costumes he kept for the Memphis Little Theater. M.A. was a ham, a trait that came out ever so slightly but devastatingly in his bridge tournaments, when his facial expressions sometimes conveyed just the opposite of the cards he held. His bridge opponents feared his extraordinary tactical skills, but they feared his unpredictable and impulsive theatrical ability even more.
Before the comedy hour, M.A. and Celia would often have lunch at Britling’s cafeteria on Union. This was their favorite place to eat. Although M.A. had many business meals in fancy restaurants, he actually preferred simple food for himself, and he could get it at Britling’s. Baked cod without much seasoning, turnip greens, black-eyed peas. He and Celia were usually joined by their friends—Will Gerber, Milton Binswanger, Ike Myers, Hank Davis, Douglas Jemison, and their wives. Will was city attorney. Milt was president of the Memphis Natural Gas Company. Ike underwrote arts productions in Memphis and was president of the board of the Memphis Art Academy. Hank and Doug were fishing buddies. The same crowd went dancing to swing music at the Peabody Hotel and the Rainbow Terrace Room on Lamar, where pretty young women sometimes came without male partners.
Hank Davis, who owned a clothing store on Third Street and had a glass eye from World War I, was the only white person M.A. knew who was Baptist. In the Christian religions, M.A. must have observed, Baptists were at the bottom of the totem pole,mostly because most Baptists were Negroes. Methodists were next up the ladder. The Methodists were the most evangelical and sang at every opportunity, whether the occasion called for it or not. Next were the Presbyterians, then the Episcopalians. The Episcopalians were the financial and power elite. FDR was Episcopalian. Boss Crump had married into an Episcopalian family. Mayor Chandler was Episcopalian. The Boyles were Episcopalian and attended Grace St. Luke Episcopal Church. Being a Jew, M.A. couldn’t have understood the Gentile religions too deeply, but he endeavored to grasp the social distinctions to do business in Memphis.
The Sterick Building, on Third and Madison downtown, was where M.A. had many of his business meals. Here is where he would reserve a private room and talk to Mayor Overton, and later Mayor Chandler, about what was happening in the city, whom he should look out for, and whom he needed to help. During the war, M.A. held meetings of the War Activities Committee, which he chaired, in the Sterick Building, as well as meetings of the United China Relief campaign, which he also chaired, and the Jewish Welfare Fund, of which he was president. When it opened in 1930, the Sterick Building was the tallest building in the South. It was called the “Queen of Memphis.” The Gothic-style tower housed two thousand workers on twenty-nine floors, who were whisked up and down in high-speed elevators operated by uniformed female attendants. The exteriors of the lower floors were made of granite and limestone, and the massive chandelier in the lobby cost more than a new car. M.A. took visitors from Chicago and New York to lunch at the Regency Room of the Sterick Building. He would give his northern guests a tour of the building and then say, “This is Memphis, gentlemen.”
Ten miles east of Downtown, where M.A. and Celia lived, it was quiet. In fact, their house on Cherry was a mile beyond the eastern edge of the city. Much of the area was farmland andopen fields. For relaxation, M.A. liked to drive down the dusty little streets with hardly any traffic lights to slow him, past the churches, to Perkins and Poplar, where there was a little pharmacy and an ice-cream shop, and sometimes as far east as Davis White Spot, a restaurant that looked like a private farmhouse in the country, sometimes out the county road to the Lausanne school for girls on Massey. M.A. must have needed the serenity of East Memphis, far from the river and the noise of Downtown
Before the comedy hour, M.A. and Celia would often have lunch at Britling’s cafeteria on Union. This was their favorite place to eat. Although M.A. had many business meals in fancy restaurants, he actually preferred simple food for himself, and he could get it at Britling’s. Baked cod without much seasoning, turnip greens, black-eyed peas. He and Celia were usually joined by their friends—Will Gerber, Milton Binswanger, Ike Myers, Hank Davis, Douglas Jemison, and their wives. Will was city attorney. Milt was president of the Memphis Natural Gas Company. Ike underwrote arts productions in Memphis and was president of the board of the Memphis Art Academy. Hank and Doug were fishing buddies. The same crowd went dancing to swing music at the Peabody Hotel and the Rainbow Terrace Room on Lamar, where pretty young women sometimes came without male partners.
Hank Davis, who owned a clothing store on Third Street and had a glass eye from World War I, was the only white person M.A. knew who was Baptist. In the Christian religions, M.A. must have observed, Baptists were at the bottom of the totem pole,mostly because most Baptists were Negroes. Methodists were next up the ladder. The Methodists were the most evangelical and sang at every opportunity, whether the occasion called for it or not. Next were the Presbyterians, then the Episcopalians. The Episcopalians were the financial and power elite. FDR was Episcopalian. Boss Crump had married into an Episcopalian family. Mayor Chandler was Episcopalian. The Boyles were Episcopalian and attended Grace St. Luke Episcopal Church. Being a Jew, M.A. couldn’t have understood the Gentile religions too deeply, but he endeavored to grasp the social distinctions to do business in Memphis.
The Sterick Building, on Third and Madison downtown, was where M.A. had many of his business meals. Here is where he would reserve a private room and talk to Mayor Overton, and later Mayor Chandler, about what was happening in the city, whom he should look out for, and whom he needed to help. During the war, M.A. held meetings of the War Activities Committee, which he chaired, in the Sterick Building, as well as meetings of the United China Relief campaign, which he also chaired, and the Jewish Welfare Fund, of which he was president. When it opened in 1930, the Sterick Building was the tallest building in the South. It was called the “Queen of Memphis.” The Gothic-style tower housed two thousand workers on twenty-nine floors, who were whisked up and down in high-speed elevators operated by uniformed female attendants. The exteriors of the lower floors were made of granite and limestone, and the massive chandelier in the lobby cost more than a new car. M.A. took visitors from Chicago and New York to lunch at the Regency Room of the Sterick Building. He would give his northern guests a tour of the building and then say, “This is Memphis, gentlemen.”
Ten miles east of Downtown, where M.A. and Celia lived, it was quiet. In fact, their house on Cherry was a mile beyond the eastern edge of the city. Much of the area was farmland andopen fields. For relaxation, M.A. liked to drive down the dusty little streets with hardly any traffic lights to slow him, past the churches, to Perkins and Poplar, where there was a little pharmacy and an ice-cream shop, and sometimes as far east as Davis White Spot, a restaurant that looked like a private farmhouse in the country, sometimes out the county road to the Lausanne school for girls on Massey. M.A. must have needed the serenity of East Memphis, far from the river and the noise of Downtown
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