Marion Gladding

Marion Gladding, daughter of a native Nevadan and a Danish immigrant, was born in Virginia City in 1910. She spent her childhood on the Comstock and attended both the First and Fourth Ward Schools, and she studied education at the University of Nevada. After a brief tenure in Fallon, she went back to Virginia City and worked at the local post office until her retirement. Gladding was interviewed by Ann Harvey in 1984.

     When I was growing up in Virginia City there were weekly dances, and different organizations would give dances and entertainments. There would be celebrations, like the Fourth of July celebrations and Labor Day, and everyone participated.

And the miners came out for the celebrations?

     Yes, the miners got all dressed up and had a good time. [laughter]

Do you remember from when you were a small child any of these celebrations?

     It was an opportunity to go uptown. We were not allowed to go uptown and to walk around the streets like the children nowadays. We were kept at home, in our yard where everybody knew where we were, because there were mines and shafts around the hills, and our parents were always afraid we'd fall in something and never be found again. But I remember the celebrations. The whole family went, and we wore our best clothes and had a lot of fun. [laughter]
     There were always drilling contests and a parade and usually a dance at night. The celebrations went on for two or three days. The town would be all decorated with flags, and we could have ice cream or whatever we wanted along the streets. When there was a celebration in Virginia City it was a festive time.

     Miners did a lot of partying, but they were also family men. Payday was a big night on the Comstock; most of them stopped on their way home. And, of course, after shift they would stop and have their "after-shifter" before they came home. The after-shifter was a drink. They still stop and have their after-shifter, but they're not miners anymore. [laughter]