ATLANTIC CITY
Herman Shooster - Mother loved my father so much; words really can’t describe it. We all did. She tried to do anything to protect his health and to relieve him of the stresses of making a living. After all, they had no one, no one at all to fall back on. Mother could not even take a vacation with him. Instead, she tended the business while he got a break. Every year she made sure he spent some time at the beach alone. Dora Shooster - So, we got along. We had a car at that time. Something I always want- ed to do was take care of Frank. I thought by doing so maybe he is going to live longer. So, I made up my mind with the boys. They will have to put the shoulder to the wheel, and we will have to see that Pop has to go away every summer at least for a month. Remember? I usta say, he needs to go away at least for a month, and it’s up to you boys to put yourself to him. Whatever you don’t know right now, learn. Take all the knowledge you can about the tires, when we are to buy them, and if you need anything. You have to send Pop away for a month.
Then I started to work on Frank. ‘Frank, you have to go away for a month. You can’t just work all the time like you do. You’re not too well.’ Frank says, ‘I’m alright. What do you want from me?’ He went away to Atlantic City for a month, for ten years. He paid a hundred and a quar- ter a week at The Breakers. It was a lot, a lot, of money for us. But every night we called up. No matter what reason we would have any trouble, we would never tell him. Everything is fine Frank, everything is wonderful. Herman Shooster - My dad actually stayed at a boarding house nearby The Breakers since it was too expensive to stay there. On the other hand, when Harry came to visit he stayed at The Breakers . One of Frank’s friends said to him, ‘Why does your son stay at The Breakers and you stay at the boarding house?’ Frank said, ‘I don’t have a rich father!’
The Breakers Hotel, Atlantic City, N.J., circa 1940
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