The Hamptons -

At Western Electric Co., the women outnumber the men by 2 to 1.  The girls often formed groups of 6-8 friends and they would rent a summer house in the Hamptons on Long Island or on the Jersey Shore.   One night I mentioned this to my group of friends at our local hangout, the “spoon.” I told them the girls seemed to be having a blast while we were hanging around looking for a softball game.  One guy said he knew a group of girls who rented a house in the Hamptons and that they only used it on weekends.  Three of us took our vacations at the same time and rented the house from the girls for a week.  We had a great time.  When the girls showed up on Friday night, we talked them into letting us stay through the weekend.  

My friends and I spent most of Saturday telling every girl on the beach that there was going to be a cookout at our house that night and everyone was invited - BYOB.  My logic was that the more girls who came, the more guys that would show up – that would make our girls at the house very happy!  About 150 people showed up!  Wow, what a blast.  The girls at the house thought we were the greatest thing since sliced bread.  They spent most weekends looking to meet guys –now they had almost 100 guys at their house to choose from.  The girls called us during the week and said most of the girls had found boyfriends and would be spending most weekends with them.  That meant there were open bedrooms at the house and we could stay there any time. 

We took advantage of the offer and were there almost every weekend.  We brought food and beer and had lots of parties.  We’d ask any guys who showed up at the parties for a dollar or two for a beer run. We always had lots of money left over from these “collections” so we gave it to the girls as a Thank You for letting us stay there.  We also spent a few weekends at the Jersey Shore, but we liked the Hamptons better. 

In January, I called a meeting of my friends and asked who was interested in renting a house of our own.  I also told them that we had met some really great guys in the Hamptons who lived and worked in NYC.  A lot of them also wanted to go in on a house.  In a week, I had 15 guys.  I made an appointment with a real estate agent and two of us went scouting.  We decided to look for something old and cheap until we were sure if the other guys would like spending the summer at the beach.  We could also upgrade to a bigger and better house the following year.  We rented a 5 bedroom, 2 bath garage that had been renovated to accommodate a large group of renters.  It would only cost about $100 per person for the whole summer.  We had a great time so, the next year, we found a bigger and newer house right on Peconic Bay with a dock.  It would cost us each $250.  We had all the money collected within 2 weeks.   Today, you would be lucky to find a motel room in that area for 1 night for $250.

I had been working at Western Electric a little over 2 years when I told my Mom I really didn’t like working behind a desk.  I wanted more action – somewhere I could go outside when it was nice and inside when it was cold.  My mother told me she had read that the city needed lots more policemen.  They would be giving a test every month – why don’t I try?  Here we go again!

When I told the guys at the “spoon” that I was going to take the test, one of the others said he was too.  The test was being held in a high school in Chinatown and we had to be there by 7:30 AM.  We found out that 5,000 men were taking that test and that every month similar numbers would show up.   I figured we didn’t stand much of a chance, but we took it anyway.  We both passed!  We were told to report to the Athletic Club in lower Manhattan.  

This place was 4-5 stories high, very old, and really big.  The first floor was a huge gym with weight and workout rooms.  There was a ¼ mile banked running track on the second floor overlooking the gym.  This was the agility part of the exam and we were there all day.  We both passed that part, too!  The next part was the medical exam.  We had to report to a medical clinic in the Bronx (at least that was close to home.)  Again, we were there all day.  The police department wanted the cream of the crop and had loads of guys wanting the jobs.  They told us that the civil service list would be published in the Police newsletter in about 2-3 weeks.  We got the paper and both of us were in the top 100; not bad out of 5,000.  I was told to report to Bailey Avenue Police Precinct in the Bronx for an interview and then I would report to the Police Academy.  It was now June and I was in on the Hampton House.  I asked for my name to be moved back on the list – they agreed.  In the meantime, my Mom told me that the Fire Department was having an exam and she made me apply! 

The day of the exam arrived and she had to wake me up and kick me out of the house to take the test.  I kept saying “Who wants to be a Fireman?  It sounds dangerous to me!”  There were 586 who took the exam.  By the time the agility and medical parts were done, the list was published.  I came out #8.  I figured I was a shoe-in at #8, so I quit my job at Western Electric and put off the Police Department three times more that summer, waiting for the call to come from the Fire Department.  I spent the whole summer in the Hamptons waiting.  After Labor Day, the Hamptons dies, the weather turns cold, wet and damp, and there’s no one around. I figured I’d better go home and make some money. 

 I took a job driving a taxi cab.  Most of my passengers were junior executives who would ask me what a young guy was doing driving a cab.  I would tell them I was waiting to go onto the Fire Department and I needed to make money.  They would wish me luck and give me a great tip!  I made a lot of money that fall and winter.  I didn’t hear from the Fire Department until February.  I was told to report to the Fire Academy on February 26.  So would begin a new chapter in my life. 

THE PEPPERMINT LOUNGE...

As the Twist craze hit in 1960–1961, celebrities swarmed into the Peppermint Lounge: Audrey Hepburn, Truman Capote, Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, to name only a few.  They all came to dance to the house band, Joey Dee and the Starliters.   Now Joey Dee & The Starliters were among thousands of other east coast bands playing in clubs and hoping to receive a recording contract.  Their big break came when they were playing at the Peppermint Lounge.  Dee and The Starliters wrote a song that capitalized on the popularity of the Peppermint Lounge and the twist.  “Peppermint Twist Part 1” was released in November of 1961.  Whenever a DJ played it on the radio, he would tell everyone what a swinging place the Peppermint Lounge was.  Even the Beatles were filmed visiting the club during their first U.S. visit in 1964.  

Originally, The Peppermint Lounge was a small club with a raised stage for the band.  The dance floor in front of the stage was about 20’wide by 30’ long.  There was a long bar on one side of the room.  All around the dance floor there was a wrought iron fence about 3 feet tall with gates at the front of the dance floor.  Iron filigree decorations hung down from the ceiling.  Large tables and chairs were placed between the iron fence and the bar and between the fence and the wall on the other side.  It was a great place to take a date.  The idea of the fence and the wrought iron on the ceiling was that it gave the effect of eating on a fancy porch and looking out at the dancers.  That all ended with their new found popularity.  

Suddenly the Lounge was remodeled.  All the tables and chairs were removed.  Everyone had to stand up so they could pack in as many people as possible.  Two bouncers were out front and only 200 people were allowed in.  If 2 left – another 2 could go in.  After about six weeks, their plumbing in the men’s room started to let go.  The basement was flooding.  The hotel next door was being affected too – their men’s room in the lobby was also having problems.  

A friend of mine worked as a plumber in NYC and his company was called in to find the problem and fix it. The water was coming from above the ceiling in the basement.  My friend cut a hole in the wall in the men’s room, about 2’ wide and 3’ high.  The sewer lines were broken and leaking.  He also cut a hole in the wall to the men’s room in the hotel. 

On Thursday, he spoke to the doorman at the hotel and asked if he would be on duty Friday night – he was.  He explained to the doorman that he had 4 football players in town for the big game on Sunday and they wanted to see the Peppermint Lounge – but they had heard it was almost impossible to get in.  He told the doorman that one really big guy was called OX and he would definitely recognize him when he saw him.  Now the doorman just assumed we were professional football players – we did play football, and one of our guys actually tried out for the NY Giants and was the last guy cut – but this was his assumption.  Coincidentally, the Giants were playing a home game that Sunday, but we weren’t.  That was just another assumption.  In the Spring and Summer, this assumption usually worked with local club bouncers.  They wanted to believe that we were professional baseball players because of the jackets and caps we wore – again, just their assumption!!!  It did get us in to where we wanted to go.

Anyhow, my friend asked the doorman if he could show them where the men’s room was so they could go through the hole and into the men’s room in the Peppermint Lounge.  He gave the doorman $5.00 and said that his friends were big tippers and they would take good care of him.  

Drinks were $5.00 in the Lounge, so we would stop at an old Irish tavern - the “Good Time Bar” on the way.  A shot and a beer was 50 cents and the bartender would buy #4.  We would leave him $1.00 each and we were all happy!  As a side note, this bar was later sold and became the original “Fridays.”  It was on a corner and the sidewalks were about 8 feet wide on two sides.  They added striped awnings and tables outside.  Eventually, this also became “the place to go.”  

Back to the story – my friends and I went into the hotel, tipped the doorman $5.00 each, and made our way through the holes and into the Peppermint Lounge.  It was so crowded and the band was so loud, you couldn’t hear anyone talking.  We pushed our way up to the iron fence and then climbed onto it.  We grabbed onto the iron filigree hanging from the ceiling and started dancing.  Some girls started to extend their hands up to us and we pulled them up onto the fence.  It took no time before there were people all around the dance floor dancing on the fence.  We only stayed for one set – it was just too noisy and hot.  We made our way back through the hole in the men’s room and into the hotel lobby and on to our next club of the night. 

The Lounge was later taken over by a famous New York crime family until it lost its liquor license in December of 1965.  But we can always say we were there back when...

WESTERN ELECTRIC...

I was home only a few days and my Mom told me that a new AT&T Western Electric Company had just opened about 2 miles from my parents’ home.  She wanted me to apply for a job and to mention that my Dad worked for AT&T for 35 years.  She thought it might help to get me in.  I think my Mom spent a lot of time scanning the want ads to get me a job.  

I applied and was hired that day.  The job wasn’t really great, but it was a job.  I worked on an assembly line rebuilding telephones.  I got pretty good at it and, after a month, I told the foreman that I wanted to be a starter on the line.  There were 4 lines in the plant.  I said I could put out more phones than any of the other lines.  He accepted my challenge.  I got the 3 girls who worked next to me on the line moved up to the front where I was.  After beating all the other lines for the next 3 months, the foreman stopped the line one day and said I would be getting a raise - $0.04 an hour - $1.60 a week.  I told him that after taxes that wouldn’t even buy me a six-pack of beer.  I told him what he could do with his raise and where and I walked out.  

My Mom went ballistic – “Your father worked for AT&T for 35 years and you quit after 3 months!” I told her these were 2 different companies and no one would know.  I had to go back on Monday to sign for my last paycheck.  I punched in before 8 AM and went down to see the foreman.  He said when he told the big bosses what I had said, they actually promoted me to the office!  Go figure! He said to go home and change into a shirt and tie, put on slacks, and shine my shoes – then come back for an interview.   I worked there for 3 years.

I was asked to try out for their softball team.  I was a pretty good fast-pitch pitcher and I could hit the ball a mile – but I couldn’t catch it to save my life and accurate long throws weren’t my strong point either.  I never ate lunch, so every day on my lunch hour, I would practice pitching to a strike zone I spray-painted on the parking lot wall.  I had to buy a new softball almost every week.  Hitting a cement wall everyday beat the tar out of it. 

I also joined a new bowling league they were forming.  A new bowling alley had just opened about half a mile from work.  It was called the “Gay Era.” The manager wanted to keep the bowlers around after league play so on Thursday and Friday nights, he brought in a Rock ‘n Roll band and a portable dance floor.  The band leader offered to teach us the newest craze – Chubby Checker’s Twist.  I had a blast!  I danced until the band quit around midnight.  Anyone who’s ever danced the Twist knows that after half an hour you’re soaked with perspiration.  

I stopped by the local bar where all my high school friends hung out.  It was called “The Spoon.”  I told them about the band and said there were girls all over the place.  It took them about 3 weeks before they decided to check it out.  By this time, I had become pretty well known for The Twist!  The band leader spent extra attention teaching me and a black girl from my office how to perfect the dance.  This girl was very tall and of the best dancers I have ever seen.  The band leader loved us and 2 or 3 times a night, he would ask us to teach the Twist to the crowd.  It was during one of these exhibition dances that I looked up and saw 10 of my friends watching with their mouths hanging open.  It wasn’t quite what they were expecting when they walked in.  One of them came up afterwards and said that almost everyone at “The Spoon” had a nickname – I didn’t until then.  I was crowned “The King of the Gay Era.”   The Gay Era part was soon dropped, but I was known as King for the next 25 years. 

Those dance lessons from the bandleader (not to mention all that practice) paid off a few months later.  One weekend, a bunch of us went up to a place called Eastover in Massachusetts.  It cost $37.50 for the weekend, which covered your room and board and all the food you could eat – including steak and lobster.  Oh the good old days!  I entered a dance contest on Saturday night and I won $25, so the weekend cost me $12.50.  Thanks Chubby Checker and Mr. Bandleader, wherever you are!