THEN
In the Fall of the year 1935 – that was sixty-eight years ago, mind you – O. O. McIntyre, in his daily column “New York Day By Day”,was concerned about an inequity which, oddly enough, remains with us today in various forms.
Otis Odd (How was that for a name?) noted that it had come to his attention that a “special assistant in charge of publicity”, scornfully referred to as “a press agent”, was listed on the payroll records of the United States Attorney General's staff at a salary of ten thousand dollars per year.
In 1935 ten thousand was a monstrous mound of American moolah. The thing that disturbed MacIntye was that the Chief of the Department of Justice – a forceful young man by the name of J. Edgar Hoover “who has so expertly rounded-up the crooks”- the “press agent's” boss - was getting $9,000 per year.
The columnist thought the two figures ought to be reversed and asked me, and his other readers :”What's wrong with this picture?”
By and large, I think most of us agreed with him, and those of us who are still around can easily find such inequities in the pay scale tabulations of today. I often felt, when working in the industrial side of our economy for a decade or more, the job listed as “Secretary” was so poorly compensated in relation to the amount paid to the C.E.O. for whom she worked. I never felt that promoting her “Executive Secretary” was eve anywhere near enough. I found, that in many cases, it was the Secretary who, actually, ran the place.
Young people, seeking jobs today use such terms as “25K and 30K” as starting points. Wouldn't newspaper writers such as O. O. MacIntyre have a typing tizzie with today's statistics?
He saw other less disturbing things as well, however, and, overall, presented a happy view of his favorite New York City. That Fall in 1935, he mentioned as being the year of the rotisserie with undulating, steadily spinning racks of golden chicken roasting in restaurant windows. From Sixth Avenue such rotisseries were thriving. He speaks of chorus girls, working in the area, sending out for a snack. They got a baked chicken, fried potatoes and large slabs of fresh bread for a total price of 80-cents. Mac also had a favorite spot along 6th Avenue called “Castle Lake”. They served Oysters on the Half-Shell in beds of hot sand.
Then was a good time, wasn't it?
And Today – come Tomorrow – will be Then, as well.
A.L.M. October 2, 2003 [c476wds]
