Terry Teitelbaum
Terry Teitelbaum was born in New York City in 1928. His father, Max, came alone from Poland around 1892 at about fourteen or fifteen, relying on a cousin who ran a furniture store in lower Manhattan. Max's large family in Europe, including nine siblings, was wiped out during the Holocaust. Terry's mother, Pauline Newmark, whose family was from Austria, married later in life and worked as a Western Union operator in her youth. The family lived in Harlem and then moved to the Bronx when Terry was about eleven or twelve. His father ran a grocery store called Max's on 128th Street, working long hours until a union dispute drove him out and he took work at a delicatessen.
Terry attended P.S. 90, Herron High School, and Taft High School in the Bronx, and briefly studied at NYU. His father died in 1945 following a hernia operation, a devastating loss, after which his mother took a low-paying job with the state of New York. His older brother served as a paratrooper in the occupation of Japan, stationed in the Sendai area. Terry joined the Navy at seventeen, entering around February 1946, and served aboard the USS Montague, a cargo attack ship, taking part in operations near Cuba, Guantanamo Bay, and Puerto Rico.
Terry met his wife Lynn in the Bronx around 1950 at Willy's candy store, and they married in 1951, settling in Brooklyn. He worked on Wall Street as a runner and later in the brokerage business for about ten years. When the market slumped, he moved to California and joined his wife's uncle Jack in a window cleaning business for roughly a decade. Seeking relief from California's high taxes and crowding, he moved to Dallas to open a check cashing store. He earned a psychology degree from NYU. A lifelong collector of baseball cards, stamps, marbles, and silver dollars, Terry and Lynn raised three children and five grandchildren, and his advice for the next generation was to be ambitious, diligent, and responsible.
Full Transcript
in 1928 New York City correct let's go back what do you remember when you're a little boy I remember that we lived in an area with a lot of black people and which was Harlem and I was about my earliest remembers when I was about four or five and that three little boys ran after me my earliest recollection this day they want to get me or take something from me or whatever it was but I was so fast and never got me and so I escaped let's put it that way escape back to my own apartment and which was beautiful courtyard of five storey building
no elevator all walk up and I was safe in my in the lobby of that apartment house and we were considered rich in that area which was ridiculous my father was a storekeeper he owned a grocery store and ha ha didn't 128 Street what was the name of it name of it was Max's and Max was a a really sharp shop and math and good at public you know speaking and speaking to people is a good personality and he never had anything any grudges against anybody you know he was a really good guy and he got taken in 1945 by a surgery on his hernia
and he passed away Oh which was ridiculous you know for a hernia operation I've had two so I didn't pass away tell me about your mom my mom yeah terrific lady Pauline teitelbaum and she was considered an old maid when she got married she was 38 I think 38 39 my father was about 46 so there's a late marriage and was this the first marriage for both marriage and both first and last we had a tough family life because my father was always working Sundays as well the store was open my mother went to help him she brought him lunches every day she walked down
from 104th Street where we lived in a very nice apartment house with an elevator that was the big thing that if you hadn't elevated well this was the Bronx now you moved oh no this is still Manhattan still Manhattan 4th Street in Manhattan and she worked in the store until we my brother and I came home from school which is about 3 o'clock and my father stayed in the store till about 8:00 8:00 8:00 8:30 and he'd walk home I don't believe he had a car at that time so he later got a car but this point he walk home and he was always tired
sunday was a sleep day for him and he could even talk to him he was so exhausted and I'm trying to remember how old he was he was early 50s at that point well let's see I was 28 38 48 no no no much earlier earlier than that much earlier and I can't remember the year but we had a very dispersed family life we hardly went anywhere because my father works and did you work in the store at all yes I in fact I love to go to that store and just put cans of things away my brother never went near the store never went
the earth he played stickball sick ball was a thing in those days had a broomstick and that you cut off and you had a rubber ball and if you could hit it you are a genius yeah what did you do for fun for fun we played games of various kinds we had races we had a my father had boxes of cheese and at that time there was a popular thing happening you cut out little squares in the box and used them as a as a box to squirt Emmys into Emmys were marbles and it was a big game and if you could get an Emmy
in a slot and they had about eight to ten slots very close together in this cheese box about yay long I said she'd say yeah it should is at least a foot long and if you could get an Emmy in through one of those slots you got three back so it was prize money and that was a big thick really big and that caught on like fire because if you had a prize it was something yeah yeah other than that I played a little stickball I was a skinny little ratty kid as a look at me today the same thing my brother was much better
built than I was he was MIDI I have no meat on me and so I did things that were not die I didn't play football much if at all all I used before in football was for running I was very fleet very fast I ran track you know all that goes with just being that skinny now how old were you when you guys moved to the Bronx how old was I I was about 11 and 12 so was that that took some culture shock I guess a little bit yeah yeah I went to public school there ps90 and that was considered a better school for
whatever reasons near the concourse yeah in the Bronx a hundred and 78th Street it's extinct now of course now did your dad keep the store though he kept the same location there was he hired a union man Elva what excuse me he hired him in the man joined the union came back said max I want to raise back said it just got here what do you mean you want to raise yes if you don't raise will strike you a strike was when they had people from the Union walking up and down with placards saying unfair to labor and it was a one-sided thing that ruined
his business and they threw a rock through the window it was all kinds of trouble call the police police didn't want to handle they didn't want to get involved the union and the union was all-powerful in those days all powerful it's not as powerful as it was yeah because there's an immediate joining where they would no matter what the case the union was always right always right and you could do no wrong so this guy went threw a brick through the windows broke the window my father said well I'm outta here went to work for a place called New York a delicatessen he was a
very good businessman I had a sharp head for you know heading quickly and and trade over-the-counter and things like that so that was no problem you got a job and that's how we existed for a time until I'm trying to think in 1945 he went for this hernia operation and he never made it and when they called it was the most incredible shock we were living in the Bronx at that time and I can't remember the name of the open house but it was a five or six storey apartment house walk-up was not elevator woke up and we had a to know where one-bedroom apartment
and that was just before my father passed away and then my mother had to get a job she worked for the state of New York for a pittance we just barely got along I was you know this was World War two time was your brother in the service my brother was in the service he was a paratrooper yes he joined up when he joined up and he left we lived on a hill and as he walked out of the front I was at the bedroom because we face the front I was at the bedroom window and we had a fire escape in those days you
know what a fire escape was you know something to get out if there was harm anyway I I was out on the fire escape beyond kill kill don't go don't go I remember like it was yesterday don't go don't go and I was crying like a baby we were very close my brother and I very close so he put in two years I think yeah about two two and a half to three years maybe came back we celebrated his homecoming was he in Europe he was in Japan Japan and that was an eye-opener for him yeah new says different society you know all that stuff
that was he actually in Japan or was he was actually in Japan Sendai was the area Sen Dai and I remember because I wrote him a couple of letters he wrote me back was he in combat at all in Japan he was in skirmishes never in a direct combat but skirmishes of picking off wild bands of Japanese who never joined anything but we're living in the forest and they go after these guys do you know what the mission was for them out there I mean this was towards the end of the war right but this is this is occupation yeah this was an occupation and
that's what they called it and he was more involved with that then he was in from 43 to 45 okay but still did not see a lot of action yeah tell me about your grandparents I hardly knew them their last name was Newmark and they were from Austria my father was from Poland I should have had at that they came here in 1919 that's the 1892 he was about 14 or 15 years old when he came in those days they came very young looking for an opportunity now did he come alone or he he came alone and he had a cousin here who had a
furniture store I don't remember the name of the store I saw it once in New York in New York lower Manhattan most everything was happening in lower Manhattan those days that's where the cut they called an area I don't remember no so he left his parents behind he left his parents behind and he had nine siblings did he ever see the old boys he saw two brothers who came over who did not stay went back but he relied on this cousin for anything family anything and how did his family do during World War two his family's wiped out and World War two about look they
were killed they were you know they're Nazis executed most of the Jews most as you as they could find a lot of Jews lived in the forest in those days and so they didn't make it no the whole family was wiped out out you ever talk about how he felt about all that you know what my earliest recollection was when two cousins came to visit and I heard them talking and I was told to leave yeah this is Terry going the other way he'll play I was a little kid and I heard them talking of course I couldn't make out what they were saying basically
and they were probably talking about family and what happened and all that but I never I could never hear a real story so you didn't really obviously my father my father got one letter I remember in the Irish and of course I could I couldn't read at that time and so he never read the letter translated into English he just kept the letter and I don't know where that letter is it disappeared so I have one letter from my father that I kept I still have it as a treasure a letter that came to him from somebody I don't even remember who was backed away
yeah so I was deal my brother never kept any memorabilia I kept whatever there was yeah I loved that stuff historically I just loved all that stuff that I could keep that could give me a sense of family or a sense of being a sense of who I might be right what a sense of worth all that because it was missing the only thing I had to rely on was my mother's family yeah which we were all very close and tell me about your mom's parents my mom's family she had five sisters five she was the youngest and Pauline could do no wrong she worked
as a when she got older about 17 or 18 she worked as a Western Union operator they called him she had a phone on her ear and she would take calls and for telegrams and such like that that was that was her job and she what she did go to high school I might say also my father did go to school in Europe in what they call gymnasium and he was more educated than I might believe yeah as he was always up on the day's events even though he worked as brain zone always up to date but you know reading the paper early in the
morning than going to sleep in the afternoon as I said with the other Sunday that was his life now your mom's parents what did they do for a living they my grandfather had a tailor shop which was very common in those days sewing you know whatever whenever he could do labor wires to make a couple of bucks money was not free and easy as it is today or even later later on money was much for you money was tight and they live from hand to mouth now do you remember your folks ever talking about the depression and what they went through you were a little
kid some part of it some part of it that it was first of all hard to find a job second of all of it tremendous layoffs this would created unions unions got together people got together to commiserate together and try to establish a job through the Union because the Union had a little power not as much as later but they had a little power and of course there was a lot of favoritism you know if you got in close with one of these guys on the board you you might get a very nice job that paid at least a living wage right that was hard
my father was not a mixer yeah he was a kind of a loner guy now and where did you go to high school I went to high school and Taft High School in the Bronx and you went to high school Yankee games over yes I did go to a few would remember my cousin Sanford barren took me to a couple of games very close cousins remember who any of the players were back then Lou Gehrig Babe Ruth I still Babe Ruth once after that I don't think I I don't think he think he was out later I saw the outfield of the Yankees which was
a famous Henrick killer and DiMaggio pretty good outfield three of the best I mean we've got chills when we talked about these guys why I had baseball cards I have tons of baseball cards how did you get basil because you've worked double gum bubble gum right and you chew on the gum look at the card back they memorized you know everything in it you still have the cards no you know oh I gave him to my grandson oh okay okay stacks yeah yeah and football cards too yeah but that those were kind of glory days when you had something of value that everyone else felt
also was a value yeah yeah you know what's noni money was scarce so something of value was something you said memorabilia something you saved I used to save marbles all kinds of colored marbles not a stack of marbles for my mother said gone crazy with marbles you know get rid of now after high school was it on to college to work or did you go on the service no no I I went in I had one tournament NYU well okay I forgot I went to Herron high school first for two years then went to to have a transfer to Taft okay because we moved to
the Bronx and then I went to NYU for about a term then I was I joined I didn't drift right I've joined the Navy I was 17 just seventeen so you joined about 40 the end of 45 beginning of 46 what he's actually feel at the end of 45 yeah but I didn't get in till later for whatever reason they didn't put me in I got in and I think February 46 so right after the war not just after the world but it was still what I'm thinking right you know you couldn't get rid of that feeling right you're still in a war even though
they signed the armistice and no chip in 46 so where did where did you eventually get stationed I got stage I got out to ship the USS Montague which was a cargo attack ship what that meant was you carried approximately 300 troops and we used to have mock warfare because you didn't stop and the war was over but we didn't stop with the mock warfare so biggest recollection is going to Cuba going Tanima Bay which was a big American base at that time and Castro was not there yet right and also Puerto Rico big operations in Puerto Rico right right you know a Navy the
whole fleet was there yeah yeah I mean we're talking about battleships yeah destroyers you know all that stuff so that fleet was in around Puerto Rico then you wouldn't be able to probably see any scenery but the ships was so incredibly a massive right you know I mean they're anchored close so close by you think there would be an accident yeah yeah but you guys were glad the war was over though where did you meet Lynn I met Lynn in the Bronx when nineteen 50 so this is after you're out of the service actually I actually know I saw her before because she lived around
the corner familiar errata Avenue I lived on that's got the street alright that's okay what were you doing now I was in school and I have a part-time job with a jewelry outfit and I met her at the candy store the candy store was like a base yeah everybody met at a candy store yeah this was Willy's candy store yeah Willy's candy store made egg creams you know in that cream of course okay a lot of people don't know Jewish people do not know what an egg cream and of course they would didn't go into New York they didn't know New York and a lot
of people are googling it right now to find out that's true in fact I'm gonna make one when I get home because I forgot I have chocolate syrup I have cancer seltzer and what else do you need so and and and uh that crepe you've had all this wonderful foam right you know and so my artist recollection of my wife was she came into the candy store and I thought she was a very attractive girl and I said what's your name and she said what's your name and it didn't have nothing happened after that that just do you happen to see each other going back
and forth then I I used to and she lived around the corner and a friend of mine lived in that same apartment house and he lived on the ground floor facing the courtyard courtyard was the entrance to the building right and he could see everything from his desk I used to sneak up under under the radar where he couldn't see me no he had a line of sight I practically crawled underneath just to go up and see her it was an elevated building and that's where we started off and you got married in nineteen fifty one fifty one and then where'd you guys settle down
we settle down and book button good old Brooklyn uh what did you do for a living I got into the stock market as I what they call a runner I used to deliver stocks and bonds and those days you know they gave you the coffee air to go here there and everywhere else and it was on Wall Street this particular house is called Tellier and company te l li ER and he was a the worst the worst capitalists you could find he was greedy it was insolent he was it was just a bad guy and everyone was afraid of it and I don't know that
I was never afraid of mumbling then because I didn't have that much contact with him but one time the only time I had contact with him was he came out of his office and I happened to be standing hisses what are you doing here why aren't you working I said I am he says B yes you know working you're standing there get to work I got a little nervous and I went somewhere anyway to go out of his sight I got a desk and then I made friends with a French guy who came from the bourse in Paris he was an absolute thief he was
but so sophisticated you would never do it and we he took me under his wing and teach me whatever you know how to sell how to get along with people customers whatever I was a neophyte and there it was very enjoyable he was a good guy but a thief and his wife was a beautiful woman and what business was us this is in the brokerage business okay stone the Broxson Banga okay we used to call stocks and bombs yeah so it's just the business you stayed and then for your career stayed in it for 10 years yeah yeah what brought you guys to Dallas what
brought us to Dallas went to California first lived there for 17 years what are you doing California I joined the uncle that's why I went out there in a window cleaning business so you left Wall Street and you want Allstate because Wall Street was like at that point was like dying right there's no business for whatever reason there was a slight crash and everyone was looking for work and I said gee I got to do something I don't know what so call Jack Jack with the uncle on her uncle Linds ogle in California said do you need anybody out there he says you want to
come on it come on up I'll make you a partner you go this way I like up that way you know what we'll do fine he was a good guy wonderful guy tonight at 92 and we got a lot of things today like brothers brothers and I did that for about 10 years you know did that about 10 years and then I opened a check cashing store only I didn't open in California I went to Dallas to open a check cashing store and was there a special reason to come to Dallas it's just I wanted out of California taxes so high people crowding in it
was how did you get the idea to do the check cashing business through my uncle jack yeah yeah Jack he didn't he wasn't in it at the time and he never really went into it but he said listen I heard of a new business and this is this distance that sounds sounds good and he had a friend who was in the business and I went to see the friend and he told me all about the business descriptions and all this I said hey maybe I'll try us I didn't want to do what I what my degree told me to do we from psychology and where
did you finally get that degree from did you go back to NYU I got yes no I got the degree from NYU yeah okay in psychology I didn't get up here you already quoted a masters or a PhD which I should have and I didn't I was tired of school already and I wanted to but I was getting a family a little boy already and two girls later on so I gotta get busy was there an invention in your lifetime that came along that you went Wow how did we get along without that the only thing that I could always say that I couldn't get
along it was my wife as far as a material thickness I had hobbies I collected stamps I started collecting silver dollars I had one gold piece these are treasures now you and Lynn have the three children you know five grandkids yeah what advice does grandpa have for the next generation be ambitious be diligent and do what you must do responsibility that keyword responsibility you did a great job today well thank you thanks for doing it thank you