Tap Dancing on Ice: The Life and Times of a Nevada Gaming Pioneer

Jack Douglass was born in Tonopah, Nevada, in 1910. Finding himself jobless during the Great Depression of the 1930s, he began placing jukeboxes, pinball, and slot machines in bars in central Nevada mining camps, slowly building a route that became the foundation for a long career in the gaming industry. After serving in World War II, Douglass returned to Nevada and greatly expanded his route, centering its operations in Reno. In the 1960s he got into the casino business, first at the Riverside and later as a partner in the Club Cal-Neva. Douglass went on to be a principal owner in other casinos in the state, and he earned a reputation for creative development of gaming properties.
    Tap Dancing on Ice is more than the story of one man's rise through Nevada's home-grown gaming industry. The book contains sketches of characters from the early days of gaming, and it is rich in anecdotes that reveal a little-known dimension of the industry's history. Through Douglass's life the reader is introduced to the small-scale, local, risk-taking and personal approach to gaming that prevailed in Nevada before the industry became dominated by corporations.

"With its rich sense of detail, the book provides grounds-up information and becomes a primary source of very high quality and usefulness to researchers in the history of gambling."
      Jerome Edwards, Nevada Historical Society Quarterly

"We enjoyed this story; it made us feel good."
     -- Loose Change

Tap Dancing on Ice: The Life and Times of a Nevada Gaming Pioneer by Jack Douglass as told to William A. Douglass. Reno: UNOHP, 1996. (271 pages, 11 photo pages, $21.95)