Vaudeville

My father, Honest Sid, was a booker in smalltime vaudeville for a short while during its heyday before the First World War. As a boy I had gotten the idea that vaudeville was off-color but when I asked him about it on pages 22-23 of Honest Sid, he replied:

"Dirty? Don't be nuts. It was cleaner than a baby's behind." His descriptions of vaudeville generally left me speechless. In the big-time there might be Gillette's Monkeys, an act that included Adam and Eve, the twin bowling monkeys. Adam would make a strike or a spare and Eve acted as the pin boy, setting up the pins and returning the ball. After each play Adam ordered a drink and got progressively more drunk as the game went on until finally he tore up the alley. "Kid, you wouldn't believe the acts I saw. Those animal ones were the craziest. Dogs that did tricks, pigs that played games, and monkeys I swear could have beat me at gin."

Booking acts for a show required skill, although the smalltime format was patterned after the bills at the Palace. As the booker, my father set the number and kinds of acts, their balance and sequence following the Palace blueprint.  It was like a fence operation, since the performers had stolen most of the acts and gags from the big time. Generally there were nine acts with one intermission. "Closing intermission" was a big act with a name star perhaps featuring the Jewish comedienne, Fanny Brice. The Marx Brothers or Will Rogers might star in the top bill following the second act after intermission. 

The finale was called the "chaser", also known as "playing to the haircuts," reflecting the last performer's view as patrons headed up the aisle. Such line-ups would have been big-time dream shows, my father dealt with pale copies."

The Horn & Hardart Automat

In my book Honest Sid I discuss the Horn & Hardart Automat - a "mechanized cafeteria" in New York City that was popular in the 1930s.  For all who went to them, especially a six-year old like myself, it was an experience to be remembered. As I wrote starting on page 80:

When we [my father, my mother, and myself] reached the street, my father said, "Listen, why don't we get a cup of coffee?  There's a Horn & Hardart's right up Broadway near 55th where we can sit down and talk."

I loved going to the Horn & Hardart's Automats.  What a joy to examine all the small compartments, especially in the section labeled "CAKES." When I finally made a choice, my father dropped a nickel into the slot and the little door would pop open.  I stood on my toes and reached in for my favorite, a chocolate glace cupcake.

Sometimes there would be a loud knock and all the open doors would suddenly snap shut.  Then the compartments spun around and a moment later spun back again, filled with cakes.  It seemed like a miracle to me.  For another nickel, coffee and milk came out of spigots in the shape of a gargoyle's head.  To me, the restaurant was almost like an arcade: you put a nickel in and got a prize.

My father and mother filled their coffee cups and we sat down at a table.  By then, after living in cramped hotel rooms, I was used to the fact almost all discussions, when they were not fights, took place in an Automat or some other cafeteria.  Even though we'd moved to roomier quarters, the habit persisted.

Thanks to a terrific capsule review of Honest Sid in the Downtown Express, I recently learned about a terrific book: Automats, Taxi Dancers and Vaudeville: Excavating Manhattan's Lost Places of Leisure by David Freeland. Anyone interested in learning more about the Automat could certainly start there.

Dream Big, Have Faith

I was raised in the Times Square area of New York City, and spent my childhood days among the likes of gangster Champ Segal and heavyweight champ Joe Louis. My new book Honest Sid follows my father through New York's growth from a gas-lit 19th century city of push-carts and family neighborhoods to the growing megalopolis of the 20th century. During his days as a professional baseball player to his adventures with some of the city's most notorious gangsters, Sid always managed to dream big and have faith in the bond of family.

The book showcases such themes as:

• The quintessential American dream of the 1930s
• An unconventional bond between father and son
• The trials and tribulations of a Depression-era New York City
• The Times Square & 8th Avenue scene during the 1930s
• An insider's look at the NYC gambling and speakeasy scene
• How a childhood of horse parlors and transient hotels can turn into a lifetime of academic achievement and scientific excellence

In forthcoming posts I will take you through my favorite scenes - and my favorite memories.  You can also follow me on twitter: @honestsid

Thanks for reading!