Frank Sinatra, Part Two!

New York City itself was a magical place. Anyone who was anybody was there—and for a nickel you could take the subway and in 20 minutes be downtown in the heart of all the glitter. On weekends you could go downtown and maybe run into Marlon Brando having dinner in the Bird in Hand restaurant. We would skip school and for 55 cents before noon, you could see a movie and Frank Sinatra in person…all day long!

The annex I attended was on Madison Avenue and 132^nd street, in the heart of Harlem.  One day in the middle of a class the principal came in and said, “I need the following three girls to get your coats and come with me,” She called my name and two other girls who lived on my street.  My father was waiting for us downstairs to take us home.  It seemed there was a race riot going on and we hadn’t heard anything about it.  When we got home we learned that Frank Sinatra had come to Benjamin Franklin high school (4 blocks away from us) to talk to the boys there about getting along and then sang an inspiring song, “What is America to me.” This unannounced visit was not publicized.  He did it because he was trying to help ease the situation.

If Frank Sinatra was appearing at the Paramount we would get there at 6:30 am, to be sure to get seats in the very first row. My Uncle Eddie would arrive sometime in the afternoon. He’d slink down the theater in the darkness and make his way to the front row.  “Teeny…Teeny,” he’d hiss. Then when he’d find me he’d pass over a paper bag filled with sandwiches. He knew we’d been there since early in the morning and were probably starving (which we were.)

We were so close to the stage we were able to hand Frank little gifts. One time we brought him Italian pastries. We had heard (or more likely, read in a fan magazine) that Frank’s favorite pastry was rum baba—sponge cake soaked with rum flavor and filled with vanilla cream. 

Rum Baba

We brought him a box and handed it to while he was onstage. We included a note and signed all our names. We decided the only fair way to write our names would be alphabetically—Anna, Ruby, Tina. We handed Frank the pastries and he read the card out loud to the audience: “Dear Frank, Don’t get drunk on the baba! Love, Anna, Ruby and Tina.”  He paused for a moment after saying our names and we all screamed in delight. Frank turned to the audience and said, “I guess that was Tina.”

The theater had flower arrangements in the lobby, and we’d always steal one, so as Frank walked on stage we would hand him the flower which he’d put in his lapel.

During one of his appearances, a unknown group called Sammy Davis and the Will Mastin Trio was on the bill with Frank. Sammy Davis was absolutely the best performer we had ever seen. So when came out again we called Sammy’s name and handed a flower up to him, too. Sammy was thrilled. “Frank, Frank, look!” he said, and pointed out the flower in his lapel. He was positively beaming. When Sammy began performing with Frank he finally got all the recognition he so rightly deserved.

(Frank and Sammy--I wonder if that flower in Frank's lapel was one of the ones I gave him?!?)

If Frank wasn’t around there was always Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, or Benny Goodman, or Louie Prima with Keely Smith or Tony Pastor with the Clooney sisters. Rosemary and her sister were so skinny we were all envious. Of course the place to sit was in the front row so whoever was appearing would kibitz with you. When Louis Jordan would sing, “If he says you look good in a sweater…go home and write him a letter!” we would howl with laughter as he directed his words to us.

I feel bad for the young people of today—if you want to see a Broadway show, tickets are over $100 apiece, and you’d better cross your fingers that the show is good and not a bomb. Yes, the world today has internet and iphones, but remember kids, I had Frank Sinatra entertaining me all day long—for fifty-five cents!

                                                                                                                                               (Editor's Note: Here's a youtube clip of Louis Jordan singing. Jump to 1:12 to hear the "If he says you look good in a sweater" line:                                                           https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rtr2ZmBcG2A )