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That's Show Business

by Gene
(New Jersey)

Outdoor seating at Jones Beach Theater

Outdoor seating at Jones Beach Theater

Outdoor seating at Jones Beach Theater View from the top Closeup of the stage

While going to college in the early 1950s, my summer employment was as a toll collector at Jones Beach State Park on the southern shore of Long Island, New York. It was mostly a boring job, standing in the broiling sun for eight hours, breathing noxious carbon monoxide fumes. One of the job's advantages was wearing a crisp white deck officer's uniform, designed in the park's marine motif.

In my first summer at work, 1952, there was an evening performance of a musical, "A Night In Venice" at the newly constructed outdoor theater. All the toll collectors were to support this event by handing an advertisement flyer to each patron as they paid the sixty-cent toll. Most people paid with a dollar bill, so the collector was required to give back the change -- usually a quarter, dime and nickel -- as well as the flyer. When cars were backed up by the hundreds at the tollbooths and a small child made payment with sticky hands, the flyer was clearly not a high priority.

One day early in that first summer, the collectors noticed a man standing behind the toll plaza, watching the cars passing through the booths. He was the show's producer, Mike Todd, a successful Broadway showman. He demanded that we hand out flyers to all cars.

Since he couldn't watch us every day, a bureaucratic control system was set up to ensure compliance. Each toll plaza would receive a specific number of flyers, and reorders had to match the traffic count. But the supervisors and collectors were up to the challenge -- at the end of every workday, the collectors' cars were loaded with packages of flyers. We also made sure the driver was offered a flyer, and we then asked whether each other person in the car wanted one. These mini-transactions caused such massive traffic delays that it wasn't long before the rules changed: Flyers were to be distributed only during non-rush hours.

The show was moderately successful, despite the problems of rain cancellations and the effect of the ocean winds on the sound system and scenery. Mike Todd went on to bigger productions in the movie world ("Around the World in 80 Days"); he created the movie projection process called Todd-AO; and he was the third husband of actress Elizabeth Taylor. He died in 1958 at age 50 in an accident on his private plane, which was named "The Lucky Liz."



Editor's Note: I have many memories of Jones Beach. Fortunately for me I still live on Long Island and can get to the beach as often as I want. Please read more about Jones Beach and check out this nostalgia rich Jones Beach documentary. -Bill

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Nov 15, 2007
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A Funny Story
by: LBS

What a thoroughly enjoyable story! I loved it!!!

Nov 15, 2007
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Days of Lines and Roses
by: Ginnie P.

Those were the days my friend. Rememeber when we had to buy used tires?

Nov 15, 2007
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Ah Youth
by: Don

Oh to be young and daring again.

Nov 15, 2007
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Down Memory Lane
by: George

Gene, your memory stays sharp. Your love of Long Island endures. Your writing skills remain sharp and your precision stands the test of time.

I remember! George

Nov 14, 2007
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who is this guy?
by: PB

That is a great story...ane who knew about Mike Todd and Liz??? and his early, untimely death.

Nov 14, 2007
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Wonderful Story!
by: Maria

What a wonderful vignette! Can you imagine a producer in today's entertainment world - even a Broadway show's producer - standing out monitoring toll collectors handing out flyers? Ha!

Nov 14, 2007
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Now that's interesting!
by: Bill Drago

Good one, Gene. I love the way you and the other toll collectors "solved" the flyer problem.

And I didn't know there was such a thing as traffic in the 1950's. I was too young to drive and too young to remember...

Nov 13, 2007
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That's Show Business
by: Anonymous

As a long time Long Island resident, 1950 to 1969, and a frequent visitor to Jones Beach, this piece brought back many memories of those days. I recall that Guy Lombardo, who lived in Freeport, had a very successful show at this same location for several years.

Nov 13, 2007
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Great Oaks From Little Acorns Grow....
by: Philip

Well, Gene, there you go. But for your fliers, maybe there would have been no Todd-AO, and Ms Taylor may have been short a husband. The Fickle Finger of Fate.

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