob and Bugsy Siegel did not start the town or name it. But you might be surprised at all the contributors that get the credit.

  First the mountains get credit. Nevada is the state with the most mountain ranges in the whole country. California, by comparison, has 2 mountain ranges that go the whole length of the state which is more than 800 miles long. Nevada, which means "snowy peaks", has the opposite, maybe 350 mountain ranges that go two miles. This caused quite an obstacle for wagon trains going after the gold discovered in California in 1849.

  Families all over America wanting to go from being a poor family to perhaps being the richest family in their state jumped into the wagon trains and started off. Having negotiated the Rockies in Colorado they thought the toughest part was over. But, surprise, the Nevada mountains formed a blockade with only two valleys that would grant them passage, one up by Reno and one down by Las Vegas.

  They most often chose Reno because they would be going more directly to the gold, but this meant crossing several mountain ranges. They always got a stern warning not to get caught in the mountains in the winter, the penalty being death. This warning was carefully heeded for years until delays brought an early snowstorm down on the Donner Pass trapping a wagon train, killing most of them and locking their name in history.

  After that, Vegas started getting many more wagon trains, which was good for travelers because the southern route offered warmer climes, drinkable water and four flat corners for entering and exiting Nevada. Water entered Vegas valley from part of an underground river, so flush that it literally popped out of the desert floor. I have seen early pictures of little geysers, twin lakes and a creek or I wouldn't have believed it. These liquid blessings gave Las Vegas its Spanish name, which translates to The Meadows.

  Earliest travelers found the area good for a comfort station but not very hospitable to live because of the ugly scrub desert and extreme temperatures. So, a pleasant surprise came to those who missed out on the gold. Silver was discovered to be plentiful in these same Nevada mountains in 1887.

  Before you yawn, this was the time when the casinos started.

  After digging in mountains for two or three years silver miners went into the new town, Las Vegas, to cash out. They found cowboy casinos, restaurants and brothels providing everything they had been missing: like hot food, soft beds, drinking all night, gambling and female companionship. But they found very few lights and only little excitement in Las Vegas.

  After the silver rush ended and the town was almost going out of existence, the railroad kept Las Vegas growing by building the first houses for its employees to win wives. Later, President Hoover saved the town by building the great dam, but only if after Clark County outlawed prostitution.

  It has been said that the ladies of the night asked the sheriff how "they got singled out in a town with these many vices." He told them the facts about politics, "Just move your homes out of the county and come back on the weekends when the boys are here." This wink/wink agreement is still in place but now the boys are here every night and so are the girls, but only if they behave quietly.

  The next big break for Las Vegas was because of the World War II. GI's came by railroad through Vegas valley to ship out to the Pacific from California. The engineers stopped the train in this desert town to surprise these young guys with a good time.

  Generally, three hours "to fix the train" was perfect for the many thousands of guys, over the years, to discover the magic of Vegas. During the war these same guys who were suffering danger and sometimes boredom had to be thinking of going home, getting married and, maybe one day taking the wife on vacation to that surprising town in the desert.

  As I said in my chapter Characters and Kooks Bugsy Siegel gets much of the credit for the start of "The Strip" in Las Vegas. His hotel, the Flamingo, is still there in its newest edition. It was one of the first on the "L.A. Highway" the original nickname of the Las Vegas Boulevard. The mobs from other cities copied his idea and built over 12 more hotel/casinos.

  Thank you mob, we never could have done it without you, literally.

  Closing

  I hope you enjoyed these stories. I collected them over ten years as they happened in my cab or at least, shortly after they happened. There was no need to embellish when stuff this unusual happens all the time in cabs here. So next time you take a cab ride and you're a little bored, try saying, "I bet you've had some stories in your car. What is your favorite?" Then fasten your mental seat belt because you'll never guess what story might show up.

  I have learned many things over the years that could be applied anywhere. Here are just a few:

  • Find the flow of traffic and join it. It is much easier and safer than fighting with it.

  • Like it or not, people are always learning, even me. Try to allow space for this.

  • People going slower than I want to go are not really idiots.

  • People going faster than I want to go are not really crazy.

  • Others can annoy me into a fury, but only if I let them.

  • Forgiveness releases upset and high blood pressure, especially forgiving myself.

  I have learned so much about people and myself in the past ten years that I don't want the stories to stop. I invite my fellow drivers, bartenders and story lovers from all walks of life to share your wild or special stories. If there is enough for a second book and your story fits maybe we can include it. Please send them to www.piratestopyramids.com.

  Where to, folks?