Graduating from Abraham Lincoln high school in Philadelphia
PEPPERMINT LOUNGE
NEW YORK CITY
1965 was the year I graduated from high school.
It was also the first time I took a trip WITHOUT my parents! Our high school class trip was to the 1964/1965 New York World's Fair at Flushing Meadows Park in Queens, New York.
That’s me second from the left on the bottom left photo.
The 1964/1965 New York World's Fair held over 140 pavilions, 110 restaurants, for 80 nations (hosted by 37), 24 U.S. states and over 45 corporations and remains a touchstone for many Baby Boomers who visited the optimistic fair as children, before the turbulent years of the Vietnam War and many cultural changes such as increasing domestic violence associated with the Civil Rights Movement.
However, this story is about another trip I took to New York City later that year. When I graduated from high school dad told me to get a job or he was going to throw me out of the house. Don't know if mom would let him but I didn't want to take the chance.
So my high school friend John R and I traveled around by bus applying for employment at various places. Now let me tell you about John R, a.k.a. “Roz". He was my best friend in high school and we played on the Junior Varsity and Varsity soccer team together.
I was the goalie (with the circle) and Roz is fourth from the right in the back row.
We applied with the Philadelphia Electric Company, the Philadelphia Gas Company, Frank’s Beverages (founded by Jacob Frank in 1885 ) and Sears.
Sears called me and I started working in their warehouse as a catalog order picker in the automotive supply section on July 5, 1965. This was my first full time forty hour per week job and I was hired in at a minimum wage that was $1.25 per hour at that time.
Working for Sears in 1965.
Luckily for me, dad drove past Sears going to work every day so I rode with him in the morning and he would pick me up on his way home. That was fine until I started night school in September at Spring Garden Technical Institute, which was located near downtown Philadelphia, for a mechanical drawing diploma. It was at Spring Garden, which was established in 1851 , that I would see a microwave oven for the first time in 1965.
On school nights, two nights during the week, dad would drop me off at Sears and after work I would take public transportation, a combination of bus then subway, to school. Classes were from 6 pm to 10 pm. I would get home about 11 pm from school using the elevated rail called the “El" and riding a bus.
Here are two stories from riding public transportation in Philly. I would leave work at 5 pm, take a bus and then catch the Broad Street subway (which opened September 1928 ) to school. When I would come up the stairs to the street level from the same exit each night there was a man wearing dark sunglasses selling pencils from a tin cup. It appeared that he was blind. Maybe I threw some change into the cup some nights and maybe I didn't. I had seen him twice a week from September to December. But get this. One of the first “Life Lessons” I would learn – Things are not what they always appear to be! One night I walked up the steps from the subway exit and as I walked past this man I nodded my head at him to acknowledge his presence. Guess what? He nodded back! Well I thought everybody needs a “con" and he certainly had a good one going for him so why blow his cover. This of course was one of the first coming of age lessons on the streets and there would be many more in the next few years.
The second story is certainly not a “Life Lesson” but a good story nevertheless. Coming home late at night I really didn't want to eat a large meal before going to bed so I would have a beef pot pie and a glass of Hawaiian Punch. I really enjoyed this meal and this is what I ate each night after school for two years. BTW, this meal will appear in a future story because I had told this story so many times to people I met.
Traveling on public transportation took a long time as both the bus and rail cars would make stops every few minutes to allow passengers to get on and off.
I needed a car. So I started to save what money I could from my weekly paycheck that cleared about $40.00 after taxes. The agreement with mom was I would give her 25% of my net pay which left me with nearly $30.00 each week to spend or save. My goal was to buy a car on my 18th birthday in November.
On my 18th birthday I had saved a total of $200 dollars and my friend Darryl C drove me to a used car dealer not far from where I lived. We found a 1956 Buick that cost $200. Not wanting to look like this was the first time I bought a car I asked the salesman what was my guarantee and without missing a beat he replied “Son, I guarantee it will drive off this lot!”
I had my guarantee so I gave him $200 in cash (at 18 I knew nothing about having a checking account since I didn’t have any bills to pay) and I now had my first car that I could drive to work and school.
With my first car – a 1956 Buick.
Don't ask me about auto insurance either because I do not remember but I did have it. But more importantly for me I now had the means to travel on my own, without my parents, and I certainly was not going to drive to Wilson, North Carolina or Shamokin, Pennsylvania!
For anyone who was 18 years old and living near New York City THAT was the place to be since legal drinking age at that time was 18 and guess who was now 18!
I asked my friend Darryl C and his friend Lexie G if they wanted to go to New York City with me one Saturday night and they both said yes.
Of course we didn't know anything about New York City except I did listened to Joey Dee & the Starliters sing “Peppermint Twist” which hit #1 on the Billboard U.S. Chart in 1961 so the Peppermint Lounge was our destination.
We left Philly early one evening and drove north on U.S. Route 1 which is a major north-south U.S. highway that serves the East Coast of the Unites States.
It runs 2,369 miles (3,813 km) from Fort Kent, Maine near the Canadian - US border south to Key West, Florida making it the longest north-south road in the United States. I have always wanted to drive the entire length of this road but have not done so to date. Maybe one day?
The 45 rpm of “Peppermint Twist” by Joey Dee & the Starliters
On the way to New York City we stopped at a gas station that night in Princeton, New Jersey and the three of us bought Coca-Cola in bottles from a vending machine that was outside the building. The gas station was closed and we didn't think anything about it at that time.
Not sure exactly which month we made this trip but it was a cold winter day and it did get colder during the night. Snowflakes started to fall. We arrived in Manhattan, parked and started to walk around. It was near freezing and all three of us had our heavy winter coats on. We seen a U.S. Marine walking without any jacket on and thought he was one tough dude. Asking directions to the Peppermint Lounge we found our way there, parked once again, and went inside.
Whenever I’m walking in freezing weather I always think about how tough United States Marines are.
The Peppermint Lounge was a popular discotheque located at 128 West 45th Street. When the Twist craze hit in 1960 to 1961 celebrities such as Audrey Hepburn, Truman Capote, Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, Liberace, Frank Sinatra, Norman Mailer, Annette Funicello and even the elusive Greta Garbo would be there to listen and dance to the house band – Joey Dee & the Starliters.
But when Darryl C, Lexie G and I arrived “in the Winter of‘65” (sorry Joan Baez) it was a dump. We drank a few beers and went back to the car to drive home. By then about four inches of snow was on the ground but I knew we would be safe since that 1956 Buick was built like a tank and just about as heavy as one!
Driving back home I experience a strange occurrence that I never experience before or since. When I pushed the brake pedal down the pedal didn't move back up when I removed my foot. I'm following the existing tire tracks in the now six inches of snow on the road and I realized the brakes have frozen. Thus I tried to time the traffic lights so I wouldn't have to stop. There was little traffic during this winter storm but when I did have to stop I would put both feet under the brake pedal and pull it back up. We did make it home safe and sound.
A few days later my parents received a phone call from the New Jersey State Police and wanted to speak with me. Gulp! What had I done? Seems as if that gas station we stopped at in Princeton was robbed Saturday night and someone had written my license plate number and gave it to the police. I told the police what we did and why we stopped and nothing else ever became of this.
Graduating from Abraham Lincoln high school in Philadelphia
PEPPERMINT LOUNGE
NEW YORK CITY
1965 was the year I graduated from high school.
It was also the first time I took a trip WITHOUT my parents! Our high school class trip was to the 1964/1965 New York World's Fair at Flushing Meadows Park in Queens, New York.
That’s me second from the left on the bottom left photo.
The 1964/1965 New York World's Fair held over 140 pavilions, 110 restaurants, for 80 nations (hosted by 37), 24 U.S. states and over 45 corporations and remains a touchstone for many Baby Boomers who visited the optimistic fair as children, before the turbulent years of the Vietnam War and many cultural changes such as increasing domestic violence associated with the Civil Rights Movement.
However, this story is about another trip I took to New York City later that year. When I graduated from high school dad told me to get a job or he was going to throw me out of the house. Don't know if mom would let him but I didn't want to take the chance.
So my high school friend John R and I traveled around by bus applying for employment at various places. Now let me tell you about John R, a.k.a. “Roz". He was my best friend in high school and we played on the Junior Varsity and Varsity soccer team together.
I was the goalie (with the circle) and Roz is fourth from the right in the back row.
We applied with the Philadelphia Electric Company, the Philadelphia Gas Company, Frank’s Beverages (founded by Jacob Frank in 1885 ) and Sears.
Sears called me and I started working in their warehouse as a catalog order picker in the automotive supply section on July 5, 1965. This was my first full time forty hour per week job and I was hired in at a minimum wage that was $1.25 per hour at that time.
Working for Sears in 1965.
Luckily for me, dad drove past Sears going to work every day so I rode with him in the morning and he would pick me up on his way home. That was fine until I started night school in September at Spring Garden Technical Institute, which was located near downtown Philadelphia, for a mechanical drawing diploma. It was at Spring Garden, which was established in 1851 , that I would see a microwave oven for the first time in 1965.
On school nights, two nights during the week, dad would drop me off at Sears and after work I would take public transportation, a combination of bus then subway, to school. Classes were from 6 pm to 10 pm. I would get home about 11 pm from school using the elevated rail called the “El" and riding a bus.
Here are two stories from riding public transportation in Philly. I would leave work at 5 pm, take a bus and then catch the Broad Street subway (which opened September 1928 ) to school. When I would come up the stairs to the street level from the same exit each night there was a man wearing dark sunglasses selling pencils from a tin cup. It appeared that he was blind. Maybe I threw some change into the cup some nights and maybe I didn't. I had seen him twice a week from September to December. But get this. One of the first “Life Lessons” I would learn – Things are not what they always appear to be! One night I walked up the steps from the subway exit and as I walked past this man I nodded my head at him to acknowledge his presence. Guess what? He nodded back! Well I thought everybody needs a “con" and he certainly had a good one going for him so why blow his cover. This of course was one of the first coming of age lessons on the streets and there would be many more in the next few years.
The second story is certainly not a “Life Lesson” but a good story nevertheless. Coming home late at night I really didn't want to eat a large meal before going to bed so I would have a beef pot pie and a glass of Hawaiian Punch. I really enjoyed this meal and this is what I ate each night after school for two years. BTW, this meal will appear in a future story because I had told this story so many times to people I met.
Traveling on public transportation took a long time as both the bus and rail cars would make stops every few minutes to allow passengers to get on and off.
I needed a car. So I started to save what money I could from my weekly paycheck that cleared about $40.00 after taxes. The agreement with mom was I would give her 25% of my net pay which left me with nearly $30.00 each week to spend or save. My goal was to buy a car on my 18th birthday in November.
On my 18th birthday I had saved a total of $200 dollars and my friend Darryl C drove me to a used car dealer not far from where I lived. We found a 1956 Buick that cost $200. Not wanting to look like this was the first time I bought a car I asked the salesman what was my guarantee and without missing a beat he replied “Son, I guarantee it will drive off this lot!”
I had my guarantee so I gave him $200 in cash (at 18 I knew nothing about having a checking account since I didn’t have any bills to pay) and I now had my first car that I could drive to work and school.
With my first car – a 1956 Buick.
Don't ask me about auto insurance either because I do not remember but I did have it. But more importantly for me I now had the means to travel on my own, without my parents, and I certainly was not going to drive to Wilson, North Carolina or Shamokin, Pennsylvania!
For anyone who was 18 years old and living near New York City THAT was the place to be since legal drinking age at that time was 18 and guess who was now 18!
I asked my friend Darryl C and his friend Lexie G if they wanted to go to New York City with me one Saturday night and they both said yes.
Of course we didn't know anything about New York City except I did listened to Joey Dee & the Starliters sing “Peppermint Twist” which hit #1 on the Billboard U.S. Chart in 1961 so the Peppermint Lounge was our destination.
We left Philly early one evening and drove north on U.S. Route 1 which is a major north-south U.S. highway that serves the East Coast of the Unites States.
It runs 2,369 miles (3,813 km) from Fort Kent, Maine near the Canadian - US border south to Key West, Florida making it the longest north-south road in the United States. I have always wanted to drive the entire length of this road but have not done so to date. Maybe one day?
The 45 rpm of “Peppermint Twist” by Joey Dee & the Starliters
On the way to New York City we stopped at a gas station that night in Princeton, New Jersey and the three of us bought Coca-Cola in bottles from a vending machine that was outside the building. The gas station was closed and we didn't think anything about it at that time.
Not sure exactly which month we made this trip but it was a cold winter day and it did get colder during the night. Snowflakes started to fall. We arrived in Manhattan, parked and started to walk around. It was near freezing and all three of us had our heavy winter coats on. We seen a U.S. Marine walking without any jacket on and thought he was one tough dude. Asking directions to the Peppermint Lounge we found our way there, parked once again, and went inside.
Whenever I’m walking in freezing weather I always think about how tough United States Marines are.
The Peppermint Lounge was a popular discotheque located at 128 West 45th Street. When the Twist craze hit in 1960 to 1961 celebrities such as Audrey Hepburn, Truman Capote, Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, Liberace, Frank Sinatra, Norman Mailer, Annette Funicello and even the elusive Greta Garbo would be there to listen and dance to the house band – Joey Dee & the Starliters.
But when Darryl C, Lexie G and I arrived “in the Winter of‘65” (sorry Joan Baez) it was a dump. We drank a few beers and went back to the car to drive home. By then about four inches of snow was on the ground but I knew we would be safe since that 1956 Buick was built like a tank and just about as heavy as one!
Driving back home I experience a strange occurrence that I never experience before or since. When I pushed the brake pedal down the pedal didn't move back up when I removed my foot. I'm following the existing tire tracks in the now six inches of snow on the road and I realized the brakes have frozen. Thus I tried to time the traffic lights so I wouldn't have to stop. There was little traffic during this winter storm but when I did have to stop I would put both feet under the brake pedal and pull it back up. We did make it home safe and sound.
A few days later my parents received a phone call from the New Jersey State Police and wanted to speak with me. Gulp! What had I done? Seems as if that gas station we stopped at in Princeton was robbed Saturday night and someone had written my license plate number and gave it to the police. I told the police what we did and why we stopped and nothing else ever became of this.