Growing up at the City Club required sharing the upstairs with people that would rent a room for the day, week, or month. I think the daily rate in the early 50’s was $7 per night but cheaper if you took the room for a longer period of time.
Almost all rentals were to men. It was usually older men that were somewhat mysterious. The City Club was not exactly “Donald Trump Towers West”. I don’t remember any women renting rooms.
There were the “Big Three” that form the basis of my memories of guys that roomed at the City Club.
First was Skinny Schultz. He worked at the Stokely Canning Company as a full time employee. The canning season began in March or April and ended in early December. Skinny went some place in the colder months but he was perceived as a regular roomer. I don’t know where the name “Skinny” came from because he was rather heavy, medium stature, and a chain smoker. I lived in mortal fear that he would fall asleep some night and burn the place down. Obviously that never happened. Skinny had a raspy voice and spoke in a growl. He was a gentle giant. I would help Myrna clean his room and change linen once a week. His room smelled like hairy, sweaty gorillas had been running around. He had a fan to move air in the non-air conditioned room. He also had a hot plate, I think for coffee. I don’t know what ever happened to Skinny but I can still see him coming home after a long, long day during the season of canning peas and carrots.
The second roomer was Amel Torke. Amel worked less than a block away from the City Club at Plymouth Foundry that Bucky ended up managing. Amel had a room near Skinny. Amel was very quiet and you hardly knew he was around. He worked in the foundry doing molding, finishing of castings and warehousing. I know he took a shower every day before coming home to the City Club. Amel’s room was very clean and he would leave late in the afternoon to go some place. I learned that he had a “lady friend” Mary, who was a school teacher. They never married. It sounded like a mutually beneficial relationship. Amel always bought new Chevrolets. Every two years, he bought a simple, stripped down brand new four door Chevrolet and parked in in the back of the City Club. I think Amel died while still a resident of the City Club. He did make it into his 70’s. He left $80,000 in cash to Mary. That $80,000 would be worth $250,000 to $300,000 in today’s dollars. Who would have thought that Amel had “squirreled” away that kind of money.
The third roomer was Victor Toniello. Victor had the room at the top of the stairs and stayed a few years. Victor was a short stocky man with a larger stomach and he talked in broken English. I think Victor immigrated from Italy. He was pleasant. He worked at the local Cheese factory and probably earned a good wage. He would use our kitchen occasionaly to cook up Italian dishes with secret recipes. They were delicious. Victor was not a smoker but he did have a hot plate in his room also. Victor eventually married a lady from Greece that I’ve mentioned before named Maria. It was an arranged marriage. Neither person had met each other prior to the wedding but it was a way for a Greek female to immigrate to the United States. They built a house in Plymouth and had a son named Tony. My brother Jerry and Tony played together.
As you sit in you homes tonight with your family around you, I want you to know that my family was always “extended” and included roomers in the City Club. You met them in the halls, on the stairways and in the tavern downstairs. I know sister Addie was always leary of the roomers but to me they were just people in transistion needing a place to stay.
Love,
Dad