A NEW ARRIVAL ON THE SCENE

Winter 1951/52 was very busy. Helen and I purchased a home in the Southwest Miami area. It was a nice 2 bedroom home sitting on a double lot, at 1625 S.W. 28^th St. In those days this was mostly a farm area. The owner of the large farm across the street would often come by with corn and other produce he was growing. We purchased the home from the builder for $12,000. Would you believe this?

It was a hectic time at Eastern. Flights were full and often oversold. We had a special individual in reservations whose job it was to study the average number of no-shows on past flights and calculate how many seats we could sell, over capacity, in order to make up for the no-shows we had on every flight. In those days, there was no penalty for being a no-show; therefore, he would authorize the sale of additional seats over capacity. This was done for every flight. Often, even with over-sales, we would still have seats for stand-by passengers. On the other hand, when everyone showed up, we had very angry people ready to kill. All we could do was put them on a priority standby list or refund their ticket.

We counted tickets at the departure gate and when the tickets equaled seats, we stopped passengers from boarding. However, miscounts often resulted in having to go onboard the airplane and remove passengers who had no confirmed seat. You can imagine the problem and anger we encountered when trying to get someone to deplane. Only a few of us were authorized to handle these problems. It was up to management staff such as the Reservations Manager, District Sales Manager, etc to handle the tricky situation. It was not an easy task. The passenger would often refuse to get off or sit down in the middle of the aisle; some would even try to swing a punch at you. Our Reservations Manager had a good solution; he would hide in the men's room. When the season was over, he came to work one day and found a new Manager sitting at his desk.

It was good when the winter of 1951/52 was over. Then, in an effort to develop summer travel to Florida, Eastern came up with a special summer promotion called "Happy Holidays". We were able to convince a number of hotels on Miami Beach to remain open over the summer and we would promote special tours, using those hotels who would give it a try. We came up with a special $19.00 per person, plus airfare, for a 6 night vacation on Miami Beach. If you combined this with a roundtrip $88.00 per person coach air fare, a couple could spend the week on Miami Beach for only $214.00. This promotion was highly successful. Miami was on its way to becoming a year round destination. Miami was so appreciative of the Eastern Air Lines effort to increase tourism that they named a new causeway to Key Biscayne, the "Rickenbacker Causeway".

But something much more special was about to happen. On November 11, 1952, Helen presented me with a beautiful baby daughter, Kathryn Rae Kitchener. She was a very happy and healthy baby. Since Helen was going to continue work, we hired Mrs. Feeger, an English lady to take her for walks in her carriage and to take care of her every day. She just loved Kathy. We could not have had a better baby. I can hardly remember her ever crying. She sure was the joy of our life. She became "Punky", a nick name she still has today.

Unfortunately, Helen was having a very difficult time with the Florida heat. Our house was not air-conditioned; very few homes were in those days. The Eastern Airlines department where she worked was not air-conditioned either. After a number of visits to the Doctor and various medications that didn't work, he recommended that we find a cooler place to live. I approached the company to see if it was possible to obtain a transfer up North. Eastern was very accommodating and found that the Hartford Connecticut airport office was looking for someone who could handle flight operations and reservations. I soon found myself on a plane to Bradley Field, Connecticut for an interview with the station manager, Hip Loyd. I understood from those who knew him, that he was a very good manager and well liked. I hoped that he would like me.

IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMER TIME

Summer in Florida could honestly be called tropic. Although it did cool down somewhat during the evening and night, heat and humidity made the days rather uncomfortable. It was easy to understand why there was very little tourism from June through October. Although the few hotels that remained open were air conditioned, most places were not. Florida had not yet embraced the comforts of air conditioning. It was far too expensive to purchase and run. Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, President of Eastern Air Lines, did not believe in a/c, and told us all that it was unhealthy. Frankly, Capt Eddy was a tightwad and could not bring himself to spend the money. He did, however, have a supply of salt tablets by every drinking fountain.

On my first summer in Florida, I was introduced to hurricanes. All I knew about Hurricanes was from an old Bogart film called "Key Largo". The one that hit us that summer was a close relative to the one in the movie. When Eastern knew it was coming, they evacuated our aircraft to the North. They informed us that all the married men and home owners could go home to board up their homes and be with their wives and families. They asked for a few volunteers to stay at the airport for security reasons and to answer phone calls from people trying to leave Miami. The main terminal building was new, but on either side there were wooden fingers where the gates for incoming and departing flights were located. Fred and I volunteered to stay along with four or five others.

I had taken my old Ford and pulled it under the roof of one of the fingers, where I hoped it would be safe. When the storm hit, it was wind and rain with such force that the wooden fingers began to come apart. The wind was howling so badly in the terminal that we felt sure it was going to collapse. I remember looking out at the runway and it looked like an ocean with waves coming in and crashing against the building. As the eye of the storm passed overhead, it became very quiet and still. You could look up and see the moon in the sky.

We all went outside to look around. Just down the street, about four or five blocks away, was a little coffee shop with the lights on. I decided that I would see if it was open and get some coffee for all of us. It was open, so I got several cups of coffee which the owner put into a box for me to carry. I had walked back about two blocks when the eye of the storm disappeared and the winds returned in full force. I grabbed hold of a telephone pole as the wind almost blew me down. The box of coffee disappeared into the wind and I was about as scared as I had ever been. I managed to get back to the terminal, mostly on my hand and knees, soaking wet, with a lesson learned: never go out in the eye of a hurricane.

The old Ford survived (unfortunately). It had a few extra dents and scratches along with a cracked windshield, but it was running. Fred and I decided to drive into Miami and look at the damage. I recall Burdines store windows had broken open, with clothing and manikins laying in the street. Some streets were impassable because of the debris. Miami was like a ghost town. No people, no police, just a lot of destruction where ever you looked. We decided to just get out of there and drive back to Miami Springs. When the airport reopened, the employees were full of stories about roofs gone, trees down, flooded houses, broken windows and children crying of fright. Hardly anyone had storm shutters or even hurricane insurance in those days. It was quite an introduction to the fury of Mother Nature.

Summer passed into fall and the tourists started to return. I had been dating Helen Oliver for more than six months and I asked her to marry me. Helen was a divorcee; she had been married to a man who was an American seismologist, working for the Venezuelan Government, searching for oil in Venezuela. She had worked for the American Embassy, in Caracas. When the marriage broke up, she came to Miami where she got her divorce. She then obtained a job at Eastern Airlines where we met. We were married in February, 1951.

It was a very busy winter; Eastern was now flying the Super Constellation, the L1011, with 64 passengers. They started "Economy Coach Service" with flights flying out of New York and Miami around midnight and arriving in Miami or New York at 7 AM in the morning. The fare was only forty four dollars one way. Flights were crowded and we had to have a midnight to 8 AM shift and a 3:30 PM to midnight shift to handle the new schedules. The daytime flights were sold out as well. We often had as many as 1000 people on our standby lists trying to get on a flight home.

Life with Eastern was good and I was happy that I had decided to remain there rather than returning to United. It certainly was giving me a great deal of airline experience and I was looking forward to the future.

IN FLORIDA, WITH EASTERN

The offer to remain in Florida with Eastern Air Lines rather than returning to United Air Lines, in San Francisco was not only a business career decision, but also a moral one. Although Eastern had picked up my salary and extra living expenses, United had continued my seniority. They had even sent me a one year pin along with a very complimentary letter about my excellent report from Eastern. They were looking forward to my return.

I found out that Fred, the other United employee, had also been asked to remain with Eastern. The two of us had a long discussion about the morality of Eastern approaching us behind United's back, and what the opportunities might be at either company. After much soul searching, we both decided to stay with Eastern. After informing our new employer, we each sent in a letter of resignation to United.

I had another personal problem: Mother, who was in San Francisco awaiting my return. In a long telephone call, I found that she was working with a pharmacy company, in San Francisco, and we agreed that she should stay there for now. As it turned out, she later met and married the pharmacist; but more about that in another blog.

Now it was time to reorganize our living arrangements. Dan, from Los Angeles, who had been working at the ticket counter, was returning to United with the remarks that Fred and I were not of sound mind for not going back. The biggest surprise was that George, from Seattle, our other co-renter, turned out to be gay; he was leaving to start a beauty salon with a gay friend he had met. Strange, but none of us had any idea that he was gay. That left Fred and me to find other accommodations. We found a great two bedroom apartment in Miami Springs; it was very close to the airport and came all furnished. So, now we were Eastern employees, Fred continued working in Terminal Control and I was in Reservations.

Eastern put me into a management training program. In effect, I was to spend time in all departments. It was April 1948, and Eastern was entering its slow period. This was great as I was able to get in a lot of training. My first assignment was airline accounting. This is where all the tickets picked up at the boarding gate were separated, by airline, and sent off to the Airline Reporting Corp. This company was responsible for processing all the tickets from all the airlines, in order to determine, which owed what. We also audited the money from the ticket counters, by agent, for accuracy, etc. Other departments were Departure Control, Flight Operations, Baggage Handling, Travel Agency Relations, Outside Sales, Ticket Counter, and Terminal Control where seat inventory was managed. Between assignments, I would return to reservations where we handled incoming reservations from the general public, from travel agents, and a special desk that handled calls from hotel concierges.

In the summertime, Miami and Miami Beach were almost empty cities. Hotels closed and boarded up for the summer. In Miami there were a few motels and only two hotels, the Columbus and the Everglades. On the beach, most of the hotels were in South Beach up to about 20^th Street. The big flashy hotels of today didn't start to come into being until the mid and late 50s.

One of my favorite places on the Beach was a bar owned by comedienne Martha Ray. Martha was often in attendance, when she was not making a movie or doing some TV show. She was very friendly and was just as funny in person as on the screen. Another place I enjoyed was a bar on the beach that featured twin pianos. I don't recall anymore who the performers were, but they were great. They would play for about twenty minutes every hour. They had a strict rule: no drinks served during their performance and no noisy conversations. No one minded the rule and the bar was packed every night.

I purchased a very used car. It was a 1939 Ford and not in very good shape. The Miami area had lots of canals and this was a very good thing; when the ford started to overheat I could pull up next to a canal and get some water for the radiator. The windshield also leaked when it rained, and I often ended up with very wet feet. In any event it was better than the bike I had been using.

I recall a funny story that I didn't think was funny at the time. I had just bought the car and decided that I would drive the car from Miami Springs to downtown Miami to go to the movies. As I came out of the movies, the bus that I used to ride on, was just stopping by the theatre. I ran for the bus and boarded; it was just about back in Miami Springs when I woke up to the fact that I was now a car owner and that my car was parked back in Miami. It was a long time before I forgave myself for being so stupid.

I had a number of girl friends, but nothing serious; the same for Fred. Although we were better paid than before, money was not plentiful, so a date often meant inviting a girl to the apartment, where we would listen to records and have a couple of beers. Many times a couple of girls came over and the four of us would cook dinner, and just hang out, having fun talking and joking. There were lots of girls working at Eastern, so most of the times these were the girls we entertained and hung out with.

It was about that time that a young lady came to work at Eastern. Her name was Helen Oliver.

 

 

 

Eastern Air Lines

Although I didn't realize it at the time, I was a very lucky man. United Air Lines' offering to "loan me" to Eastern Air lines could have meant my flying to one of Eastern Air Lines northern cities, but here I was enroute to Miami, Florida. On board our flight I met a fellow United Airlines employee, Jack Frederickson, from the Oakland office. We spent the time getting acquainted and wondering how Eastern Air Lines may differ from United. Fred, as he liked to be called, suggested that we try to find accommodations together. Eastern would be paying us our current salary, plus a housing and food allowance. I agreed, as I felt that Fred was a very nice guy. I felt we could get along for the five few months we would be with Eastern.

Upon our arrival in Miami, we were met by Ed Noaks, who was the Miami Airport ticket counter manager for Eastern. He sent us off to a nearby hotel with instructions on where to report the next morning. At the hotel, we met other United employees, who had arrived earlier. It was at the hotel that we met Dan, who was a United employee from Los Angeles, and George, from Seattle. The four of us decided to get accommodations together. There were about fifteen people at the hotel, both men and women, employees from various United Air Lines cities.

The following morning we were picked up and taken to the Miami airport where we were going to have a two day training session on Eastern Air Lines procedures. After training, the people were assigned jobs such as in reservations, at the ticket counter, in accounting, with operations, etc. Fred was assigned to Terminal control, Dan to the airport ticket counter, and George and I to reservations. The four of us would all be working at the airport.

Now we had to find a place to live. At that time, Eastern, National, and Pan American Airways, the only airlines serving Miami, were located on N.W. 36^th Street. Eastern had their own facilities at the corner of LeJeune Road and 36^th Street. National and Pan Am were together further north, on 36^th St. Today's Miami Airport is on the 20^th Street side of the old location. It's hard to believe that the airport of the 1940's with only one runway and the entire length ending at Red Road, would grow to what it is now. And it keeps growing…

The four of us decided to look for a place in Hialeah, which was very close to the Airport where we would be working. We found a great house that was being rented out by famous jockey Eddie Arcaro. We rented it for around $200.00 a month, for the four or five months we would be there. The house was fully furnished and even had a TV set. If I remember correctly, TV was only on in the evening until 11.00 PM. In any event we never watched it as our house became the meeting place for most of the United employees. It seemed that almost every night was party night at our house. We were all pretty young, but, to everyone's credit, our parties never got out of hand.

Things were going great at Eastern. We all liked what we were doing and the Eastern Management treated us very well. We had been there for three months and thinking about our return to United. It was about then that Fred and I both started to get extra attention and complimentary remarks like "We're sure going to miss you guys".

Eastern decided to give all of us a farewell fishing trip. All fifteen of us plus some Eastern escorts, set sail from Miami. We had been out for about three hours when a rain and wind storm hit us. We were bobbing like a cork, and nearly everyone was sea sick. We were a happy group when we reached shore. I don't think it was a great farewell fishing trip. I'm sure we all would have preferred a beach party.

Back at work, I was called into the reservation manager's office along with two supervisors. They started out with some compliments on how much they appreciated United Airlines loaning us to them and the great job we had all done. The conversation became more personal when they asked me to consider the possibility of staying with Eastern. They outlined an employment offer that included a substantial salary increase, management training, etc. They informed me that there were two other United employees that they would like to keep, but did not reveal who they were.

It looked like another crossroads in my life. Should I return to United Airlines in San Francisco, who had been very good to me? Should I resign from them and stay with Eastern? I had a little time to decide before I had to give an answer. It was not an easy decision; I wanted to give it a lot of thought.