Chapter One
The State House Steps Boston Massachusetts.
“The Massachusetts State Police today honored 18 state and local police officers and 3 civilians for contributions to the safety of the public above and beyond the normal call of duty. The awards ceremony, held at the Grand Staircase of the State House, was led by Secretary of Public Safety and Security Mark H. O’Rourke, and Colonel Kevin P. Shanahan, Superintendent of the State Police.” Article in the Boston Globe
“Sergeant Robert L. Long of the Framingham office was honored today for valor above and beyond the normal call of duty, for his bravery in apprehending Interstate serial murderer and escaped prisoner Ned Monday.
Sergeant Long risked his life to apprehend this dangerous criminal. While Sergeant Long was on duty at the Massachusetts Turnpike Toll Booths in Framingham, Sergeant Long recognized the car of escaping prisoner Ned Monday as it approached the toll booths. You will remember Monday Escaped from a Tampa Florida Prison a week ago and was attempting to go to Canada. Mindless of his own safety Sergeant Long stood in front of the escapee’s car and ordered him to halt. When the escapee attempted to run over Sergeant Long, the Sergeant jumped into the escaping car through the passenger’s open window. Half in half out of the car, Sergeant Long managed to subdue the escaping prisoner and take him into custody.
It will be remembered that the criminal Monday is one of the FBI’s most wanted Criminals. Monday is allegedly the perpetrator of a string of serial murders against unsuspecting young women from Seattle Washington to Miami Florida and states along this route. It is believed Monday is guilty of 19 murders. He was finally captured in Florida and after a lengthy trial was found guilty of two murders committed there and sentenced to death. During his transfer to a psychological observation unit for study, which Monday volunteered, he escaped from his captors and has been on the run ever since.
He’s suspected of several additional murders along his route from Florida to Massachusetts. Monday is considered the very model of a serial Killer.
The local and State Police have been on the lookout for Monday since his escape. It was suspected he intended to head for Canada.” Article in the State Police News, Framingham Massachusetts.
“Sincere congratulations Sergeant Long, I expect the Sergeant designation will not be for much longer, I hear the Lieutenant bars are only days away. We in the Fraternal Brotherhood of State Police are proud to call you brother.”
“Thank you Captain Healy, coming from you that’s high praise.”
“You are having a proud and distinguished career Sergeant and are a good example to our new recruits. We in the Massachusetts State Police need more men like you. Let me shake your hand.”
Captain Healy shook Sergeant Long’s hand and they briefly embraced. Captain Healy then moved on to the next honoree and Sergeant Robert Long continued off the dais to his waiting family.
“Bobby that was wonderful everyone is so proud of you, my heart is bursting with pride.”
“Mom, on a day like this that's exactly what your heart is supposed to do;
Calley, as my big sister thank you for taking your to time to come to this.”
“I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Like Mom, I’m very proud of you today, but I have always been proud of you little brother from your distinguished military career to your now exemplary police career.”
“Ok, that’s enough gushing you’ll make my head to big for my hat and hats are expensive. I say, it’s time for lunch and I’m buying.”
“Not this time Bobby, it’s your mothers turn to buy. Now you follow me.”
At this the family went to the parking lot and their respective cars to drive to a local restaurant.
At just six feet tall Bobby Long’s daily exercise regimen is obvious in his lean muscular body. He has a unique self assured strut. His stint in the US Marines also shows in his ramrod straight back and the way he holds his head. His handsome face is quick to smile helped by his charming dimples that light up a room. But, when provoked this charming dimpled face can make a criminal break out in a very cold sweat and throw up their hands in immediate surrender. Bobbie has the attitude of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, “Never give up until he gets his man.” This determination and his love of his job make Bobbie Long a good candidate for the future Commander of the Massachusetts State Police.
From high school graduation to a successful career in the US Marines, now the Massachusetts State Police, Bobby is a very satisfied man. Life is great, that’s Bobbie’s motto. The only imperfection is that Bobby’s dad died when Bob was 2 years old so his mom and big sister have been his family and cheering section for pretty much his entire life, they are a very tight knit family and will enjoy this victory luncheon together very much.
Chapter Two
Robert Cimino is a local businessman preparing to ask his friend for a favor. He knows the favor will change his friend’s immediate future and Robert is moving cautiously. He wants Angelo Cataldo, his photographer friend, to run a night club for him for about 3 months. Angelo just sold a restaurant he took from out of business to a huge success and Robert is hoping Angie can do the same for him.
Robert is tall dark and handsome in the classic sense. Ask any lady, she will gladly give Robert a glowing endorsement. When Robert enters a room he turns heads getting people wondering who this self-assured successful man is? Every man in the room better be aware lest his woman fall under the new comers spell. Robert’s power over women is legend. He has won many bets over his ability to convince the comely lady to spend the night.
His magic is not limited to women; he also is able to convince potential customers male or female, that only he can satisfy their business needs. When Robert arrives in their stores his customers feel nothing can go wrong now that Robert is here.
Robert has a dark side however, that occasionally rears its ugly head. Robert is never satisfied. If he sees a new woman he has not spent time with yet, he considers it his duty to give her a little bit of Robert to make her life better. Married, engaged or other wise encumbered is not an acceptable excuse in Robert’s world.
During the day Robert runs a wholesale food distribution company and he’s decided to expand his business. While looking for a likely candidate to expand into he found a closed night club available for a ridiculously low price. Robert would like to run the club himself but he knows that’s impossible with his present company demanding so much of his time.
Robert’s specialty is direct sales, if he can look you in the eye he can sell you anything. Part of his charm and sales ability is the fact that even though he has employees who make the actual deliveries to his customer’s stores, Robert visits each customer’s establishment at least once a week to personally help that customer sell food products he has supplied them. Robert has been known to put on an apron and wait on customers side by side with his customers. All the while joking and making a spectacle of himself which is much admired by all his customers and especially their customers.
If he attempted to work in the night club six nights a week he would not be able to perform for his people. And perform is what he does, smiling, and winking and shouting and explaining everything he is doing in front of them. Being a world class salesman requires attention to detail, and the willingness to do whatever it takes. Robert excels in all these categories.
Robert’s first task to get his new business started is to find a trustworthy and personable individual people will like to run his business. The perfect individual would be someone exactly like himself.
He’s decided on the next best thing, his friend Angelo for this, but after Angelo sold his sandwich shop he is moving on. His plans are to leave for Los Angeles to attend a videographer school out there. Of course it would be the best videographer school in the world; Brookes Institute, which is in Ventura California Angelo’s destination. Angelo is younger than Robert, but he’s very mature for his age. He’s sharp enough to stand on his own and savvy enough to know when to listen to suggestions. These qualities make Angie a perfect candidate for what Robert has in mind.
Angelo is Angie to his friends and right out of high school he revived a dying business, a sandwich shop and turned it into a successful, salable restaurant. After selling it for a lot of money Angie is now planning to go back to school for his first love, photography, of course after he bought his new 1966 Thunderbird Convertible he’s going to need more money than he originally planned on.
If Robert can convince him to put school off for a short time it will be worth a lot to him and he will pay Angie handsomely. Robert decides to approach Angie’s father first.
Walking into the Cataldo Wholesale Meat and Provisions Company offices Robert approached the receptionist.
“Hi my name is Robert Cimino and I’m here to see Mr. Salvatore Cataldo. I’m a friend of his son Angelo.”
“Certainly Mr. Cimino, if you’ll be seated I’ll tell Mr. Cataldo you’re here.”
Picking up the phone the secretary paged Mr. Cataldo in the plant. A moment later her phone rang and a booming voice asked “What?”
“Mr. Cataldo, there’s a Mr. Robert Cimino here to see you; he’s a friend of Angie’s.”
The phone voice booms “Send him in.”
“Mr. Cimino, straight through this door you’ll come to a pair of swinging metal doors leading to the refrigerated chest, that’s where Mr. Cataldo is expecting you.”
“Thank you.” Robert said over his shoulder.
The first door the receptionist pointed out led to a room filled with lockers on all four walls and continuous benches just in front of the lockers. Straight across the room is a pair of typical refrigerated chest swinging doors, normally inside the big insulated doors, which normally, are always open during the day as this one is now. Robert walked across to the swinging doors.
On his way into the cooler Robert couldn’t help but compare this cooler to his business’s cooler across town, they’re all pretty much the same, size being the biggest difference. The Cataldo family has been in the wholesale meat business in Boston for at least two generations. On many occasions Robert has bought the odd order of steaks or roasts from Mr. Cataldo’s company himself. As Robert enters the refrigerated chest, a stout, red faced man of average height, approaches him with a hand out to shake and a booming voice greeting him;”
“Hi, you must be Robert. Angie speaks well of you.”
“Good to finally meet you Mr. Cataldo, Angie is a fan of your work as well.”
Laughing Cataldo said;
“He better be a fan of my work, I’m his father and my work created him. By the way please call me Sal; we don’t stand on ceremony here. How can I help you Robert?”
“I wanted to talk to you about Angie.”
“He’s alright I hope, I haven’t seen him or spoken to him for a couple of days.”
“No, no he’s fine; on the contrary I wanted to talk to you about Angie leaving for CA. If it wouldn’t interfere with your plans for him I wanted to ask him to stay in Boston for a few months more and take over running a restaurant and night club for me. I’m buying the old Executive Salon in the financial district and need Angie to run it for me until I can find a professional manager I can work with.”
“Let me understand. You are buying a night club and want Angie to run it for you?”
“Yes.”
“Well the fact is his mother hates that he’s planning to leave, he said for a couple of years, but she’s afraid he won’t come back. After he bought that T Bird convertible he’s been planning a life in a warm climate like California, not here in frozen Boston. Do you think he can handle a project as big as your night club Robert? I know he’s smart but a large operation like that might be too big.”
“Sal I’m convinced that Angie is perfect for this project. The place I’m looking at has been closed for a while and will need some fixing up to get it going again. Angie is great at that and we know he can run a restaurant; he did well with his own place before he sold it. My plans include turning the new club into a very fun place, a Dixieland Club with a live band every night and other entertainment. And, of course I’ll be there all the time.”
“That sounds great Robert you have my blessing and his mother will want me to thank you for helping keep him here a little longer.”
After some final pleasantries, Robert took his leave of Mr. Cataldo.
In a rush as always Robert is heading to Angie’s apartment in Winthrop MA.
A short time later, having found Angie at home, he hustled him into the car for a ride, and as they drove Robert explained about the club and the deal he’s making; and said that’s what I want you to see. Arriving in the financial district in Boston Robert led the way to a four story brick building at the back of a small tree lined mall and conducted a whirlwind tour of the closed restaurant/night club. Literally running from floor to floor Robert didn’t want to miss anything, but also not waste any time, his customers awaited his arrival.
After giving Angie a set of keys Robert told him to think it over. Now he rushed back to Winthrop and Angie’s apartment where he dropped Angie and drove off to Gloucester and his first customer.
Later that day after leaving Robert, Angie had a lot to think about. Angie’s friends all knew his plans to go to CA. Some were as excited as he was about the move, others, like his mother, not so much. Robert said they needed to move quickly on this new deal. So Angie had to make a quick decision: go to California to study photography or stay in Boston to manage a night club?
It was lucky for Angie that he had three months before his classes started in Ventura California; where Brooks Institute is located; he might have time to do both. At least that was his initial thinking.
Robert is rushing Angie for an answer because the bank holding the mortgage is trying to take it away from him. Robert believes he has to act now or the bank will foreclose and sell the building stripped. The bank can make more money removing Robert from the deal. As Angie looked around the club on his whirlwind tour he felt his resolve to move to California slipping away. He became invested in Robert’s proposition because he loved the club.
Angie’s family has been in the food business all of his life and they’ve seen restaurants with half this much ambiance and atmosphere succeed wildly. Now, if only Robert can tailor the deal to their advantage, they could have a business venture that would make them proud! The deal Robert made was to give the bank money, enough to bring the mortgage up to date, and then some. The commitment was a lot of money to lay out with almost no guarantee of anything except more risk.
Chapter Three
Angie!
At 5’ 10” and 135 pounds, he’s young and average in appearance, until you look closer. Angie has that dynamic smile and bearing that says, let’s work together. People like him right away and this is his advantage in the service industry. However, under that quiet surface he can be a dynamo when need be, as many have discovered at their pleasure or peril.
Finally, I suspended my dream of California and said yes to Robert. After I agreed to work with him, Robert gave the former owner, Jacob Melvin, a deal he couldn’t refuse. Melvin could have up to 100.00 worth of credit a week and stay on as a consultant until the transition was over. Written in the contract was the condition that in order to fire Melvin, Robert must give him ninety days notice with pay. I was not happy about dealing with Jacob as I believed he was a first class jerk. Unfortunately for me, I have had dealings with this man before and don’t like him. Robert’s good at negotiations, Jacob Melvin is a necessary evil, and he's interested in the free drinks so the deal went though.
Robert brought the mortgage up to date and took over the balance. He felt with a little time from me he could interview and find a full time manager he could live with and I would be free to go on to California and my future in video photography.
Robert is willing to pay me a $2,000.00 fee for being his interim manager in addition to a salary every week. It’s a great deal for me because I looked forward to taking my T Bird to California and going to school with no money worries.
Robert is getting a $600,000.00 building for $24,000.00 down and a mortgage of $250,000.00, so it was a good deal all around.
Robert’s a little older than I am and we met while I was photographing a wedding he attended several years ago. He must have been impressed that night because he asked me to do some formal and candid photographs of his then girlfriend and we have been friends ever since. Robert is a young businessman who is handsome enough to attract any woman he wants. He has that bad boy look that many women seem to find interesting and irresistible. His business is a successful wholesale meat company that he runs day to day, which is why he needs me. Although he’s looking forward to being there every night Robert’s meat business is too successful to give it up for something as risky as the night club, and take a chance on hurting his real bread winner.
Personally, not that Robert was conceited, (a little irony here), but he could never get enough of himself. For Example, one day I’d managed to drag him away from the business telephone, which is his morning life line. Robert calls his customers for their orders and then calls his suppliers to fill his customer’s needs. Next he sends his men out to pick up the products and return to the shop to assemble each customer’s order. This process has him on the phone many hours a day fulfilling his customers needs.
Well, as he and I were walking in the Boston meat market area, heading to a lunch room near his office. Robert looked up at a building in our path and saw a woman leaning out of a top floor window watching us; Robert started yelling, “Don’t jump lady! It is right here, don’t jump.”
Then he started un-zipping his pants and laughing his head off, as if he believed that he was every woman’s fantasy.
Robert always had several steady girl friends at any given moment, who thought it was their time to start planning wedding bells. He seemed to be able to sit in a restaurant with the most beautiful woman in the world and flirt with every other woman in the room at the same time, as long as his date’s back was turned. When I asked him about his lack of loyalty to any one woman, his answer was always;
“What’s the problem? What they don’t know won’t hurt them.”
He once dated a legal secretary and they slept together on the first date, which wasn’t unusual for him but, apparently was for her. The following day, she was out pricing wedding reception halls, and he was interviewing a new girl friend. She couldn’t understand why Robert wasn’t going to marry her. After all, he’d swept her off her feet and on to her back, with promises of a glorious future together and she believed him.
Amazingly women seemed to find him very convincing and believe every word he said, and men find him fascinating because of his prowess with women. He exudes such an air of confidence that people listen to him when he talks about anything. I’ve never understood his gift of getting women to believe everything he said. Me, I’m different, girls look at me as if I am lying when I tell them my name.
An example of his sales ability was during his college days. He’d sold Wear Forever pots and pans and his first year of sales, he became the top salesman in the entire East Coast USA. He kept that record for as long as he worked for them, which was for several years. On a visit to his apartment I discovered what he did to be so successful at sales. My girl friend and I were there for a dinner party and I saw, next to his desk, an extensive sales script. It turned out he only sells to women, and every word he said to them, was written down and extensively rehearsed before he called them.
Every year he had at least one new fiancée and one new Chevrolet Corvette, I don’t know which was more important to him the girls or the car. I suspected the car was more important, after all he could easily get another woman, the car he had to pay for. That was Robert: the good, the bad and the not so pretty, but always successful, all rolled into one person.
Chapter Four
"Hello, is this the illustrious Lieutenant Robert Long, late of hero status?"
"Hi Angie how yah doing?"
"Great Bobby, the question is how’re you doing? Congratulations on the Heroism Award I hear it was very impressive, and much congratulations on the promotions to Lieutenant. That is much deserved and long overdue."
"Thanks Angie, by the way, what are you still doing here? I thought you’d be on your way to Los Angeles by now?"
"There's a slight hitch, I've been detoured for a while. You remember my friend Robert Cimino. He bought a night club and wants me to run it for him. It means I'll be in town maybe another three months."
"Well, actually I'm glad to hear it. I don't like you heading out to LA in the first place. You'll like it too much and never come back."
"No way, I love Boston too much. But LA is where Brooks Institute is located and they’re the best Videographer school in the country."
"It's good to hear you like Boston, but going for a couple of years could lead to jobs and girls and never coming back. By the way, since your still here lets go out to dinner, I haven't had fried clams in too long. It’ll give us a chance to catch up."
"That’s a great idea Bobby, how about doing that tonight?"
"That will work for me."
"Hey Bobby how early can you meet me?"
"I'm off at around four, why what's up?"
"I want to show you the night club; it's on Franklin Street in Boston. It used to be the Executive Salon; we’re going to call it the Gaslight Club. We’ll go to dinner after."
"Ok, that sounds great. At my place at four, we'll take your car so I can get a ride in the new T. Bird."
"See you then."
At four O'clock Angie picked up Bobby at his apartment and they both rode into Boston to see the night club. During the ride Angie told Bobby about the deal Robert was making for the night club and Bobby was impressed. After going through the Sumner Tunnel into Boston Angie maneuvered around the North End until he was under the Expressway at the right place heading south around the Meat Market district parallel to Atlantic Avenue. Many of the streets along this route are one way coming out to Atlantic Avenue so they need to go beyond the street they want in order to be able to enter the right one. After passing State Street they came to Franklin Street which heads back toward the Custom House, but is the street they want.
They are now heading along Franklin St. toward the Custom House, which was the tallest building in Boston for many years during the turn of the century and now is just another tall building. This stretch of Franklin Street is still cobblestones; the city had not covered it with tar yet as they did many other streets in this district. Rolling down the cobblestone paved street the sound of the tires moving over the uneven stones made them raise their voices as they spoke. The grey granite buildings on either side of them are creating the illusion of a canyon. This is not a district of Boston Bobbie has ever visited before. Looking around he tried to figure out where Angie was taking him, Angie said this was the insurance district.
As they approached the end of Franklin Street Bobby could see the street name of the cross road ahead of them, it was State Street a very busy street, and one they had just driven by a few minutes ago, but because it is one way they had to go beyond it to get where they are going.. Before they reached State St. Angie made a quick u-turn and parked at the sidewalk in front of a tree and shrub lined walkway leading to a tall building fronting on the next road up from where they were. Angie said:
“What do you think Bobbie?”
“You mean the back of this Insurance Company here Angie?”
“No, Bobby in back there next to the parking garage.”
“Is that what that tall building is, a parking garage?”
“Yeah Bob the club is that four story brick building in the back there that you can barely see. The tall building is one of those new elevator parking garages. You leave your car at the entrance and workers take it up on an elevator to parking stalls inside the building, something like a beehive with the parking stalls along the outside of the elevators.”
At this Bobby got out of the car to see beyond the trees and Angie got out the other side to come around to the sidewalk next to Bobby.
“Yes, I see it now it looks old Angie. Are those real antique windows, those little panes?”
“Sure they are Bob; this entire building was built around the turn of the century at least sixty years ago.”
“I can see a big problem right off, how are people going to find the place, hidden like this?”
“Bobby we’ll put out a sign until they get accustomed to where it is. It’s secluded and mysterious. That’s part of its charm. Come on Bob let’s go inside.”
As they got to the door Bobby asked:
“What’s that square in the door Angie?”
“That’s the Peep Hole, when someone comes to the door they have to “Knock Three Times” and give a password to get in. It’s going to be like a Speak Easy during the 1920s.”
They went through the door and as Bobby entered the foyer he was surprised at the opulence of the interior with a deep pile rug and velour wallpaper.
“We haven’t got the furniture yet but you can see the bar area, this is the first floor lounge. “We’re going to have a Dixieland Band here to entertain and maybe a piano player during the off sets.”
“What’s that smell Angie, Coffee, it smells good?”
“Actually Bobby that is coffee grounds the cleaners use it to get rid of unpleasant odors. They sprinkle coffee grounds in the carpet before they vacuum, which absorbs odors and then they vacuum everything up.”
"Come on let me show you the dining room."
They walked up the deeply carpeted stairs to the second floor, which is also wallpapered with Velour in a dark red paisley design. As they enter the room Bobby said;
"Wow what a great antique bar. I don't think I've ever seen one quite like it before. That round kind of bell shape looks like it was made for a ship."
"Actually, it was made for a gentlemen's club in the 1890s."
"I'm really impressed, this room and the first floor bar are great."
"Come on, let me show you the kitchen, it's the crowning glory of all this."
As they continue up the stairs they passed a third floor room, whose door was closed.
"The third floor is not in use right now. We hope to make it a show room. It’s like the second floor with velour walls and deep carpet only the velour is green paisley."
At the end of the four story stairwell they pass a small landing with another closed door, this one solid. The room doors for the second and third floors each had diamond shaped cutouts in the door with colored plastic inserts so you could see what was on the other side of the door, but could not hear sound from inside those rooms. Here on the fourth floor the room beyond the door is a private dining room smaller than those below. Across this landing is the kitchen for the entire building.
“That doorway we just passed is the fourth floor dining room, which is closed for now. This is the famous kitchen, brand new, and all stainless Steel. The ovens and steam table are perfect for what we have in mind. The plan is to have a simple luncheon and at night only three or four items on the menu, but the very best of what we offer. The steaks will all be Prime, and since we're in the meat business we can get the best."
"It's everything you said it was and more, I love it. We can have some great parties here Angie."
"Yes we can. Now let's go, this kitchen is making me hungry. Unfortunately the gas is shut off, so we'll have to go somewhere else to eat."
That “somewhere else” they’re referring to is the Union Oyster House, six blocks away from the night club and directly behind the new Boston City Hall. The Union Oyster House was begun as a restaurant in 1826 and is the oldest restaurant in continuous use in America. Although the booths look like they were built in the 1800s they’re clean, comfortable and familiar. Once inside the two old friends wait in line to be seated. This restaurant is noisy with no carpets or curtains; everything is wood so sound tends to be harsh. As they wait, the conversations around them run the gamut from “The Kennedy Assassination and the grassy knoll, which just happened a few years earlier, to what the Red Sox will do this year. But, the smells are all tantalizing. From the best Clam Chowder in the world to the best frying Ipswich clams coming out of the kitchen. The aroma is dictating their choice of dinner menu. Of course they both ordered fried clams and the clam chowder, Bobby ordered shucked oysters and Angie couldn’t resist the shucked clams, both the house specialties here.
“What could be better than this, old friends, good food and the familiar homey atmosphere of our favorite restaurant.”
“Just like an old married couple!”
“Hey watch it wise guy. You ever heard of domestic violence?”
Chapter Five
Now down to business, we need to get this night club ready for action. In our quest to purchase and successfully open the club, Robert put me in charge so I studied every similar operation in town I could find. Some, like Players Club, I surreptitiously scouted, both for prime employees and good working habits managing the business, others like Tic Toc Lounge I spoke to the manager, who is also the bartender and he gave me tips. I enjoyed this research; after all I’m a serious and hard working fellow and beautiful, half naked women are a joy to behold!
Players Club is a unique example of night clubs because it’s a very successful chain. They have their main branch in Chicago and a dozen other clubs around the country. Every ruling from Chicago is written in stone. The girls are treated well for the most part, but they are under the gun if they have a problem with local management. If a girl has a disagreement with the local manager, she’s fired. It doesn’t matter who’s right or wrong. The club has been open for a very short time in Boston and they’ve already fired a number of girls, which worked well for me.
I heard a story about a girl who refused to date an assistant manger, so he took her off shift, if she couldn’t work she didn’t get paid. The other girls sided with her and told management about the reasons behind the move. Instead of firing the assistant manager as they should have, they fired all the girls involved. This made the remaining girls start looking around for other jobs and be very apprehensive about their own jobs at the club. The problem was no other night clubs were as successful, and the girls could make crazy money at Players Club. I, of course told them to gamble with me. Come work at the Gaslight and we will treat you right, and some did.
Other clubs I watched were run very differently from Players. For example the Tic Toc Lounge which was one of these other clubs. I liked the way they managed their business. The club is locally owned and operated. The manager was a Bostonian who lived nearby and has for years. He’d been at the Tic Toc for eight or nine years and he got along very well with the girls. Actually sometimes he got along with them too well, if you know what I mean, but the girls loved it. So, every chance I got I spent some time there studying the correct way to do things. Not only did the people at the Tic Toc teach me how to manage, but they also introduced me to one of my favorite people on the planet, Janet Lally.
The Tic Toc Lounge was located two doors from the Players Club, in Park Square, Boston. The two clubs were close enough to each other that I never needed to worry about getting lost walking from one to the other no matter how much I drank. The Tic Toc Lounge had a long narrow bar that had an entrance on Boylston Street on one end and another entrance, at the other end of the bar, onto Park Square across from the Statler Hotel. As I said I started going in there to see how they ran their place. At the time, the Tic Toc Lounge was actually a Go-Go bar, which was a little different from a night club or a bar. A Go-Go bar was a place where they had pretty girls dancing on a stage in skimpy outfits, usually behind the bar with enough distance from the customers that the girls were not afraid of being accosted by the clientele. For the late 1960s this was very daring. The Tic Toc had a small dancing platform right behind the bar, with stairs alongside of the platform for the girls, all well away from the patrons.
After spending several nights watching the operation, I noticed a particularly pretty dancer who seemed to notice me as well. On a slow night, I waited until she was on her break and bravely, sent her a drink along with my Gaslight business card. Actually, this was a first for me; I had just turned 21 and was a novice at picking up girls in bars. After an ugly prior experience I thought I committed myself to a life of celibacy and bachelorhood but I quickly found out that was not true.
She came over to my table with the drink and asked me;
“What am I supposed to do when someone sends me a business card?”
My brilliant reply and my first ever line;
“The drink was to thank you for doing such a great job dancing and looking so beautiful up there. I would love it if you would sit and enjoy the drink with me. The card is just to let you know who I am.”
She smiled and sat down next to me.
“My name is Janet and I’m glad to meet you.”
“Woo wee!” This exclamation was in my head and not out loud, for a change. I’m old enough now to act like an adult, no matter how I really feel inside.
“As you can see by my card, I’m Angelo Cataldo, and I’m very pleased to meet you as well. Please call me Angie.”
Janet was one of those women that all men loved. At five foot two inches tall and 110 pounds, she had the prefect shape. Her bubbly personality and happy smile made everyone who saw her want to know her. Both men and women found her attractive and she was always in the middle of a group of admirers. One of Janet’s most endearing qualities is that she doesn’t know how wonderful she is. She believes people are only being nice when they say nice things to her. I found that her modesty and naiveté was very appealing.
Janet told me she just moved from Cincinnati, Ohio and this was her first job in Boston. She was living with a roommate on Newbury St. which was right around the corner from the Tic Toc. We seemed to have so much to say to each other and during the next two hours we got to know each other much better. She sat with me between her dancing sets and we talked. By the time we left the Tic Toc (I drove her home) we both had had too much to drink and could barely stand. But, it didn’t really matter because both of us were happy enough to not even notice our condition.
As luck would have it Janet’s apartment was on the first floor, and we went straight in. She said her roommate would be in much later so, stripping as we went, we were both naked by the time we got to the couch. The sex was incredible. There were times I couldn’t tell where all my body parts ended and hers began. It was wonderful exploring and experimenting and I wondered if this is what it felt like to be in love.
I don’t know if it was the liquor, the couch, or the girl but it was simply the best night of my life. That night, I liked to think it was the girl. (I didn’t know it at the time but we would do this many more times over the coming months and it was definitely the girl.)
The next morning she had coffee waiting for me when I awoke. We sat and contemplated her roommate, naked and coverless ten feet away, on her rollout bed. Janet said,
"It was a good thing we were asleep when my roommate got home or she would have attacked us. She’s into three ways.”
Janet’s bisexual roommate would be a carnal fantasy for another day. At this thought I was pretty sure I died and had gone to heaven; at least the heaven that danced in the head of a feeble minded young man in the late 1960s.
Not wanting to wake the room mate, I went to find my car. As I walked, a nasty thought took some of my joy away, I better not enjoy this too much, remember what happened last time. I didn’t have far to walk to find my car. Unfortunately, I’d parked on the sidewalk the night before. There were six $30.00 parking tickets hanging off the windshield wipers, but still smiling despite the tickets, I drove away.
When Janet and I first met, the Gaslight Club had not opened yet. Occasionally as we prepared to open Janet would come into the club with me on her days off. The first night she came to the club, I hired Janet to dance as soon as it opened. During these days and nights before the grand opening she liked to practice dancing on the bar and the tables, trying different techniques to see what worked best. Working with her like this, she and I perfected the dancing on the table’s act that the girls later used for years to great success. It was fun being spontaneous and creative with Janet. We learned in order to stabilize the tables enough to support the girls as they danced the customers had to put their drinks on the floor and hold the table with both hands. Also, the girls had to wear rubber or soft soled shoes or they might slip off the table and lastly the girls didn’t move their feet, they only moved their hips. The tables have a smooth marble top and leather soled shoes were slippery on them. Our strategies worked well; we were in the club for years with not one single accident, after hundreds of hours of table and bar dancing. Working this way Janet and I quickly became more than friends.
Usually after working together to perfect the table dancing, Janet and I would head upstairs to make love on the cot in the back office. Somehow, I was as excited and energized by her dancing as she seemed to be, at these times we only had a few drinks in us and were the most sober of any of the times we made love. But, sober or drunk didn’t matter; we enjoyed each other so much, we literally could make love for hours. After making love on the cot we would get about an hours sleep and I would drive her home, where we would begin making love again. We had a rule, if it was still dark, or light, morning or night, there was still time to make love.
Once I made it clear I was not interested in threesomes her roommate never stayed if I was there; when we arrived, she left. Early in our time together, Janet offered her roommate to me as a threesome. At first my fantasy world got all excited at the thought, but the reality of it turned me off. The thought of the roommate, no matter how great in the sack she might be, or how beautiful she is, paled, in comparison to what Janet and I had. I enjoyed Janet too much to bring anyone else into the relationship.
I know Janet was happy about my attitude for the threesome; it made us a real couple. Over the years I have heard many men brag how they would enjoy multiple beautiful women. But, in my case, faced with the real possibility of sharing Janet with another human being this way was something I just didn’t like.
Janet and I work great together. There was no doubt about that and there was nothing in our way. I loved that I could count on her to stand by my side. I loved how we worked together, created together, and shared ourselves in our own private world.
During a conversation with Janet, I told her that earlier in my life I thought I had decided to lead a life of celibacy and bachelorhood because of a bad incident with a girl. She became intrigued and insisted I tell her the story. After telling her it was not much of a story she wouldn’t let it go so I relented and explained;
"Some years earlier I was setting up my sandwich shop and a young lady caught my eye. We seemed to hit it off and after many conversations in the shop, she asked me to her apartment to see her new furniture. Getting there I liked the new furniture and we talked for hours again. We were good at long talks and enjoying each others company. Later that night we ended in bed, which was a wonderful ending to an enjoyable evening. The next morning I awoke early as was my habit and not wanting to disturb her, I let her sleep while I dressed and left for work.
I spent the day excited about my new ladylove and happy until late in the day when I got a note from her saying.
Angie,
"I apologize for letting you make love to me I know I shouldn't have. I don't expect to ever see you again. Peggy.
Since she didn’t have a telephone yet I couldn’t call her. I waited to see her in the shop but she never came in again. I decided she didn't like me and that I was a fool. I vowed to live a life of celibacy and bachelorhood from then on."
At the end Janet laughed and said;
"Apparently you changed your mind because what we're doing isn't celibacy."
"Janet, once you came along I couldn't keep such a vow."
"Angie did it ever occur to you that the girl was crushed you left without leaving her a note at least. She spent the day thinking you got what you wanted and left her. She said it in her note. "She did not expect to ever see you again."
"But that was wrong, I was crazy about her."
"How did she know that, from the non existent letter you sent her later in the day or what?"
"Now I feel like a bigger idiot than I did then."
During the scramble to get the Gaslight Club open Angie and the crew would sometimes leave early to go to other places in Boston as a diversion. One such night the new second floor bartender, Charlie Palmetto, made Angie a deal Angie couldn’t resist.
“You’re a member of the Players Club, aren’t you Angie?”
“Yes Charlie, I am.”
“Take me over there with you tonight, I’ve never been there. Get me in and I’ll pay for all the drinks.”
The drive from the Gaslight Club to the Players Club took about 15 minutes and involved driving over the South East Expressway. The directions led from the North End entrance to the expressway heading north, and then take the Storrow Drive exit to Park Square. The details of the Storrow Drive exit mean the exit leaves the highway just before the North Station building and goes under the expressway through a section of road that is almost a steel tunnel because other ramps and roadways bracket the exit, above, to the right and below, with the Boston Garden building to the left, closing all sides. This exit is a must if you intend to go to Park Square from Haymarket Square in Boston; it saves at least 30 minutes of surface road driving.
On this night Angie was driving his T. Bird and Charlie, the bartender was driving his 1954 chevy crap box. Charlie got ahead of Angie just before the entrance ramp from the North End and they both stayed in the right lane because the next exit was the Storrow Drive exit which they needed to take. Just before the exit a tan Ford station wagon, with 3 people in the front seat, came from the left lane and cut Angie off, pulling in between Angie and Charlie’s cars forcing him into the exit lane with them.
Angie beeped his horn and then just drove on in the right lane, noting 3 people in the front seat of the Ford, the driver, a young man, a young girl sitting next to him and a male passenger next to the passenger door. Angie didn’t want to cause a problem and moved into the right lane of the exit.
Although the entrance to the Storrow Drive exit is on the right it ultimately makes a left under the Expressway to take users where they’re going. Charlie was still in the left lane of the exit and just ahead of the car that cut Angie off. He began slowing down his car as the three cars approached the left under the expressway. Stopping his car Charlie forced the three cars to be bunched together; Charlie in the left lane in front of the ford and Angie in the right lane next to the ford. The Ford driver beeped his horn and Angie yelled out his window at him.
At this the passenger from the Ford opened his door and got out to confront Angie. Opening his door as he was laughing at what Charlie was doing by stopping them like this, Angie began getting out of his car. Suddenly there was a loud Banshee Scream and a metal bagging noise as someone wearing a cape jumped up on the hood of the Ford banging his feet loudly on the hood. He then jumped off the car, cape streaming behind him, as he lunged toward the passenger standing in the roadway. At this attack the passenger screamed in fear and began running to the back of the car and then around it as the crazy man Charlie, cape streaming behind him, gave chase. When the passenger got all the way around to his original car door he jumped in, locked the door and immediately the Ford began backing up like crazy trying to get back to the expressway and away from the two crazy men.
Charlie and Angie stood there in amazement laughing their heads off and staring at the crazy Ford driver trying to back up onto the Expressway from the Storrow Drive exit with other Expressway commuters beeping wildly at them.
The cape turned out to be a light weight black jacket with the sleeves tied around Charlie’s neck. Angie and Charlie laughed about the Ford incident for months afterward. Every time either one of them saw a Ford station wagon it would bring up a smile and the name Batman for the character in the currently running TV series.
Chapter Six
The Gaslight Club is in the insurance and financial district of Boston. The next four weeks saw incredible progress. We finally got the liquor license approved and scheduled the opening. To begin the setup we started with the usual suspects, exterminators, plumbers, painters and a few days of airing out the club. Now stocking the bars and the kitchen with the best we could find. Lastly, the promotions everywhere we could think of. A lot of fanfare and tons of advertising heralded the opening day and when it finally arrived it was anticlimactic. By the time of the opening we were so ready everything ran as though we were doing it for years.
The first floor now is a cozy lounge area with an open area on the left side, perfect for the band. We plan to put an old player piano in the corner with a three piece Dixieland band. They will have a piano player, banjo player and an alto sax player. The Dixieland band, though not always the same trio, will be a mainstay of the first floor’s entertainment. Union rules give the band a twenty minute break every forty minutes of play. We’re adding a versatile request piano player for the breaks, which will give us full time entertainment coverage on the first floor.
The bar is a twenty seat Formica covered affair with a walnut wood patterned design. Along the wall behind the bar is a full mirror from just above counter height to almost the ceiling, with three shelves in front of the bottom of the mirror. The seats are round leather covered stools.
We learned very early that a good impression in the foyer helped our patrons get into a happier mood. So, putting two chafing dishes on a table across from the hat check, full of some good tasting hors d’oeuvres during most nights helped us accomplished this. Usually we had Chicken wings or cut up hot dogs, but you never knew what the chef’s idea today would be. People would come out and get a small dish and fill it with whatever the day’s offering was. You could be sure it would be something very salty and good tasting, to help them maintain their thirst. In keeping with this first impression magic, we had Ella Marky as the hat check girl most of the time. Beautiful, sexy, and she can carry on a conversation. Her most important asset, Ella likes people. She came to us from the Midwest and loves her new home in Boston. This certainly is our good fortune. At just over five feet tall and about 115 pounds, she has the type of hour glass figure that turns heads. Of course the forty two inch bust, prominently displayed, doesn’t detract from the overall image. Her natural golden blonde hair is always perfectly coiffed and frames a smile that tugs at your heart strings.
The craftsmen, who did the wall coverings from the first to the third floor, did the most professional job I have ever seen. They covered every square inch of wall space with this incredible velour wallpaper. They went so far as to cover the stairwell handrails, which are stitched not glued, all the way to the top floor. Since I went up and down these stairs many times a day, over time I managed to inspect this covering closely and it was seamlessly stitched in place. In fact, after a while I noticed that as I held the hand rail very loosely my hand slid along the rail, making a distinctive hissing sound as I bounded down the steps two at a time.
When you go up the stairs to the second floor there’s a ladies room at the top of the stairs, right outside the second floor dining room. This bathroom has two very small sections inside. The entrance is completely mirror lined so that the ladies can get a 360 degree view with a little sink for emergencies.
Quiet elegance, warm and inviting colors and an overall sense of welcome greets you once you enter the second floor dining room. You’re first greeted with a small antique bar on the left; which was originally made for a private men’s club around 1880. We’re all sure that if we could get this bar to tell its secrets it would be quite a story.
Our furniture consists of antique Chippendale chairs and marble topped tables for the first floor. More Chippendale chairs and larger wooden tables for the dinning room and small lounge tables and chairs for the third floor.
Just before we opened, I had an incident that scared the hell out of several of our employees and embarrassed me a bit. One afternoon before we opened, Janet and I worked all afternoon on the third floor trying furniture arrangements to see our best choice for the most people in the room; and a configuration that would allow us to reconfigure the room for other purposes with the least amount of rearranging of furniture, a very important endeavor.
After setting up the third floor in what we thought was the best configuration, Janet and I had a few drinks and decided to sleep right there. About 4:00 AM I heard a racket coming from the second floor and decided to investigate. Without thinking I grabbed my gun, a pair of pants and ran down the stairs like James Bond chasing Gold Finger. I burst into the second floor dining room, gun at the ready, and hand shaking like a leaf. Three very scared cleaning men stared back at me, dropping their vacuum cleaners and sticking their hands in the air. Before they would agree to continue cleaning the club, I had to promise no more running around with guns or they would not come back.
However, several months later I heard a noise soon after we closed and this time I checked surreptitiously and found a left over, (someone who didn’t leave at the end of the night), a customer who would have been a problem without the gun, he was hiding on the third floor. Acting very drunk, he docilely let me lead him out, but every once in a while, as we walked he would suddenly sober up and stair pointedly at my gun hand. When I first confronted him, I told him I wanted to see his driver’s license. He acted as if he didn’t understand, and I never got the license. But, as he was leaving I made him understand that I would recognize him if he ever came back to the club. Once outside he walked away very quickly. I followed him hoping to get a look at his registration, but he soon lost me in the dark streets surrounding the club. In the liquor business it’s better to be safe than sorry. You can be right and still be dead.
Chapter Seven
Robert and I discussed the best way to use this night club space to get a successful and profitable bar business going. Because of the way the place looked we planned a speak easy type operation, that is: we would put in a small trap door in the entry door and people would have to knock on the door and give a password to be identified before being allowed in, as if this were a speak easy during the roaring twenties. Robert had some friends who were actors at a local theater. They would dress up as gangsters and gun molls and come in the club. For the show, the room would be quieted and the actors would loudly knock on the door. The peep hole would be opened and the question asked. “What is the password?” The Answer “Gin Mill” would come back. Everybody loved the idea except the liquor commission, so it never got done.
The Jean Harlow look was more of: white flapper dress, (white or black), matching fishnet stockings, blonde wavy wig, glittery jewelry, bright red lipstick, long fake eye lashes, a boa (feather scarf), and an extra long cigarette holder.
Actually this re-enactment was a great idea, and even though our, speak easy, theme was turned down the performances were not illegal. The actors in their costumes, men with a cigar hanging out of their mouths and women with long cigarette holders would pose to fit the caricature. The final part of the plan was having actors pass the hat for tips from our patrons. Good for the actors and free for us.
Of course when we approached the liquor commission with these ideas they wouldn’t hear of anything that would give people the illusion we were not legal. (However, we had already put the peep hole and sliding door into the main entry door of the night club, so on occasion we would not open the door until they knocked, and as I said earlier we would do the show, no matter what. The commission couldn’t stop us entertaining our patrons.). Finally after three months of back and forth, with every new condition met, we got all the paperwork ironed out with the liquor commission. We now are able to stock the night club. Among our well wishing fans were all the local businessmen and most of the local politicians. Since Boston is the capital of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts State government buildings are less than a five minute walk from the club, we also had most of the state’s legislators as our well wishers. Many of whom are now, and have been long time family friends. Friends, new and old were constantly stopping by, in the middle of our setting up, to wish us well and find out when we were opening.
In the meantime, the newly opened Player’s Club, across town, was a nightly draw for me as a way of letting off steam. At least until the Gaslight Club opened.
Player’s had a more difficult time with the liquor commission than us. It took them two years to clear up all the bureaucratic red tape they went through. One particular issue was the girl’s costumes. The regular Player’s costume has a very high hip side that ran to the waist. The Boston Liquor Commission insisted that it be level with the crotch and this changed the look of the costumes from a show costume to a beach bathing suit. After the altered costumes got approved by the commission, Player’s started changing the costumes back, a little each month, until eventually they matched the original Player’s concept and the commission never said a word.
When Gas Light opened my nightly forays at Player’s dwindled to almost none. Setting up the club took all day long, and most of the time we were tired and hungry by the days end. Some nights after leaving Player’s or Tic Toc alone, I would go to one of the all night cafeterias on Boylston St. There were two big competitors at the time, Copley Place Cafeteria across from the Boston Public Library and the Rat’s Gellar, further up Boylston St. across from the Prudential Tower.
When Robert would come into the Gas Light Club before we opened he would sometimes take the opening crew, whatever workmen and waitresses were there at the time, to breakfast, usually at the Copley Place Cafeteria. That’s where we met Andy Diamante, the local mafia boss. He would come in with his crew every night and take over one corner of the restaurant; he always had a dozen or more people with him. When they came in, his men would come in first and pick out his tables and then he would come in and sit in the middle of the group with his back to the wall, so he could see every part of the room. He quickly noticed that Robert and I always came in with a bunch of great looking women and Andy made sure to say hello every time he saw us. We never talked in the cafeteria and Andy never came to our club, but Robert somehow got to know him pretty well over the coming years.
Sometimes this can be a very small world. This is something I didn’t know at the time, but learned much later. Robert’s long time steady girl friend from Malden MA, Maggy, is a very good friend of Andy Diamante’s wife Maria. The girl that later became my long time girl friend was a beauty school friend of Andy’s current girlfriend Candy.
After we opened we settled into a typical restaurant routine. During the daytime we had good business because the bar was very dark and the local insurance men and other office denizens nearby find the fun atmosphere in the club very inviting and the liquor very liberating. I would arrive at the club about 9:00 AM and lock the door behind me. Then go up to my office on the fourth floor. My early routine was to take care of the day’s banks and do the previous day’s basic books. I would work on the books until about 10:00 am when the kitchen staff began arriving. They rang the bell and I would go down and let them in.
When the kitchen opened I kept one of the kitchen helpers on the first floor until the wait staff came in. The location of the club was remote enough that anyone could walk in and steal a case of liquor or some furniture, then leave without being seen, either by anyone inside or outside.
I would talk to the chef first to coordinate that day’s luncheon menu. Then, the dining room service people would make up large poster menus to put up on the entry wall and in the first floor bar, so they could be seen by any patron coming in. The dining room employees also made up individual chalk board menus for customers of the dining room. We use these very small children’s chalk boards for lunch menus and the customers loved them, which were left on each table. We open at 11:00 am but the first customers usually came in about 11:30 and by noon we would be full. The dining room did about one hundred and twenty lunches a day, but the bar always did more money even if we only did fifty lunches down there; proving that liquid refreshments were more of a draw to our customers.
While giving my secretary, Donna a total tour with commentary, I suggested she come in with her husband or boy friend some weekend night to see what goes on. She’s all for it and will let me know when she can. My secretary Donna Kale is a five foot three inch tall brunette with a good figure that she hides from anyone at the club. Donna is a very bright, hard working girl who became my right hand girl, from the first day. Between her daily exercise routine and her great eating habits Donna is the all American girl with the beautiful girl next door face. She was the third or fourth person to apply for the job, but the moment I met her I knew she was a keeper.
Donna, being a very private person, and also trying to avoid a sexual relationship with me or anyone else at the club, or even a hint of anything inappropriate, keeps her private details private. I didn’t find out whether she was married or not for the first year, she’s not. Of course her private attitude was helped by her 12 years in Catholic Schools.
As part of employee conditioning and training, I wanted everyone that worked at the club to know exactly what the club is all about. When people ask “What kind of place is it?” our employees should know exactly and be able to describe it enthusiastically. I also made sure Donna, and everyone else knew a little about Robert and me, since we run the operation.
Robert’s business office, for wholesale meat distribution, is based a very short distance from the club. Robert’s notoriety in his field is well known in the community and here at the club, so, employees know about Robert and his reputation as a businessman from word of mouth. Robert and his family have been in the same business for fifty years, so when the name is mentioned everyone knows who you mean. When Robert and I first met, his connection to the meat market was another personal connection between us because my family also has a large and long time presence in the Boston wholesale food industry. In the club this actually translates into good advertising. Because Robert is so big in wholesale meat, everyone expects the best meat products to be served, which is exactly what they get. What they’re surprised at is the fantastic quality of the fish. Most don’t know Robert has an uncle, Damiano Valentino who is a wholesale fish broker in Gloucester Massachusetts and Damiano buys our fish fresh from the boats every day. The fish served in the club tonight was peacefully swimming in the ocean twelve hours or less before it was cooked. In the end, food is our best attraction and that gets out to the general public only by word of mouth. In an advertisement you can say you have the best food all you want, people only believe other people who have been there and not some advertisement in a newspaper or magazine.
One night in the early weeks of setting up, Robert said;
“Let’s go out and get some more waitresses.”
Of course I said.
“We first need to advertise, then set appointments then interview the girls and choose the ones we wanted.”
He had another idea. We went out to local bars all over Boston that night and just recruited girls from each bar. Robert would just start talking and they listened. He told them how beautiful they were and asked them why they were working for nothing when they could come with us and make their fortune.
Listening to him talk I found my self drawn into his pitch even though I already worked for him. I couldn’t believe our results that night. From the first bar the girls simply quit where they were working and came with us bar hopping. It didn’t take long for us to become a good sized group moving from club to club.
The first girl was Merry Parker, a tall beautiful blonde with body and brains to match. Merry knew her worth down to the penny. To our credit Merry Parker stayed with us for several years. Merry was always one of our highest earners, selling more drinks than any three girls. The second girl was Mary Crane, an attractive brunette who looked a tiny bit worn around the edges, but cleaned up nicely and could work a floor with the best of them.
By the end of that night we had four girls with us, three more agreed to come in the next day. Robert and I had one hell of a hangover but enough girls to start up. I figured that I had better remember that these girl’s loyalty lasts only as long as a good story from a handsome stranger. However, of the first seven girls only one left our employ in less than a year. Robert’s recruiting technique gave me a serious insight into his approach to women and some of the reasons for his success, “they found him interesting.”
From the first night we opened Robert never worried about having more than one of his steady girls visiting him at the club at the same time. After a while the help started betting on when the blow up would happen. It turned out that the girls did not know each other or even know about each other so as long as Robert was not in the room and no one told them, they would not know what was going on. He was smart enough to send a waitress to get whichever girl he wanted to talk to and bring them to him.
After checking out the night club section of Boston and the examination of the building that is the Gas Light Club Robert and I discussed our on going endeavor at great length one such conversation:
“Well what do you think Angie can we do it? It’s going to be an expensive experiment and we need to be prepared for all kinds of problems”
“To tell the truth, I’m holding my breath waiting for the other shoe to drop. The building is fantastic, the kitchen is a chef’s fantasy, and I love the layout. But, what the hell went wrong for the last group that had it?”
Looking back, I realize my early enthusiasm and naiveté betrayed my inexperience. The food and liquor business is the single most difficult type of business. Between the huge amount of competition, and the infinite number of things that can go wrong, it’s a wonder that any succeed at all. As Robert explained what had caused the prior group to fail, I got a sense of what the club business is really like.
“The money man lost interest and walked away. The owners were a group of several businessmen, one of which was a very wealthy local contractor. They had just done all the renovations you saw. The wall paper alone cost over $300,000.00, they did four entire floors. Every roll of wall paper was specially ordered and hand prepared which took months to complete. Angie, you noticed that the kitchen equipment is all new. I was told he had his accountants figure out how long it would take to pay him back on his investment. But when he realized it would never happen with people like Jacob Melvin and the others he was involved with, no matter how profitable the place became, he lost interest. In the end he came to the realization it could never make a profit for him in his lifetime.”
“Well, we have a deal in place, we have workers, we have inventory and we have a band if they show up. What else do we need?”
“Money coming in and steady customers Angie and it’s your job to keep them happy.”
“I think we have a good start on the help, I’m putting an ad in tomorrow for more waitresses and bartenders.”
“By the way Robert, I think it’s time to give the former owner, Mr. Jacob Melvin his walking papers. He came in today and became very irate when the bartender asked him to pay money for the drinks he had. He then stalked out without paying.”
“Angie I think you’re right, it might be time. I’ll talk to the lawyer tomorrow.”
“By the way Robert, tomorrow you should stop by the club to meet Donna, my new secretary. I also hired a part time book keeper. I’ll give you her telephone number so she can get in touch with your book keeper to coordinate.”
Chapter Eight
The club has a promoter that handles all our promotional work, but the public only believes so much advertising. A restaurant needs a good reputation and we’re lucky enough to enjoy that condition. I guess, aside from the quality of the food, the next biggest draw we have is the Dixieland Band.
When new customers come in they’re greeted by a slightly smoky room, happy smiling people. Guests and employees having a good time, with a New Years Eve feel to the room three hundred and sixty five days a year. Also waiting for them are good drinks and a jumping Dixieland band that enthusiasts come from miles around to hear. The walk from the hat check to a table is less than twenty feet, but it might as well be fifteen hundred miles, all the way to Bourbon Street, New Orleans LA.
People literally change from quiet, serious adults, to a toe tapping, hip swaying, flappers and hipsters from the twenties, in their favorite den with all their cronies, in that amazing twenty feet.
Dixieland music makes your toes tap, your hands clap and the blood pound in your veins.
Now, just picture our actors arriving in a pair of antique black Cadillacs with three men and two women from each car. The men wore spats over their shoes, black tight pants and white tux jackets over ruffled shirts with a black bow tie, all under a white straw hat with a red hat band.
The women wore the traditional flapper outfits, white flapper dress, black fishnets stockings, blonde wavy wig, glittery silver jewelry, bright red lipstick, long fake eye lashes, a boa, and an extra long cigarette holder.
Our little gangster play began with the actors’ arrival; the band stopped for a moment, while the invaders go through the entry process, then swarm into the room, slinking through the crowd heading for the piano player. Once there the girls stop and turn to confront the men. Here the band starts a practiced piece which four of the actors dance to in flapper mode (which is “the Charleston” A distinctive hip swaying type of dance designed to make the fringe on their dresses stand out as they swing their hips.). After a moment of frenzied dancing, the gold curtains at the doorway are noisily yanked aside to get everyone’s attention. Two men, (the last two actors) all dressed in black enter the room carrying Tommy guns (which are a particularly nasty hang over from the gangster era). They loudly cock their guns and shout, “compliments of Mr. Big” and start shooting. They assassinate the dancers for cheating on Mr. Big. All the dancers fall in a catchup, bloody heap in front of the band. At that moment the stage lights go out for several seconds, during which the dancers disappear into the darkness leaving a wisp of smoke and the smell of cordite.
The entire show, from antique cars to the disappearing bodies, takes less than five minutes. The show is always a huge hit. Immediately following the show the dancers reenter the room as guests and mingle with the patrons, usually collecting tips and praise. I love using the actors. They’re great people, good working actors, and our customers love them because they add another dimension to the club. Robert especially loves using them, because to us they’re free, their only pay is the tips.
Lately I’ve noticed some very rough looking characters, real life MOB characters, coming in, especially to the dining room. Up to now none of this type of customer has been in, I thought because Andy Diamante, the local Mafia boss, told his people to stay away. Lately, two or three of these mob guys come in every night to the dining room. Their not loud and they pay for whatever they have so I can’t say anything but they make me nervous. A problem with this type of customer will close us over night all they have to do is pull real guns. I often wonder what these guys think when they see the show of mobsters murdering their enemies.
Chapter Nine
The day after I spoke to Donna about the tour of the club she arrived at the same time I did and before she went upstairs she wanted the rest of the tour I had promised her.
Beginning at the entrance to the first floor bar I stopped and explained.
“Our plan is simple. We hired a three piece Dixieland Band called the Carl Randle Trio and they work in the left corner over there.”
I pointed to the corner of the room with the piano, across from the bar.
“The band is made up of Carl, the Alto Sax player, Frankie, the Banjo player and Billie the pianist. We have Janet sitting on the piano when the band is on, and occasionally dancing on tables and on the bar. The band is on forty minutes and off twenty, so when they’re off we have a full time pianist who plays show tunes and takes requests. Our plan is to have a male or female singer roaming between floors on weekends.”
“Dancing on tables sounds kind of dangerous, are there any city regulations about this?”
“Actually no, we already checked with the liquor commission and if anybody had a problem with it, it would be them.”
“I don’t see any stage lighting.”
“That’s coming this week.”
“Janet and I spent time practicing the table and bar dancing. She’s a professional dancer and she perfected the moves that are used. Actually all I did was stood by to catch her if she fell.”
“I’m impressed; it sounds like it will be jumping with people.”
“We certainly hope so.”
“Before we leave the first floor, let me show you the wine cellar.”
“Angie, are you coming on to me or what, should I be worried?”
“Of course you should be worried. Ha; ha, you know I like that idea, but I think your partner would hurt me.” I say as I affect a lecherous sneer calculated to get her laughing in derision.
“You don’t have to worry about him, I’m your biggest worry, I kick like a mule and my left hook is registered with the fighting commission, wow.”
She swung her left hand expressively through the air to demonstrate.
“Moving on, watch your step on the steep stairs and the deep bull shit.”
“Donna, this is the liquor storage down here. As you can see there are two wire cages. The first one is for hard liquor, the second is for wine.”
“It looks like a good system, how many people have keys?”
“Just two keys, Karl, our assistant manager has one and I have the other.”
“That’s good to keep the number of keys limited.”
“Ok, now that we’ve been intimate in the wine cellar, let’s head upstairs. Do you need to put your clothes back on?”
“Ha, ha yourself wise guy, I’ll go as I am and shock our customers.”
As we entered the second floor dining room Donna remarked about the bar;
“I love the antique bar, what a coup to get that here. You couldn’t imagine a better accompanying piece for this room. It fits perfectly and couldn’t be more functional.”
“Now all we need behind that bar is a silver haired gentleman who is an expert in the arts of Mixology, and Opera.”
As we moved along the room, toward the front of the building I explained;
“We hope to have a singing bartender for this room. Our plan is to put a low piano, one of the very small ones I think they call them spinet pianos, right in front of the windows, with a microphone and a little raised stage. We can then put a single spot on the ceiling and have a mini show room. Only used occasionally, never in the way, but always ready at a moments notice.”
“That sounds like a plan. I guess the mechanical “dumb waiters” in the back of the room transport the food from the kitchen. It must be slow delivering food to the tables?”
At these comments we both turned back toward the bar and the back of the room;
“Actually, you’d be surprised. The dumb waiters are very fast for what they are. We have the food covered with heat conserving metal covers as it’s transported. Once the food is down here, there’s enough space in that service area on the left to garnish and embellish the plates before they’re delivered to the tables. While all that is going on those heat lamps above the work area are keeping the food warm.”
“I hear people talk about how good the food service is here, that must make you feel good?”
“Of course, we pride ourselves on our service and good food. The entertainment is really secondary.”
“Another floor to go, this room will be a show room. I’m polling our customers and asking what they think would be the best type of entertainment. We’ve been open such a short time I’m not entirely sure of what will go over best here. I keep hoping for a sign, but I guess trial and error will have to suffice.
We entered the third floor room. This room is the Green room because the antique velvet wall paper is different shades of green.
“Welcome to the green room. We’re building a service area in the back near the exit doors so that we can store enough liquor to use this room as a show room. The coolers for the beer will be back there hidden from view, but near the exit passage way. The intention is to have a cashier sitting in the passage way with a register and here along the wall we intend to build a small bar and service area. Here, directly in front of the passageway where the cashier will be I want a wall of shelves from the floor to the ceiling. This will block out the view of the cashier and give the girls a place to hide while putting the drink orders together for the customers. The only thing visible from the room will be a small section of the back bar where the bartender will be working. We don’t anticipate any walk up patrons, only waitress service.”
“What kind of entertainment will you have here?”
“We intend to have a comedian, or showman type, like a hypnotist or a ventriloquist.”
“That sounds wonderful. I want to see a show.”
“What shall I do, shall I dance for you, no, no, I’ll sing for you, or how about a strip tease? But, only if you get a Barf Bag first my singing is quite distinctive, people have been known to take extremely ill during my performances whatever they are! I tell you, I’m the pride of my coven.”
“And now last, but not least. The gourmet room here on the fourth floor, as you see, there’s an executive table with sixteen seats. The local Gourmet Club meets here every few months, and this room is perfect for them.”
“This room does have an executive look about it, but it’s a little small.”
“You’re right for a restaurant but it can be good for very small private parties.”
“The kitchen you have seen a few times, since you pass through it on your way to your office. The back room also must be very familiar. What have I missed?”
“Nothing I can think of. However, the image of you doing a strip tease has me piqued wondering. Do you take the clothes off or does your line of bull shit scare them away leaving you naked and blushing from toes to nose?”
“Well now smarty pants I can honestly say I’ve been insulted by the rest, now where is the best?”
Chapter Ten
In the early days, we were hiring and firing, looking for a balance between honesty and ability to do the job. While all this hiring was going on, one of our regular customers, Arnold Sylvestri, came in with a fellow he said was a former employee of the Executive Salon, as the club was known before we owned it. Apparently this fellow is a great singer and I couldn’t help looking him over as we talked. My first impression of him was that he’s going to be tough to get along with. He was a little belligerent and didn’t look very happy, especially when I said I wanted an audition. His answer was he never does auditions; after all he’s looking for a bartender’s job and getting paid as a bartender, not as a singer. I couldn’t fault his logic and promised to give him a trial. He started right away on the second floor bar.
This new employee’s name is Alex Saroyan and he is about five foot seven or eight and around two hundred and thirty pounds. He has snow white hair and a ruddy complexion. Alex has the look of a great tenor, a little stocky, but with great self confidence, a shock of white wavy hair and the ramrod stance of someone in charge of his surroundings. With his white hair and confident bearing, he looked like a natural behind the antique bar. Alex has this interesting walk; he walks soundlessly and effortlessly as though he is drifting. He’s also a great bartender, fast and accurate. Alex’s voice was trained in the classic tradition in Milan and he is a little conceited about it. He claims he has perfect pitch. I have no idea what that means, but I was still impressed.
I asked Alex how he scheduled his singing and his answer was;
“The customers will know when they want me to sing.”
His friend Arnold told me the customers tip him and Alex will sing. Well, I thought what the hell and realized Alex will be a natural on the second floor antique bar.
I left the room and found a friend, Doug, on his way up to the second floor for dinner. I asked him to do me a favor,”
“Give the new bartender in the dining room a $10 tip and ask him to sing a show tune.”
For this I took care of my friend Doug’s dinner which he gladly accepted. Ten minutes later I walked into the dining room and sat near the service area for a drink. I watched as Doug went up to Alex and asked him to sing and gave him the tip. Alex was a little flustered because there was no accompanying music. He started telling the room he would sing a show tune from The Music Man but he apologized because there’s no accompaniment. He sang;
“Til There Was You”
“This is sung by the Librarian Marian Paroo of the Music Man!”
The dozen or so people in the room loved him. They liked him so much he got a standing ovation.
Now I thought, this is how our luck should run, a few more employees like this and we’ll be the hit of Boston. Alex not only became a great employee, but also became my best friend. I learned that his weight was not from fat but from studying karate. He was short and stocky but all muscle. What looked like stomach fat was all rock hard muscle. The reason he walks they way he does is; his lower body muscles are unnaturally taut from all the training and he sometimes appears to float along as he walks.
Alex has one problem though; he drinks while working on the bar. I had been warned up front and it took me several weeks to actually catch him. At slack times, he would sneak in back of the bar where the back-up bottles are kept. From my vantage point it was impossible for me to see exactly what he was doing. But, since he kept going back there and not coming out with a replacement bottle I knew something was up.
A quick check of the back up bottles proved it; and an open bottle told me what he was drinking. He drank Rolling Rock liquor which is not a fast selling liquor on a bar, and his bar went through four bottles a week while the first floor bar used one bottle in three years.
He was such a great singer I gladly put up with it. As long as he was not falling down drunk I would keep him. A cheap price to pay to keep my friend happy and the customers well entertained. One thing I have to say about Alex’s drinking, he was never drunk on the bar, he was too much of a professional for that. In fact no one ever mentioned his drinking to me.
Alex has a happy attitude and I enjoy talking to him.
He also seems to know every person in Chinatown. He’s there, in Chinatown all the time.
“Alex, why do you spend so much time in Chinatown you go there all the time?”
“Angie, I go to the China Moon, in Chinatown because the owner Harry Macaw is a great friend and fellow karate devotee. We study together. When I go there sometimes we break up his restaurant with our practice.”
“Really, how much damage do you do?”
“Well, we usually only break a few glasses and bang the furniture around. Of course we do all this after he closes.”
“As a matter of fact the best food is in Harry’s restaurant. Harry serves his drinks in coffee cups no matter what type of drink you buy. He does it as a gimmick. By the way Harry doesn’t have a liquor license.”
“If his food is that good let’s go tonight I’ll pay.”
“That sounds great, I’m sure my friends there will like you”
“Just let me know when you’re ready to go.”
After that I became a regular in Chinatown along with Alex. The food was excellent and they’re open almost all night long.
This week the cook put Chop Suey on the Gas Light luncheon menu. I asked for my lunch to be sent to the third floor and invited Donna to have lunch with me.
“Do you like Chop Suey?”
“Actually, I do like it. It’s one of the few Chinese items I really like.”
“I wanted to fill you in on new additions to the dining room, so if you’re asked by strangers what’s going on you can tell them. I know I showed you around before, but, we have some additions.”
“It’s a dining room with daily changing menus right?”
“Well, that’s true as far as it goes. At night we have the roaming piano player I told you about, but now we also have a fantastic singing bartender on the second floor. Alex was just hired and his voice is incredible.”
“We also started to add nightly specials. Tonight, we have filet mignon, last night we had swordfish. Every night will be different.”
“Let me tell you a little about Alex, our new entertainer. Alex is a classically trained tenor; he studied under some of the top singing coaches in Europe. He has sung in night clubs for the last twenty years. Alex’s voice is second to none. He’s a little shy and won’t sing under any other circumstances than a gin mill as he calls night clubs and bars like ours.”
“I personally think his voice is equal to any professional tenor alive today or even, in this century. In his range he’s remarkable. The other night he sang, “Mama” to a packed room on the first floor and there was not a single dry eye in the house. Every single customer stood and applauded him when he finished tears streaming down their faces. When he sings “Mala Femmina” he brings the house down as well.”
“Alex is one of the great singers and we are lucky to be able to enjoy his singing. I anticipate him entertaining us throughout the club here, from floor to floor. I have already ordered the piano for the second floor and the spot light is being wired this afternoon.”
“Oh, that’s what the wiring is they’re working on in the corner. I wasn’t sure.”
“Yes, I wanted to be sure we had everything done as soon as possible. Alex has already started and our customers can’t get enough of his singing.”
Chapter Eleven
Bobby Long and an attractive brunette entered the open air mall that led to the Gaslight Club. The brunette was about five feet tall with an attractive figure and very pretty face. Walking hand in hand they strolled along the brick walkway in front of the club. As the young couple approached the door of the Gaslight Club, the young lady noticed an unusual window in the center of the door.
“Bobby what is that in the door?”
“It’s a Peep Hole honey, wait until we get inside I’ll open it for you. When I introduce you to Angie ask him why no one is working the peep hole tonight. Tell him we waited 20 minutes before we tried the door.”
They passed through the door and bobby turned to open the peep hole to show his girl friend. As the young lady was looking out the window Bobby said:
“When they started this place, the idea was to have something like an old fashioned speak easy, that’s why the Peep Hole.
“Lana, there’s Angie over by the bar. Come on honey follow me.”
“Hey Angie I want you to meet Lana Girgenti, my friend from Revere.”
“Hi Bobby, good to see you, and wonderful to meet your friend, Lana, is it?”
As Angie is extending his hand to shake with the new arrival she threw her arms around his neck and gave him a big hug and kiss on the cheek.
“I wasn’t sure it was you when Bobby told me we were meeting his friend Angie.”
Lana, still hugging Angie, turned to Bobby and said:
“Angie and I went to Revere High and graduated together. When you said Angie, I wasn’t sure, but you never told me his last name is Cataldo or I would have told you earlier I knew him.”
‘“So, Bobby you didn’t know Lana and I are old friends, we used to call her “The little Italian Girl from Revere.”’
“Well, hell if I’d know you two knew each other I never would have brought her here; you’ll try to steal her from me.”
“Now Bobby would I do that to you.”
Winking at Lana, Angie and Lana laughed.
Angie still hugging Lana kissed her on the cheek and asked:
“Are you still living in Revere? I guess your dad still has that wonderful grocery store?”
“Yes, after several years at Boston University I moved back home to Revere when I got a job and now still living at home. How long have you been here Angie, I thought you had a restaurant in Amesbury Massachusetts?”
“I sold it last year and was heading out to school in CA when I got roped into this operation. My friend Robert Cimino owns it and I run it for him and I love it.”
“Well it sure looks like a great operation; Bobby says you have a dining room and a show room?”
“Yes, in fact if you two haven’t eaten yet let me take you up to the dining room.”
“Actually, we’re way ahead of you; we had reservations in the dining room 10 minutes ago.”
“That’s great, why don’t you and Lana head upstairs for dinner, I have to go out to buy some liquor and I’ll be right back.”
“See you soon, Angie; it’s great to see you again.”
At this, Lana and Bobby head up the stairs as Angie went out the door.
An hour later Angie entered the dining room and walked over to Bobby and Lana’s table sitting down in a free chair he said:
“Hello again, I hope you’re being treated well?”
“Of course Angie, your people always treat me wonderfully and Lana loves her steak.”
“Yes Angie I loved the steak, your family always sold the best steaks.”
“Well thanks you two, if you’re finished with dinner I have a table for us on the first floor.”
“Now, that sounds great.”
The three friends leave the dining room and head downstairs. As they enter the lounge, Alex, the bartender from the second floor is just picking up the mike to sing a song. Lana, Bobby and Angie settle at a vacant table the waitress directed them to. As they sit at the table Alex begins singing, “Momma” and the room gets very quiet. Alex’s song evokes everyone’s memory of their own mother.
Lana, whispers to Angie:
“He’s wonderful, where did you find him, he is truly a great Tenor?’
Angie whispered back
“He wandered in one day looking for work.”
At the end of Alex’s song the room explodes with applause as every eye in the room is glassy with emotion, many standing and yelling “Bravo”. As Alex was leaving he noticed Angie and Bobby and stopped by their table. Bobby introduced him to Lana, who said “Alex you have the best tenor voice I have ever heard.” Blushing furiously, Alex thanked Lana for her kindness as Angie invited him to join them.
Alex asked Lana:
“So, Lana, how do you know these bums?”
Laughing Lana explains:
“Well Alex, I went to school with this one (indicating Angie) and am dating this one (indicating Bobby)”
As the conversation continues, a waitress placed a drink order in front of each of them including a “Rock and Rye” for Alex and left the table.
“Angie said you just wandered in looking for a job Alex, but I think your voice is too good for that.”
“Well, thank you again Lana, but that’s about what happened. I love singing in Gin Mills, as I call bars like this and Angie has treated me very well.”
“He’s lucky to have you Alex, I love the opera and with your incredible voice you could have your choice of venue.”
“Hey guys, I’m gonna steal this lady away from both of you, she’s great for my ego.”
“By the way, is anyone interested in Chinatown tonight, Angie? Bobby?”
Alex asked as the table looked at each other. Angie explained:
“Alex is the only Caucasian Chinese gentleman in Boston and his forays into Chinatown are legend.”
“Tonight my friend Harry Macaw is having a party at his restaurant and would love to have us join him?”
“Really Alex, we wouldn’t be in the way?”
Asked Lana:
“Not at all, Harry has these parties about once a month and there can never be too many people.”
“Well, I’m up for it, what about you two old friends?”
Lana answered first.
“That sounds great.”
“I’m in too.”
Finishing their drinks the party of four left the club to go to Chinatown.
Arriving at Harry Macaw’s restaurant Alex led the way and his troops followed.
As they entered the dining room a voice from across the room shouted “Alex my friend come and join me and bring your friends.”
As they arrived at the big round table a short heavy set Chinese man waved from his seat at the center of the table to greet them. Alex introduced each of his group to the table. Shaking hands they all sat.
“Please make yourselves at home, this is my restaurant, as Alex said and I love new friends, although I think I’ve seen Angie before. And even he is welcome.”
Laughing, Harry sat down again after his little joke poking fun at Angie.
The table was laden with many different types of food, including fried shrimp, seasoned pork strips and a host of other delectable items. Waiters placed fresh dishes in front of each of them as the new arrivals began digging in. There were 8 people at the table and several individual conversations were going on. Having eaten not long before, the new comers just picked at the food and talked among themselves.
“I don’t see any drink glasses Alex, does the restaurant serve alcohol?” Lana asked.
“Well they don’t actually serve it because they don’t have a license, but the coffee cups you see are filled with whatever liquid refreshment you want. We are Harry’s guests and as such are entitled to drink from his private stock.”
“Wow, that’s generous of him, can we make donations to help with the costs?”
“No, Harry does not allow donations, but, gratuities to the wait staff are welcome.”
“Alex, tell Lana about your Karate practice here.”
“Karate practice here in the restaurant, Alex?”
Lana asked.
“I am a frequent guest and on occasion Harry and I imbibe more than our share of the liquid refreshments, so, sometimes we practice our Karate. Always very late at night and after everyone else has left us alone.
Harry is my “Shi Zu” (the founder of our class) and I am the “Todai” (student), however we both are considered “Grand Masters” of karate to outsiders.
When we practice we tend to break furniture and glass wear. So, that’s why we only practice when we’re alone.”
“How much damage have you done “practicing” Alex?”
“This year we’ve broken about 50 chairs and at least two tables, but hundreds of dishes and glasses.”
“That’s an expensive hobby.”
“But we love it.”
The conversation and good fellowship continues until Lana noticed the time was well past 4:00 AM.
“This little Cinderella is going to turn into a pumpkin if she doesn’t leave pretty soon, gentlemen.”
“Gee, I didn’t notice the time Lana, we need to head out. Angie it’s been real. Harry it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Rising, Lana, Bobby and Angie back away from the table as Alex says good night.
“Bobby we can head back to your car. I need to spend about a half hour checking out the club before I call it a night.”
“That will work for us, Angie.”
“It was great seeing you again Angie, and this night is one for the books and that Harry Macaw is some great character.”
