The real Horatio Alger!
Christmas 1961 at 1050 Fifth Avenue. My last Christmas up north for 10 years! Gosh, I really loved that blue robot!
May you find lots of toys under your tree!
With Gloria, Christmas 1974 in Stony Brook, Long Island.
May your tree be topped with as much joy!
Both photos by Bernard Olcott.
This past week, just before I posted “GLORIA RATES MY T & A,” a quiet threshold was reached on The Bernard Olcott Story blog. Since putting the page up late Saturday afternoon, February 14, 2015, from my ski loft at Hunter Mountain, New York – someone made the 10,000th view or click onto the site.
To the unknown clicker and to the entire readership, I say, a big THANK YOU is in order!
Above photo by Bernard Olcott
As explained in my post SURPRISE!!!, gosh was I ever! A new step-mom. I didn’t really get too anxious about meeting my new step-mom because I didn’t have time – it was to be in 3 days! Her clothes were in the closet. She had already traveled with Dad to Brazil and Japan. Silk wedding gowns adorned the walls.
So Gloria joined our small Olcott nuclear family. This meant that whenever we went out for a road trip, which was often – and something I continue to do to this day between Québec and North Carolina – I had the pleasure of her company in the car. Gloria was an excellent conversationalist. And we tested each other right away.
Today, we’ll set the way-back machine to 1965 when I was 7 years old. My Dad had recently moved into the brand new Pan Am building (today the MetLife Building), his first year sharing space with the Taylor, Scholl, Ferencz, & Simon Law Firm in Suite 3219. He would move to his own suite the following year.
I have written previously how I marveled at the modernity of the Pan Am building – to me, it was a vision of the future, please see my post DAD’S REAL WIFE.
Feast your peepers on the opening picture above. Today’s story is about helicopters.
One of the most notable aspects of this building was the roof, which was completely flat except for a small enclosure housing the staircase down to the access gate and lounge. As Pan Am was the owner, they had an innovative use for that real estate – a working heliport to ferry first-class passengers from midtown to JFK Airport! Is that completely cool or what? More lubricating than the switch downstairs from the Lexington IRT Express to the Local, right?
The Bernard Olcott Story 