The Stamford Telephone Story

1962

A True Story

Written 2001* 789 Words

#158 By Howard Yasgar

In 1961, right after I graduated college, I leased an auto wrecking business in Stamford Connecticut.

At the Stamford location, there was a small office and a used car lot that was located on West Main Street.

Then there was also another small office that was located at the rear of the wrecking yard property on a street called Annie Place.

The lower yard and office are where I sold used auto parts.

When I took over the business there was a coin operating telephone hanging on the wall in the office.

One day, I went to make a call and I found out that the phone was dead.

The Stanford phone Company wasn’t far away, so I drove over there.

They said my phone number had always been a problem to them, and over the years, it had been shut off several times. They said the phone had even been stolen once.

I assured them they would never have a problem with me, as I was the new owner.

They told me they would be happy to reinstate the phone number, but I would have to pay $150.00 deposit.

I couldn’t believe it, in 1962 $150.00 was a lot of money, but since I had little choice, and I needed a phone, I paid the deposit.

By the end of 1962, I had finally discovered why I wasn’t making much money with the used parts business.

One day I came to the business on a Sunday, and the yard was loaded with people.

They were all jumping over the fences and stealing whatever car parts they wanted.

Obviously, everyone in Stamford knew about this except me.

That’s when I decided to close the place down and do something else.

That’s when I started buying distressed merchandise.

I would buy all kinds of mechanical items in Connecticut and then sell them to dealers in New York City.

So, every Wednesday I would drive up the Connecticut turnpike from New Haven, Connecticut heading to New York City.

Eventually, I heard the rumor that someone else had again opened my old used car lot on West Main Street in Stamford.

So, one morning while I was on my way to New York, I drove by my old place to see if the rumor was true, and it was, my old used car lot appeared to be open again.

I met the new owner, his name was Lou Gladstein, and we got along fine. We got along so good that I spent the entire day sitting there talking to him.

As I sat in the office, I couldn’t help but see my old pay telephone hanging on the wall.

However, as I looked closer, I could see there was a long string hanging out of it.

I asked Lou what the string was for.

He said, “When you make a phone call, and you put in your money, as soon as you hear a ding-a-ling, you pull the string, and all your money comes back.

Lou said he had a friend that had the key to the telephone, and he had hooked it up for him.

I couldn’t believe it, so I tried it, and called my fiancé in Connecticut, and it worked perfectly.

Now fast forward to 1963.

I was in Miami, Florida, I had just got married and I came to Miami to help my friend Lou solve a problem.

He had leased an auto wrecking business in Miami, and he was sure the manager was stealing all the money.

So, I had come to Florida, to find out what was going on.

Once I found out what was going on, and that’s when I advised Lou to close the business down.

My wife and I liked Miami a lot and we opted to stay for a while.

Our living in Miami was great, but in the beginning, I had no income coming in, and that’s when I remembered about the $150.00 deposit that I had given the Stamford phone Company several years before.

So, that evening, I carefully crafted a letter to the Stamford Telephone Company requesting my $150.00 deposit back.

About two weeks passed and I saw a letter from the Stamford Phone Company in my P.O. box.

How exciting, I was about to become financially sound again.

The letter said:

Dear Sir, regarding your $150.00 deposit,

There is a 1963 outstanding balance of $385.00. due, on your telephone

If it is not paid within 30 days, we will be forced to take legal action against you.

Well, so much for Lou’s Telephone string trick.

It took me all day to think of what to do, I didn’t have $385.00 to send them.

I carefully resealed the envelope with Scotch Tape, and I wrote across the front, with a magic marker.

“Undeliverable, moved to Port Au Prince Haiti.”

I’m still waiting for the Stamford Phone Company to reply.