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11/20/08 |
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On New Year's Eve, Frank, Mel, and I were at Hollywood and Vine when, just before midnight, pandemonium broke loose. The mob of revelers surged into the street, freezing all traffic on the spot and marking the moment that the 1940's had begun. |
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On Wednesday, January 3rd, I was glad to return to school and to my job at the coffee shop. With classes ending on the 19th and "finals" starting on the 22nd, I was starting to worry. My final ten-minute speech presentation was a week away and my term paper wasn't even started. Even though I remained in the library until it closed every evening, all I accomplished was my daily homework assignments. In a letter, my brother asked why I kept postponing my term paper and certain assignments. That ticked me off. Here's how I responded: Vito, don't you realize I have no radio, never play basketball, never exercise in the gym, never go swimming, never go to school dances, never say more than a quick "hello" to a girl, let alone asking for a date. I spend all my time, from 7:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M, working in the coffee shop, attending classes and studying in the library. I hitchhike about 100 miles every weekend to caddy and to visit Bill Cook or Frank. Once a month I might go to a picture show. I only scan the daily paper, and it takes time to write letters home and to friends. Leaving the library Friday evening, I was surprised to find Mickey and Martha with Mrs. Fernding. They were waiting for me to come home. We went to a restaurant for donuts and coffee and had a pleasant time, talking till midnight. Mickey looked good and seemed happy. But he admitted that he had not kept up with his studies and his grades were not good. Further, he implied that he might quit school, get a job and get married. Since we had been estranged, bringing Martha to meet me "broke the ice". I was glad they came. My talk in speech was postponed to the final class meeting on the 19th. My topic was "The History of the Movies". After all the talks were given the class voted for the best speaker. Astonishingly, I was in a "tie vote" with J. D. Morgan, who, years later, became UCLA's athletic director. I was especially grateful for the comments from Dr. Karr. On my speech outline he wrote: "A grand talk. I'm proud of you. You have rare possibilities for achievement on the platform. You haven't achieved all that's possible yet, by a long ways, but you are on the way". Much to my surprise I learned that Fred Romito had just enrolled at Ohio State. In a postcard he wrote: "I am having a tough time trying to study, as I haven't done anything like this for nearly ten years." In a letter on January 31st, he wrote: "Dear Cip, Thanks for answering my card. I am grateful to hear from you, as I seldom hear from anyone. -- I really wanted you to know that I am trying to carry out what we talked about. Remember last summer on the park bench? Say Hello to Frank and Mickey." I was so impressed with Fred's breaking away, I felt inspired to write a "Dear Fred" letter to the Bedford Times. The letter was printed on February 16, 1940. Letter Encourages Local Youth Mr. Cipriani writes "As I finished writing, I felt that I had not written to Fred alone, but to a few others in and away from Bedford," -- The letter: Dear Fred, I'm happy for you, Fred. Not because you are back in school, but rather because, for the first time, you are definitely doing something of your own and on your own. It is your own wish and your own desire and you have accomplished your first task. "Demus," if you remember, in our "midnight talks" with the rest of the "gang," I always stressed the view that we should be true to ourselves. Above all we should act – try something – and we should work at a job that we liked. This is not as easy as it seems. For the "rebel," sometimes, cannot disregard the conventions of the community; he finds it hard to exchange security for insecurity and harder still, he must refuse the well-meant interference from his much loved parents. Fred, I'm glad that you have "cut the strings" from your old routine. You will gain confidence in yourself as you plan each task and execute your own decision. And as you overcome each difficulty--no matter how trivial–-you will get your "second wind" and realize your possibilities. You've started, Fred, you are on your way. I hope you already feel a surge of this new confidence and power. As I mentioned above, I'm glad for you. I know that then, and only then, can you or anyone else be happy. Good luck to you in the days to come. Your friend, "Cip" My final grades were two "B's" in Political science and Public Speaking and two "C's" in Psychology and Great Books. In English Literature I got a "C" in my final, but since I failed to turn in a term paper, my grade became an "incomplete". With the semester over, I stayed overnight with Frank on Saturday and Monday. Tuesday I visited Mickey at the florist shop. We talked for quite a while. He changed his mind about quitting school. He and Frank would register the next day at LACC. For my fourth semester I signed up for 14 units. I continued with English Literature 36B with Dr. Rolfe and added a writing course, English 31A. Dropping Psychology and Political Science, I added Philosophy and Italian, two courses more to my liking. I did not tell my family that I was taking the Italian course until March 13th when my Mom opened her birthday letter – a page and a half in Italian. The Italian class, a five- unit course, met daily. Though we had homework assignments every day, I really enjoyed the class, the homework, and Professor Speroni. With this class I would complete the language requirement. This set me thinking about taking the required courses for the undergraduate certificate which required 60 units. After a year and a half I had completed 31 units. Dr. Rolfe had already assigned a term paper for the new semester and I still had not done the earlier one. English 31 was very tough for me. I was already short two assignments, but now, every Tuesday I had to write a 500-word short story and every Thursday a 500-word biographical sketch. Just before the midterm exams campus visitors brought me a happy interlude. Don Rosato came to visit me on campus. His ship the USS San Francisco was anchored for a few days in Long Beach. I told Don that my brother Rudy was also on a cruiser, the USS Quincy. Two other visitors, John Yambor and Bob McFarlane came in from Bedford. Driving in a red convertible they picked up Frank and then came to see me. For the two weekends we were together, Frank and I gave them a tour of Hollywood. Their visiting us was a tonic. Instead of caddying, I had some fun for a change. The following Saturday I caddied, but I stayed home Easter Sunday. I had accepted an invitation for Easter dinner with Mrs. Fernding and Maude and I had to read a novel by Henry Fielding for my English Lit class.That evening I wrote home to thank my mother for writing to me. I understood her letter perfectly. She said that she was so happy to read what I had written in Italian that her eyes filled with tears. She said she approved of my studying the Italian language because it was good to learn everything. I felt like I was home listening to her words of advice and caution. She enclosed her new citizenship photo and enclosed three dollars, two from Vito and one from her.
With "B's" and "C's" in the mid terms, my only worry was the two term papers. During spring vacation I worked four days on the overdue term paper, accomplishing little -- a mere 300 words, but it was a start. Writing on Christopher Marlowe, my title was "Hitch Your Wagon to a Star". It took me another six weeks to grind out the 16 typewritten pages. I got a "B" for the term paper; but more importantly, Dr. Rolfe erased my "incomplete" for the previous semester. But time had run out, for this semester's term paper. I expected another "incomplete". During the spring vacation Pete and Morrie Plotkin treated me to another movie. We went to the Bruin Theater in Westwood to see "The Grapes of Wrath", with Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, Charles Grapewin, and John Carradine. John Ford was the director of this five-star movie. Orson Welles, the boy wonder of the new Mercury Group Theater, was another treat. In 1938 on October 30th, he shocked millions of people with his notorious radio broadcast of "The War of the Worlds". In May of 1940 he came to UCLA for a personal appearance in Royce Hall. He gave two long lectures, each with a separate admission price of 75 cents. Because of my acquaintance with the stage manager at Royce Hall, I got to see both performances for free. If I had to pay, I probably would not have seen either performance. On stage, Welles performed alone, lecturing and reciting excerpts, mostly from Shakespeare's plays. After the two performances he spoke for over an hour to a small group backstage. I stayed at his side throughout, listening and watching closely. At 24, two years younger than me, he was only a year away from writing, acting, directing, and producing, "Citizen Kane". I had not realized that I had a ringside seat witnessing the emerging genius of Orson Welles. In a postcard from Bill Siegert he said he would depart from Miami on May 20th. He would show up probably at the end of my "finals". Mickey had quit his job with the florist and was now working from 5 to 11 PM at a drug store. He and Martha were talking about getting married. Frank also quit his job. His Drama Class was putting on several stage plays within the next several weeks. Frank had to help with the lighting and staging of the plays. Looking ahead to semester's end, Frank was very anxious to return home for the summer vacation. At the end of my semester, I wasn't sure what I should do. Mentally, I needed a rest. The semester had taken something out of me. Missing was the zest and zeal of the previous year. I thought of this quote by Von Hindenburg that I had copied earlier: "Where, one year, active ability and driving force have existed, the next year can reveal an unfruitful mind and a faint heart". This hit home -- made me aware that, in life, there is no standing still. Daily, in mind and body, we are imperceptibly advancing or, imperceptibly slipping backwards. English composition was my main difficulty. This was evident in my inability to do the weekly essays in the composition class and complete my term papers on time. The assessment of classmates and two professors was: too much work and no play. After my finals, I had the feeling I should stay and get started on my next term paper. My final grades were three "C's" and an "incomplete" in my two English courses. My intention to write the next term paper vanished when school officials informed me that the previous semesters incomplete that had been moved up to a "B" was now going to be reduced to a "D." Likewise, because I was late, my next term paper, when completed, would only earn me another "D". This made me so mad I couldn't see straight. I complained to Dr. Rolfe and Dr. Swedenberg. Both were in sympathy with my view that I was entitled to my regular grade after erasing the incomplete. They said that they would try to get that ruling changed. A few weeks earlier I had told them that I felt like quitting school. Since then, they had both been extra helpful with long talks of encouragement. But now that I was so fed up, I was in no mood to begin writing a term paper. Several months earlier I had applied for a $54 tuition scholarship that would cover my next two semesters. I submitted letters of recommendation from Professors Karr, Howard, Swedenberg and Rolfe and from Mrs. Fernding and from Mr. Bert Loop, my former Camp Director in Griffith Park. In my interview with the committee, I thought my chances were good for getting the scholarship, but a letter of denial from the school dashed my hopes. I went in to see Frank and Mickey a week before the end of their semester on June 21st. Frank and Mel had already agreed to ride as passengers with classmate Oscar Friedman who was driving to New Jersey. For $15 each, Oscar would drop Mel off in Lorain and Frank in Bedford. Frank and Mel both urged me to go with them. A ride straight to Bedford was tempting, but I didn't have the fare and I knew it wouldn't be much fun cooped up in a Tin Lizzy for 4 or 5 days. After much persuasion from Frank, I agreed to go with them. Frank loaned me $12.50 so I could cover my fare. On Thursday, June 27th Mickey and Martha were married. On Saturday while they were departing for San Francisco on the Southern Pacific Daylight train, Frank, Mel and I left with Oscar on Route 66. Our first overnight stop was in Gallup, New Mexico. We paid 50 cents apiece for our cabin. Our trip home was fine except that we had to put up with Oscar. He was obnoxious. We had running arguments daily. Oscar did all the driving. He wouldn't let Frank touch the steering wheel and he alone decided when to stop and when to eat or sleep. We dropped Mel off in Lorain and then Frank and I got off in Bedford. It was 10:00 P.M. on July 3rd. Oscar was now alone for his drive to New Jersey. He would return in September to pick up Frank and Mel. I had already decided that I would rather hitchhike than ride back with Oscar. The special glow of homecoming lasted all eight weeks. Frank and I spent the first two weeks shaking hands and meeting people. We slipped back into old habits, staying out late and hanging out with the gang. It was a luxury that we now could afford and enjoy. At the Cleveland Library, I took out five books on John Galsworthy, the author best known for "The Forsyte Saga" novels. I chose him to be the subject of my late" term paper. I had good intentions to start the term paper, but I was foolish to think I could accomplish this in Bedford. In the first book "Man of Property", on the preface page, Galsworthy wrote these words: "A world full of mortals and not enough imagination to go around." I copied this quote in my pocketbook. His quote was certainly akin to Einstein's "Imagination is more important than knowledge." With the philosophical discovery of VA FA SA and in my experience at UCLA I realized the significance of imagination. I visited Stalwart Rubber and the Otis steel Company to check out the possibility for a summer job. The steel mills were "humming". Otis Steel and Republic Steel were hiring new workers. I probably could have gotten a permanent job if I gave up on UCLA and my hopes of cinematography at USC. A few weeks after Mickey arrived; he got a job at Republic Steel. The year in California had transformed him from the philosopher who trifled with work to a steel worker who trifled with philosophy. During my two months in Bedford, I saw ten movies, two at the Bedford Theater and two at the theater in Maple Heights. The other six pictures, seen in Cleveland, were at the Milo, the Moreland, and the Mt. Pleasant and at Lowe's State. With summer vacation coming to a close, Frank tried to persuade me to return to Los Angeles with him and Mel. However, without waiting for Oscar to arrive in Bedford, I departed on Thursday, September 5th. After mailing a post card to Mrs. Fernding, I said my goodbyes at 1:00 P.M. Hitchhiking south through Columbus, I made about 180 miles to Lewisburg where I found shelter in a church. Early Friday I had four short rides that got me to Indianapolis. I then received a free transfer coupon from a stranger which took me through the city from east to west. Two shorter rides and then a long truck ride got me to St. Louis, Mo. At 9:00 P.M. I checked in at a YMCA. My first ride from St. Louis to Cuba, about 80 Miles, was with a Texas School Bus. The next ride was only 55 miles to Waynesville where I got stuck for eleven hours. Finally, I got a ride after midnight with a used car salesman. We had a good conversation all through the night for 190 miles to Miami, Oklahoma. I had run out of the food that Mother had packed in my zipper bag, so early that Sunday morning I paid 20 cents for my first restaurant meal. A short ride to Vinita was followed by a 94-mile ride with that same Texas school bus that had picked me up in St. Louis and took me to Cuba. Four more rides brought me to Oklahoma City where I paid 50 cents for a room at the Blackstone Hotel. Leaving Oklahoma City Monday morning September 9th I made it to Amarillo. The next day I got to Albuquerque where I spent 50 cents for a hotel room. Wednesday morning I visited Angelo (Burly) Rich and his wife Mary. After a couple hours they drove me to Highway 66, dropping me off on the far side of the bridge that spanned the Rio Grande River. I was stranded there all day without getting a ride. When Angelo and Mary came by at 10:00 P.M. they were quite surprised to see me at the same spot they had dropped me off that morning. We talked for a while; after driving his wife home, Angelo returned again to keep me company. He wanted me to return with him and stay overnight at his home but I refused. I had to be at UCLA by Friday morning. I told him that I had to ride night and day to get there on time. However, I did not get a ride that night. Angelo took me to an all night drive-in where we drank coffee and talked about our hometown. At daybreak, after dropping me off on the other side of the Rio Grande Bridge, he went home. In all my years of hitchhiking, this was the first time I made "zero" miles in a 24-hour stretch. My previous low record was 60 miles on a Sunday in Nebraska. After an hour, I was picked up for a long ride, 600 miles, to Blythe on the California border. It was my most timely lucky break ever. In Arizona, we stopped to eat at Winslow, then continued to Flagstaff where we turned off Route #66 and went south on #79 through the beautiful scenery of the Coconino National Forest. I was especially impressed with the drive through Oak Creek Canyon and the spectacular view near Jerome. Speeding quickly through Prescott and Wickenburg, we arrived in Blythe at 8:00 P.M. Although I was sleepy I had to continue hitchhiking for the second night in a row. After an hour's wait I rode with some Mexicans in a sedan. Driving 200 miles through the night, we went through Indio and arrived in El Monte at 3:00 A.M. My next ride took me to the corner of Los Feliz and San Fernando Road in Glendale. After a short ride to Burbank, I was at Bill Cook's home. At 4:00 A.M I had no choice but to knock on the door to awaken him and Millie. At that hour where else could I shave, wash my hair, take a bath, change clothes and have breakfast? At 6:30 A.M. I left with Bill; he went to his job and I went to Mrs. Fernding and UCLA. Just before departing from home I had $19.25. That was too much money to take with me. A dollar a day was all I would need to hitchhike to Los Angeles. To play safe, I got rid of the extra ten by mailing a postal money order to myself in West Los Angeles. I spent $8.00 during my eight days of hitchhiking and still had a $1.25 when I arrived in Burbank. I decided to take the semester off and work full time in the coffee shop to accumulate some money. My first 8-hour day was on Friday, September 13th, which was Registration Day. The next morning however, after working two hours, I was astonished to learn that non-student employees receive a lower wage scale, only 25 cents an hour. And this semester student workers were getting a nickel raise to 40 cents an hour. This wage gap spurred me to register immediately. Taking off my "work apron", I left the cafeteria. I had to borrow $29.00 for tuition and register before the 1:00 P.M. deadline. I got $5.00 from Peter Plotkin, $15.00 from Jack Park, and I used $9.00 from that postal money order that I had sent to myself. Frank and Mel returned (with Oscar) two days after my arrival. Frank moved into a new room on Melrose but Mel was entering UCLA's Extension division so, temporarily, he moved in with me. The following week I enrolled in my classes, sold most of my old books and bought my new ones. I began to work four hours a day in the coffee shop; consequently, I signed up for only 9 units, plus another half-unit for a swimming class. I felt it would be prudent to graduate; so I took six units in Science. I signed up for Biology, Geology and for an elective, Philosophy. My student body card enabled me to see all the football games and more importantly to earn $2.00 at the same time. My cafeteria job was better than ever. For the four hours worked, I earned a daily meal and $1.20 in cash. I was still the waitresses' favorite bus boy. When they had a "dead order" it came to me. But, even when there were none, they would still get me drinks or sandwiches. Earning six dollars a week in the cafeteria, I was in better shape financially and was still free on the weekend to caddy or work at the football games. After registering for "conscription", I received draft number 1430, which was in the middle of the draft pool. Students, however, were exempt from the draft until July 1, 1941. Knowing that this might be my last year at UCLA, I was glad to have enrolled this semester. In the presidential election of 1932 I was too young to vote for FDR, but I voted for him in 1936 when I was home in Bedford. With the approaching 1940 election, I registered again as a Democrat and intended to vote for him again. On November 5th I went to the Federal Building in Los Angeles to apply for Christmas work at the Post Office. I had already paid off the loans from Frank, Mel, Morrie Plotkin, and Jack the shoemaker. These loans paid for my tuition, new books and new shoes. My next objective was to repay Bill Siegert the fifty dollars that I owed him for the longest time. He gave me the first $20 in 1938, during my first week at UCLA. After the New Year Bill would depart for Florida, but I planned to repay him before he left with my earnings from the post office. I spent my Thanksgiving Day at the golf course, a very good day, in fact, one of my best days at Lakeside. Bill and I went to the course early. We both carried a "double" for our first round and then a single loop in the afternoon. I made $5.75 while Bill made $5.00. We saw quite a few movie stars on the course; my highlight was being in a foursome with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, and later in another foursome with Johnny Weissmuller. After caddying, we hitchhiked to a special restaurant in Glendale called The Round Table. This place was "tops" –- all you could eat for forty cents. The next day Frank and I went downtown to do some odds and ends at the library, do some banking, go to a shoe store, and see a couple of movies. We saw Leslie Howard in "Berkeley Square" and Elizabeth Bergner in "Stolen Life", both very good. That same evening we went to view the lighting up of Santa Claus Lane on Hollywood Blvd. Frank's roommate, Walter Woods, and Bill Siegert came with us to see the parade. On Saturday, I "worked" as an usher for the last time at a football game, making $3.00 while watching UCLA play the Washington Huskies. Since next week's game between USC and UCLA was a home game for the Trojans, USC would hire their own students. Consequently, for the first time, I sat in the UCLA rooting section. Finally, I bought myself a radio. It was a Packard Bell, had five tubes and came with a built-in aerial. It cost $11.95 plus 36 cents tax for a total of $12.31. My down payment was $4.31, leaving an $8.00 balance to be paid at $2.00 per month. It sure made a difference. To think I went two and a half years without a radio, I should have gotten it a long time before I did. For the past two and a half years I woke up each morning not knowing the time. Now I only had to turn on the radio. In the evening, after listening to a summary of the news by the Richfield Reporter, I switched to KFAC, the music station. I enjoyed the soft classical music as I wrote a letter or prepared to hit the hay. School let out for the Christmas recess on Friday, the 13th. I caddied on the weekend and then Monday, Bill Siegert and I started to carry the mail from the West Los Angeles Post Office. I worked 11 days, 9 before Christmas and 2 after. We got rained on about half of the time when we were delivering mail. With the exception of that first day when I got soaking wet, I was dressed for rain on the following days. I bought a pair of rubbers for 89 cents and I borrowed Frank's raincoat. Also, a kind housewife loaned me her husband's hat. Another lady loaned me her umbrella. Christmas Eve I went to bed early because I was very tired after carrying mail for ten and half hours. After a deep sleep I felt very good on Christmas morning. I had a nice breakfast with Mrs. Fernding and then listened to Christmas carols on the radio until 10:00 A.M. Then I did something that I hadn't done in years. I went to a Catholic Church to attend Mass. While in church I couldn't help but think and pray for Mother and Dad and for my brothers and sisters. I thought about St. Mary's church, in Bedford, where it was easy to attend Mass regularly, but here, obviously, it wasn't that easy for me to go to Mass on Sundays. Returning from the Christmas Mass, I had a swell chicken dinner with Mrs. Fernding and Maude Grinsel. I received socks and hankies from Mrs. Fernding and cookies and candy from Maude. In exchange, I gave each of them a dollar. They were both pleased when I called them "my California mothers". From Rudy, I received a year's subscription to the Reader's Digest; from Clifton, NJ, Joe Baron sent me a dollar; I got a large notebook from Pete and Morrie Plotkin; my Aunt Tommasina sent a five dollar money order; and from home I got a box of Torrone Italian candy, plus a $12.00 bank check from Vito, Frances, Mom and Dad. The cash gifts came in handy. Since December 13th when the coffee shop closed I had to pay cash for all my meals every day and that's where my cash gifts went. Also, I could not caddy while carrying the mail and I had to wait for December 31st to pick up my postal paycheck. Later that afternoon I went to the opening of the new "Uclan Theater", a 20-cent movie house that was on Westwood Blvd. It was owned and operated by Mrs. Henry Fonda. That movie house is still running. After a recent remodeling it was renamed "The Crest". The admission charge, I'm sure, is no longer 20 cents. I picked up my check at the Federal Bldg. in Los Angeles. I earned $57.20 for the eleven days. Bill's check was only $45.50 but he worked fewer days and some days fewer hours. Bill was unable to come with me; he wrote a note so I could pick up his check. While downtown, I went to my bank, saw a double feature for ten cents and then to the Public Library to scan the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Leaving the library I stopped in to visit Frank. However, I didn't stay because Frank was working late. I went to Bill Siegert's place, gave him his postal check and I also gave him fifty dollars, wiping out all my local debts. My next objective would be to repay my brother Vito. It was New Year's Eve. Instead of joining the mob of revelers at Hollywood and Vine, I went home. Listening to my radio until midnight, 1941 was ushered in quietly. Hugo P. Cipriani |
