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Perms to be Filled out for Each Interview FOLKLORE
NEW YORK
FORM A
Circumstances of Interview
STATE Now York
NAME OF WORKER Saul Levitt
ADDRESS 557 W 144 Street
DATE
SUBJECT
May 16, 1939
Maritime Folklore
1. Date and time of interview
May 11, 1939
2. Place of interview
National Maritime Umiem.
3. Name and address of informant
Lee Tyler
4. Name and address of person, if any, who put you in
touch with informant.
5. Name and address of person, if any, accompanying you
6. Description of room, house, surroundings, etc.
Union Hiring Hall
(Use as many additional sheets as necessary, for any of the forma,
each bearing the proper headint, and the number to which the material
refers.)
FORM C
Text of Interview (Unedited)
STATE New Ierk
NAEE OF WORKER Saul Levitt
ADDRESS 567 West 144 Street
DATE May 16, 1939
SUBJECT Maritide Folklore
FOLKLORE
NEW YORK
IT WAS DISAPPOINTING ALL AROUND
Hey Heavy, hey Whitey Come over here fellers. Howja like the dance?
Personally I was disapointed, yessir, I was disapointed. Tremenus hall like
that but the labor movement a Noo Yawk threw us over, ails, them/date collars
and everybody wasn't interested. Jeez, I'm a union man but I'm through
with the labor movement a Noo Yawk. Ain't a seamen's affair good enough for 'em?
Why, men, there was only four hunnerd down there an it coulda hold two thousand
easy. I got my wife a gown downa the ground. With her hair fixed up, y'know?
There was poor ol stummelbum probily from the doghouse standin outside so I
threw him an extra ticket. Man, we were set. When we go in an fine out
the labor movement a this City has abannon the occasionl Abannon, that's
all. Ain't that right, Heavy? Jeez, my wife had a rose inna hair. An
there was only four hunnerd people an beside that them two bands couldn't
play the right music. Did ya see them officials go for my wife, Heavy?
Was that right? About a half a dozen a them fellers onna fifth floor sittin
aroun her. Jeer, I hadda hol them off. Somethin's the matter with them,
for chrissake. Friendly? That's what you say, Whitey. With what they
got, yeah, friendly. There was single girls gain around that coulda been
had. I don know taavy but it seemed to me I eoulda picked any gal. But
makin a guy's wifel Y' get my point, Whitey? It jus proves the faok that
they don know how to do it hello, Joe, didja see me there with my wife,
hah? It jus proves the fack, my wife went down to powder her nose an I
made a girl that was sittin next to me. I give her my beer and she gimme
her whiskey. By the time my wife come back I had a date with that girl for
Friday. Fl minutes, that's all, may be it's my busted nose that attracks am
to me. What a friggin time all around. Hey, Joe, didja see Santo around,
I'm gonna kill am, I'll murder, that big Wopo. He come ova to me an he
says, Hello punehrunk, who's the beautiful broad ya got there? Why, you,
I says to him, callin me punchdrunk, doncha know that's my wife standin
there? Oh, pardon me, he says. Hello, Weasel, were you there? They
didn't play the right kinna music, ain't that right, Weasel? Jeez, did Ya see
my wife we were all set to dance to the beautiful musie but they didn't play
the right kinna music for semen. With a rose in her hair. Some dancer she's
Russian and them Russians are some friggin dancers there's no Americans that
can dance like them Russians. I wen over to one of them officials an I said
to him, man, you oughta hol a dance contes now. Jeez, my wife and I coulda
carried it off but nobody was interested. Every one of em was gassed, for
chrissake. And those bands, man, didja hea,,p that music? Two bands I went
from one to the other they couldn't play nothin but this floogie-beegie
music. Seamen a_ e% re nachally conserbative style dancers, ain't that right,
Weasel? If they can't play a Biennese waltz throw am Irma river. We ain't
no flatfloot floozies or jitterbugs or any a that stuff. Jeez, I went from
one to the other an asked them to play one of them Biennese waltzes. We
go for the more intelligent type, the more beautiful type of music. You're
swingin around, it's like you're floatin through the air, manl Why, for
chrissake, you gotta be more of a perfessional dancer to dance to them
-3-
Biemese waltzes. Hello, writer, why wasn you there? Ah, you stink like
all a them white collars why ma= you there. I was
waltz. It's the mos graceful, it ain't no faster than
but it's faster ylknaw what I mean? Ain't that right?
talkin about the
the Ameriean waltz
That's real music,
that's beautiful music that Biennese waltz. Just listenin to it too I mean.
'Why, man, that music gees back to the peasants an the rich people &dotted
them.
name.
Here's
The present waltzes goes back to the poor people. What the hells his n
Shtrauss, that's rightl He wrote many a them beautiful waltzes.
somethin else that you don know, for chrissake them old Violins
Stradibarious that's right. yt think that comes from Italy/ It goes back
MOMS
to India. Yessir, man, Pai positive sure it goes back to India. All them
instruments goes back to India. D' yiknow where polo comes from? India,
man' Hello, Snell Didja see me there, didja see my wife? It's them labor
unions that didn support us. Ain't we good enough fa them? They didn play
any Bieenese waltzes, Slim, they shoulda thrown them bands out. It was
disappointin all around.