TESTIMONY OF HYMAN RUBENSTEIN

The testimony of Hyman Rubenstein was taken at 9:20 a.m., on June 5, 1964, at 200 Maryland Avenue NE., Washington, D.C., by Mr. Burt Griffin, assistant counsel of the President’s Commission.

Mr. Griffin. My name is Burt Griffin, and I am a member of the staff of the General Counsel’s Office of the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy.

I have been authorized under the rules of procedure of the Commission to take your deposition here today, Mr. Rubenstein.

I might tell you a little bit about the Commission before we go into the testimony.

The Commission was established under an Executive order of President Johnson and under a joint resolution of Congress on November 29, 1963, to investigate and evaluate the facts and report back to President Johnson on the assassination of President Kennedy and the facts surrounding the murder of Lee Oswald.

In asking you to come here today, we are particularly concerned with the information you may be able to bring to bear upon the murder of Lee Oswald.

Now, under the authorization setting up this Commission by the President and by Congress, the Commission is authorized to promulgate certain rules of procedure, and pursuant to those rules of procedure, the Commission has authority to issue subpenas and to require witnesses to attend here.

In pursuance of those rules we have sent you a letter. I want to ask you now if you did receive the letter. You are pointing to your inside coat pocket.

Can you tell us when you received the letter from the Commission?

Mr. Rubenstein. I, that I, can’t tell you because I was gone out of town all last week, and I came in Monday night, and I didn’t open my mail until Tuesday morning.

Mr. Griffin. But you did see the letter on Tuesday.

Mr. Rubenstein. Definitely. It was too late for me to get here.

Mr. Griffin. The reason I ask is that you are privileged to have 3 days’ notice before you come here and I wanted to make sure we had given you the 3-day notice.

Mr. Rubenstein. It probably was there.

Mr. Griffin. Now, you are also entitled under the rules of the Commission to have an attorney with you if you desire, and I see you don’t have one here so I take it it is not your desire to have one.

Incidentally, in the letter that we sent you did you get a copy of some rules of procedure?

Mr. Rubenstein. I wasn’t worried about it because I felt I have nothing to hide to tell you.

Mr. Griffin. All right. Do you have any questions that you want to ask about the general nature of what the proceeding will be before I administer the oath?

Mr. Rubenstein. No; but I think it is going to be very interesting.

Mr. Griffin. Let me ask you to raise your right hand if you will. Do you solemnly swear the testimony you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

Mr. Rubenstein. I do.

Mr. Griffin. If you would, give the court reporter your name.

Mr. Rubenstein. Hyman Rubenstein.

Mr. Griffin. Where do you live, Mr. Rubenstein.

Mr. Rubenstein. 1044 Loyola Avenue.

Mr. Griffin. Is that in Chicago?

Mr. Rubenstein. Chicago, 26.

Mr. Griffin. How long have you lived there?

Mr. Rubenstein. 6 years.

Mr. Griffin. Can you tell us when you were born?

Mr. Rubenstein. December 28, 1901.

Mr. Griffin. Where were you born?

Mr. Rubenstein. Warsaw, Poland.

Mr. Griffin. When did you come to this country?

Mr. Rubenstein. When I was 2½ years old.

Mr. Griffin. That would have been in 1903?

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t—all right, put it down, I don’t know.

Mr. Griffin. The only recollection, I take it, you have——

Mr. Rubenstein. From my folks when they told us when they came here.

Mr. Griffin. What is your occupation at the present time?

Mr. Rubenstein. I am a salesman.

Mr. Griffin. Who do you work for?

Mr. Rubenstein. I work for Davidson and Uphoff.

Mr. Griffin. Where is that?

Mr. Rubenstein. 448 Mark Avenue, Clarendon Hills, Ill.

Mr. Griffin. What do you sell?

Mr. Rubenstein. Florist supplies.

Mr. Griffin. What do those consist of?

Mr. Rubenstein. Bird cages, stands, different things that the florists sell in their shops and greenhouses.

Mr. Griffin. Are you obliged to travel in the course of your employment?

Mr. Rubenstein. Almost constantly.

Mr. Griffin. Can you give us a general idea of the area that you travel in?

Mr. Rubenstein. Sure. Now, I cover Michigan. I have covered Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Kentucky, and Tennessee. With different firms but related to the same field.

Mr. Griffin. How long have you been covering Michigan?

Mr. Rubenstein. 11, 12 years.

Mr. Griffin. You said now you cover Michigan. I take it at the present time——

Mr. Rubenstein. This is a new firm I am with.

Mr. Griffin. At the present time you don’t cover any State other than Michigan?

Mr. Rubenstein. No; except this. In 1963 the firm I was with in New York, the Lewis Ribbon Co., merged with the International Artware Co. of Cleveland, so I had to go in business for myself. So, I still cover the same territory for myself as I did with Lewis Ribbon Co. in 1963. So I had a lot of money outstanding so I am trying to pick that up little by little as I am traveling through Illinois and eventually will travel through Wisconsin to pick up money I have coming from merchandise I have sold.

Mr. Griffin. When did you leave the Lewis Ribbon Co.?

Mr. Rubenstein. 1963; January 1st.

Mr. Griffin. You say you went into business for yourself?

Mr. Rubenstein. Right.

Mr. Griffin. What business did you go into then?

Mr. Rubenstein. Same business, ribbons.

Mr. Griffin. Were these sold to floral customers?

Mr. Rubenstein. Right. The same customers I had before.

Mr. Griffin. When did you begin to work for the Davidson-Uphoff Co.?

Mr. Rubenstein. Last month.

Mr. Griffin. I see. So between approximately last January and last month or January 1963 and last month, you were employed for yourself, is that correct?

Mr. Rubenstein. Practically.

Mr. Griffin. Practically?

Mr. Rubenstein. I mean because I haven’t done much work since the incidents down in Dallas.

Mr. Griffin. I see. When you were employed for yourself did you travel in any States other than Michigan?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes; Illinois and Wisconsin.

Mr. Griffin. How much of your time was spent in each of those States?

Mr. Rubenstein. For one trip complete? In other words, if I had to make a State complete time, how much time would I spend in that State?

Mr. Griffin. In a typical 3-month period, for example.

Mr. Rubenstein. I could cover a State in 3 months.

Mr. Griffin. Do you recall where you were traveling in the fall of 1963, what State?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes; I had just come back from Michigan.

Mr. Griffin. Do you remember when you began traveling in Michigan?

Mr. Rubenstein. No; but I could have told you that if I had my records here.

Mr. Griffin. I wanted to get a little background on yourself before we go into some general questions. You say you came to this country when you were about 2½?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes.

Mr. Griffin. Did you come to Chicago?

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t know. I don’t think we did. I think, of course, I think we stopped off in New York, and then I think we came to Chicago. My father was here first.

Mr. Griffin. How long was your father here?

Mr. Rubenstein. He—about a year.

Mr. Griffin. And you say you are not sure where you came to. Did you have a permanent home any place before you moved to Chicago?

Mr. Rubenstein. No.

Mr. Griffin. So your first permanent home in this country was in Chicago and I take it that would have been shortly after you arrived in the country?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes.

Mr. Griffin. Have you lived in Chicago all your life?

Mr. Rubenstein. Except when I was in the service or where else, except when I travel but outside of—my voting is right here in Chicago, my voting residence.

Mr. Griffin. When were you in military service?

Mr. Rubenstein. From October 1942, until April 1943.

Mr. Griffin. Where did you serve?

Mr. Rubenstein. Fort Lewis, Wash.

Mr. Griffin. Was that in the army?

Mr. Rubenstein. In the army.

Mr. Griffin. Is Fort Lewis near Seattle?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes.

Mr. Griffin. Do you recall a man when you were in the service by the name of Sloan, a man from Chicago by the name of Sloan?

Mr. Rubenstein. What business was he in or what was he doing?

Mr. Griffin. He would have been in the service out in Seattle, in the Washington area.

Mr. Rubenstein. The name doesn’t ring.

Mr. Griffin. Do you recall if your brothers visited you at any time while you were in the service?

Mr. Rubenstein. In the service?

Mr. Griffin. Yes.

Mr. Rubenstein. We were scattered all over the earth.

Mr. Griffin. Was this in the army, your military service?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes.

Mr. Griffin. And what did you do, what rank did you attain?

Mr. Rubenstein. I was a private. I was at 210 Field Artillery, 33d Division.

Mr. Griffin. You spent all of your time at Fort Lewis?

Mr. Rubenstein. Well, we were 1 day at Rockford, you know, they throw a uniform at you and then they put you on the train and you are on the train for 3 days, and then you wind up at Fort Lewis.

Mr. Griffin. You left the service——

Mr. Rubenstein. No; we were in Yakima for cannon training.

Mr. Griffin. You left the service in 1943?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes.

Mr. Griffin. What was the reason for your leaving?

Mr. Rubenstein. Overage. They told me they had no more use for me. They apologized, I had a good record. I got an excellent discharge, they were sorry but they wanted a younger man in my place.

Mr. Griffin. What did you do after you left the service?

Mr. Rubenstein. I stayed in Seattle.

Mr. Griffin. How long did you stay there?

Mr. Rubenstein. About 10 weeks.

Mr. Griffin. Then what did you do?

Mr. Rubenstein. I signed up with the U.S. Army Engineers to go to Alaska, to go to work as a carpenter. I felt I wanted to do something. They were going to build barracks out there. I waited and waited and waited and I got tired of waiting, so I asked the company that hired me to release me, because they did not know when I would be put on a boat to go across. The Army would have allowed only two men, civilians, with the regular soldiers to go across Alaska at a time.

Well, I probably would have been there for 4 years waiting yet so I decided to ask for a release, and they gave me a release and I went back to Chicago.

Mr. Griffin. So the 10 weeks you spent waiting?

Mr. Rubenstein. I worked; I worked part time for the Seaboard Lumber Co.

Mr. Griffin. But the reason you were there was because you were waiting to go to Alaska?

Mr. Rubenstein. Definitely. In fact, I had my tools sent to me, my father’s tools.

Mr. Griffin. Had you worked as a carpenter before?

Mr. Rubenstein. Never.

Mr. Griffin. And on your return to Chicago what did you do?

Mr. Rubenstein. I took odd jobs, whatever I could get to make a buck, you know, salesman on the road. I am trying to think what I sold, novelties, premiums, different things that you could get. A lot of items you couldn’t get, there was a scarcity, so you sold what you could obtain from different companies or different friends who were in business.

Mr. Griffin. Did you work for any particular company?

Mr. Rubenstein. I am trying to think. I can’t think of any particular company I worked for. I probably bought stuff myself and sold it on the road.

Mr. Griffin. I have in front of me your social security, a summary of your social security record. Do you remember working for the Arlington Park Jockey Club?

Mr. Rubenstein. Oh, yes.

Mr. Griffin. When was that?

Mr. Rubenstein. Ben Lindheimer—how did that work out, I am trying to think. I worked there just before I got in the service, and then I was drafted, that was the last job I believe I had at the Arlington Park Jockey Club.

Mr. Griffin. Your social security record indicates that you worked for the Arlington Park Jockey Club in 1943.

Mr. Rubenstein. Then I probably went back there.

Mr. Griffin. In fact all of 1943, and in 1942 with the exception of the fourth quarter of 1942.

Mr. Rubenstein. I was in the army for 6 months, how could that possibly be?

Mr. Griffin. I see. When did you go in the army in 1942?

Mr. Rubenstein. October.

Mr. Griffin. October. And when were you separated from the service in 1943?

Mr. Rubenstein. About April.

Mr. Griffin. Well, that would be understandable.

Mr. Rubenstein. Is it October? Because I know I was in the service for 6 months. That I am positive of.

Mr. Griffin. Now do you recall when you left the service coming back to work for the Arlington Park Jockey Club?

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t recall but I probably did.

Mr. Griffin. What did you do for them?

Mr. Rubenstein. You are a ticket puncher like he is doing now. You come over and ask for number two I gave you number two. You ask for number five, I gave you number five.

Mr. Griffin. You worked in the mutuel window?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes, mutuel window.

Mr. Griffin. Your record here indicates that you didn’t have any employment covered by social security from 1944 to early 1949.

Mr. Rubenstein. Then——

Mr. Griffin. What were you doing during that period after you left the Washington Park Jockey Club, and actually the last place you worked at the National Jockey Club.

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t know about the names of the jockey club but I worked at the racetrack for a while as a mutuel ticket seller.

As I said before, and I am repeating again, that I bought what I could and sold on the road for myself, and I made a living that way.

Mr. Griffin. I see.

It is my understanding you were selling novelties?

Mr. Rubenstein. Novelties, premiums, punchboards, that is about it. That covers a lot of territory.

Mr. Griffin. What part of the country did you travel in when you were doing that?

Mr. Rubenstein. I covered the Middle West.

Mr. Griffin. Did you cover any of the South?

Mr. Rubenstein. No. I never cared much for the South.

Mr. Griffin. Do you recall in the latter part of 1949 working in Ripley, Ohio?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes.

Mr. Griffin. What did you do there?

Mr. Rubenstein. I was a bartender for a friend of mine, Bob Knoff. He owned a tavern, the Riviera Cafe at Front and Main Streets, and Bob said to me, I came down to visit him and he said “What are you doing?” And I said, “Bumming around, making a few bucks selling items.” He said, “I need a bartender. Help me out for a while.” I said, “OK.” So I stayed with him, I don’t know, for about a year, about a year or so, about a year, I think.

Mr. Griffin. 6 months.

Mr. Rubenstein. All right, 6 months. I don’t remember. 1949. Then I went back to Chicago. I fixed a few things for him.

Mr. Griffin. What did you do after you worked for Mr. Knoff?

Mr. Rubenstein. What year was that, 1949?

Mr. Griffin. 1949, 1950.

Mr. Rubenstein. I went back to my own business again, I think.

Mr. Griffin. Let me just ask you if you remember working for some of these companies and then I will ask you some general questions.

Do you remember working for the Fisher Pen Co.?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes.

Mr. Griffin. Was that a——

Mr. Rubenstein. Paul Fisher is a very dear friend of mine, salesman.

Mr. Griffin. Chicago Cardboard Co.?

Mr. Rubenstein. That is the punchboard outfit I told you about, Chicago Cardboard was a punchboard outfit and Paul Fisher, I covered Chicago territory for him.

Mr. Griffin. When you worked for the punchboard company where did you travel?

Mr. Rubenstein. Wisconsin.

Mr. Griffin. How about the Parliament Sales Corp., do you remember working for them?

Mr. Rubenstein. I sold television sets for them only in Chicago.

Mr. Griffin. How about the Enterprise Contract Consultants, do you remember working for them?

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t even know who they are.

Mr. Griffin. They were located on Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago.

Mr. Rubenstein. That is the same thing, must be.

Mr. Griffin. Same thing?

Mr. Rubenstein. I think it was the same outfit.

Mr. Griffin. Just changed the name?

Mr. Rubenstein. Could be. You never can tell about those outfits. Oh, they had to change their name, I believe, because they were using the word “Paramount.”

Mr. Griffin. Parliament.

Mr. Rubenstein. And they changed it to Parliament to make it sound like Paramount because Paramount wouldn’t let them use their name.

What is this Enterprise deal?

Mr. Griffin. I don’t know, that is why I am asking you.

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t recall, either. How long did I work there?

Mr. Griffin. About 6 months.

Mr. Rubenstein. What did they make?

Mr. Griffin. That is what I am asking.

Mr. Rubenstein. Were they located on Milwaukee Avenue?

Mr. Griffin. Yes.

Mr. Rubenstein. Then it must be the same outfit.

Mr. Griffin. Who were the people who ran it?

Mr. Rubenstein. One fellow was a nice guy and I still see him occasionally in Chicago, Oscar Fishbein, he is president of the firm, I believe, and I still believe he is still in business.

Mr. Griffin. How about the G.T. & I.T. Drake Co.?

Mr. Rubenstein. That was in 1950.

Mr. Griffin. 1952.

Mr. Rubenstein. 1952. I bought a suburban carryall from a friend of mine by the name of Harry King.

Mr. Griffin. Carryall or carryout?

Mr. Rubenstein. Carryall. It is called a suburban carryall. It is a car that is designed to carry all, with glass all around it, and it looked like a small truck where the doors opened up in back like this so you could load and unload easily. I saw an ad in the paper, this Drake outfit, the restaurant outfit, $100 a week, and $100 a week in 1952, gentlemen, is a lot of money.

So, here is how it worked. I delivered, unloaded, and loaded food items for, they paid me $60 a week and $40 for the car expense that was $100 a week. It was a hard job but I took it because it paid well. That was it.

Mr. Griffin. Do you remember working for Miracle Enterprises?

Mr. Rubenstein. Miracle?

Mr. Griffin. Do you remember them?

Mr. Rubenstein. Never heard of them.

Mr. Griffin. Would it have been another name for Parliament Sales?

Mr. Rubenstein. It could have been. What address?

Mr. Griffin. What did you do after you worked for the Drake Co., who did you work for?

Mr. Rubenstein. I went to work for the Lewis Ribbon Co.

Mr. Griffin. Do you remember going back to work for a few months for Fishbein?

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t remember.

Mr. Griffin. Then I take it, you worked for the Lewis Ribbon Co., just simply tell me if this is correct, from early 1953 until you left them.

Mr. Rubenstein. Ten years.

Mr. Griffin. In January of 1964.

Mr. Rubenstein. Ten years.

Mr. Griffin. How did you happen to leave them?

Mr. Rubenstein. They merged with the International Artware of Cleveland and they sold out. My territory was already absorbed by International’s men. In fact, they had three men in my three states and they had no room for me and felt rather bad about it because I am a rather conscientious worker, I like people, I don’t have trouble selling them legitimate merchandise and I liked the work and I was doing pretty good and they felt very bad. They promised me as soon as there was an opening they would let me know. So that is the story.

Mr. Griffin. I am going to go back a few years more now. Was your childhood spent in Chicago?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes.

Mr. Griffin. And I take it you went to school in Chicago?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes.

Mr. Griffin. How far did you go in school?

Mr. Rubenstein. I had a couple of years of college.

Mr. Griffin. Of college. Where did you go to college?

Mr. Rubenstein. The YMCA Junior College.

Mr. Griffin. In Chicago?

Mr. Rubenstein. In Chicago, and the Lewis Institute.

Mr. Griffin. What kind of courses did you take?

Mr. Rubenstein. General courses. I was studying prelaw. I wanted to become a lawyer.

Mr. Griffin. When did you attend these institutions?

Mr. Rubenstein. I would say around 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936.

Mr. Griffin. So you were working at the same time?

Mr. Rubenstein. Working at the same time.

Mr. Griffin. Now, going back to your earlier childhood, how many years of continuous formal education did you have until you left school the first time?

Mr. Rubenstein. Well, I graduated high school.

Mr. Griffin. So you graduated from high school, and then what did you do after you graduated from high school?

Mr. Rubenstein. I took whatever job I could to sustain myself and help out the family once in a while when I could.

Mr. Griffin. What year would it have been that you graduated from high school?

Mr. Rubenstein. I graduated in February 1922 from Hyde Park High.

Mr. Griffin. Where was your family living at that time?

Mr. Rubenstein. They were separated. The folks were living, my mother was living, with the children, I think on the west side, and I was living on the south side.

Mr. Griffin. Were you living with any other members of your family?

Mr. Rubenstein. No.

Mr. Griffin. How long had you been separated from the family?

Mr. Rubenstein. I left home when I was, right after I graduated grammar school, when I was about 15. That was in 1916, around 1916 or 1917.

Mr. Griffin. Where did you go to live?

Mr. Rubenstein. I went to the Deborah Boys Club.

Mr. Griffin. How long did you live there?

Mr. Rubenstein. About 3 years.

Mr. Griffin. What kind of place was that?

Mr. Rubenstein. It was a club for boys who had no home, but they had to work or go to school. I did both. I worked after school.

Mr. Griffin. You lived there for about 3 years?

Mr. Rubenstein. I would say about 3 years.

Mr. Griffin. Until you were about 18, I take it?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes.

Mr. Griffin. 15 to 18. But you say you finished high school in 1922. What did you do after you left the Deborah Boys Club?

Mr. Rubenstein. I got, I believe I got a room with another fellow at 4907 Vincennes Avenue, and worked after school, and I continued going to school and worked, whatever I could do after school. Some jobs were easy and some jobs were tough.

Mr. Griffin. How long did you live with this other fellow?

Mr. Rubenstein. Until I graduated.

Mr. Griffin. Until about 1922?

Mr. Rubenstein. I would say that.

Mr. Griffin. During this period from 1916 until 1922, when you returned to the family home, what contact did you have with your family?

Mr. Rubenstein. I used to see them, used to go over there, bring them different things, try to talk to the kids, and see that they tried to get along and have what they needed.

Mr. Griffin. How did you happen to go to live at the Deborah Boys Club?

Mr. Rubenstein. I had a fight at home and my father wanted me to go to work and I wanted to go to school because I knew I had to have some education. But with eight children I could see his point but yet I wanted to look out for myself, and I probably was advised by some of my friends that I should leave home, and I did, and through some agency, I don’t remember how, they suggested it would be best for me if I left home and they found this place for me, and so I was admitted.

Mr. Griffin. Do you remember if any juvenile court proceedings were instituted?

Mr. Rubenstein. It could have been. It is possible. It is possible there were some juvenile court proceedings, it is a long time ago.

Mr. Griffin. Who instituted those proceedings?

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t remember. Probably the family service on the west side in Chicago through my mother’s complaints to this association about my father.

Mr. Griffin. Were you having some difficulty with your father at that time?

Mr. Rubenstein. Oh, yes.

Mr. Griffin. Can you tell us about it?

Mr. Rubenstein. I just wanted to go to school, and he thought I should go to work.

Mr. Griffin. Well, do you recall an incorrigibility proceeding being instituted against you?

Mr. Rubenstein. Me?

Mr. Griffin. Yes.

Mr. Rubenstein. Incorrigibility?

Mr. Griffin. Yes.

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t remember any such case.

Mr. Griffin. Would it have been about May of 1916 that you went to live at the Deborah Boys Club?

Mr. Rubenstein. No, no; it was after I graduated grammar school, and I graduated in 1917.

Mr. Griffin. I see. So you would have been 16 or 17 when you went to live at the Deborah Boys Club?

Mr. Rubenstein. No; it was right after I graduated from grammar school.

Mr. Griffin. Well, you say 1917.

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes; I was only 15½ when I graduated.

Mr. Griffin. You were born in 1901?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes; close to 1902, though, you see.

Mr. Griffin. You don’t recall any juvenile court proceedings against you in the early part of 1916, in May of 1916.

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t.

Mr. Griffin. Do you recall being under the supervision of a probation officer?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes.

Mr. Griffin. All right, tell us about that.

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t remember it.

Mr. Griffin. Do you remember anything about the supervision, what did you have to do?

Mr. Rubenstein. Nothing.

Mr. Griffin. You didn’t have to report?

Mr. Rubenstein. Well, maybe I had to report but I don’t remember what the incident was. I don’t remember who the supervisor was or what I had to do to report.

Mr. Griffin. You don’t remember how the proceeding was instituted, who instituted, the proceeding against you?

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t remember. It is almost 50 years ago.

Mr. Griffin. Now, did you return to the family in 1922?

Mr. Rubenstein. I think I did. I wanted to stay with the family to see what I could do to keep them together.

Mr. Griffin. During the period that you were away from the family were other members of the family also separated?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes; I think Earl and Sammy went to live on a farm. Jack went to live on the north side, northwest side. I don’t know about the girls. I don’t remember about the girls.

Mr. Griffin. Do you recall who Jack went to live with?

Mr. Rubenstein. No; but it was a very nice family on the northwest side. That is where he met a lot of his northwest-side friends.

Mr. Griffin. Can you be more precise about the northwest side?

Mr. Rubenstein. No; I couldn’t because I don’t know.

Mr. Griffin. Your mother was maintaining a home while you were at the boys club. Where was her home at the time?

Mr. Rubenstein. We moved to so many places, I wouldn’t know exactly, on the west side.

Mr. Griffin. On the west side?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes; but I don’t remember the addresses.

Mr. Griffin. Would it be northwest?

Mr. Rubenstein. No; straight west, around Roosevelt Road, that would be the best specific spot that I can give you.

Mr. Griffin. Did you, during your childhood while the family was together, did you always live around Roosevelt Road?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes.

Mr. Griffin. Did you always live in the same ward? Do you remember in terms of wards where you lived?

Mr. Rubenstein. No; it could be divided between the 24th ward and the 29th ward.

Mr. Griffin. I see.

Mr. Rubenstein. And one ward crossed the other, the boundary lines.

Mr. Griffin. All right. When you did return home about 1922 was your father living in the home at that time?

Mr. Rubenstein. No.

Mr. Griffin. When did your father finally come back to the home?

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t remember when he came back. I think he came back after my mother died.

Mr. Griffin. When you returned to the home, did all the rest of the children return at that time?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes.

Mr. Griffin. So the family was brought back together somehow?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes.

Mr. Griffin. How did that come about?

Mr. Rubenstein. I couldn’t tell you.

Mr. Griffin. Who was supporting the family by 1922?

Mr. Rubenstein. My father, I think, was giving $10 a week, and the girls were working, I was working, and we tried to keep the rest of the kids in school.

Mr. Griffin. Can you tell us—first of all, let me ask you, after 1922, prior to the time you went into the service, were there any periods when you weren’t living in the family home?

Mr. Rubenstein. When I wasn’t living in the family home?

Mr. Griffin. Yes.

Mr. Rubenstein. After 1922?

Mr. Griffin. Yes.

Mr. Rubenstein. No; I think I stayed home. I thought it my duty, I believe, to stay home. I think it was that way. I think I felt an obligation to take care, help take care of the family because my father wasn’t living with us.

Mr. Griffin. Did Jack, do you recall when Jack left school?

Mr. Rubenstein. He went to high school, I think, for 1 year, I believe he went 1 year.

Mr. Griffin. How did he come to leave school?

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t know. We often wonder ourselves because Jack is no dummy. He has got a good head on him. I don’t think he liked school, let’s put it that way. That would be honest. He just did not like school, that is all there was to it.

Mr. Griffin. Are there any incidents that you can recall which would indicate that?

Mr. Rubenstein. He wouldn’t do his homework, that is a good enough incident.

Mr. Griffin. How about his companions during that period?

Mr. Rubenstein. He had nice friends. He always had, because Jack was a little bit choosy about his friends, I mean it. He always had nice friends, fellows who either they were doctors’ sons or boys in the neighborhood that respected Jack, and Jack was more progressive than the rest of us, was a hustler.

Anything that he could go out and sell and make a dollar, legitimately, even if he had to go on the road, and sell items, he was always trying to work, always tried to—he wouldn’t have a steady job, but he was always on the go thinking of ideas of how to make a dollar and helping the family.

Mr. Griffin. Do you remember when he left school what he first started to do?

Mr. Rubenstein. That is a good question. I imagine—let me think what he did do. I think he scalped a few tickets during the fights. All the kids used to do that to try to make an extra buck. That is the only revelation that I have in my mind, but as far as a steady job was concerned, no. Jack never cared for no steady jobs.

Mr. Griffin. How did this particular ticket scalping work, where would he get the tickets?

Mr. Rubenstein. Let’s say he borrowed $20 from some friend who had $20. Two days before the fight he would buy $20 worth of tickets, and then if the fight was a sellout, he would sell the tickets for maybe 50 cents or a dollar more than what he paid for the ticket and people would be glad to pay him for it on the outside. So, he would make himself $5 or $6, and $5 or $6 during those years would go a long way.

Mr. Griffin. Would he buy these tickets at the box office or would there be somebody else who would go in and buy up a big block of them?

Mr. Rubenstein. No; he would go to the box office himself.

Mr. Griffin. Let’s get back to your own activities a bit. Can you tell us generally what you did from the time you got out of high school in 1922 until you went into the service in 1942?

Mr. Rubenstein. I drove a cab for a while, I worked in a drugstore for a while, worked for Albert Pick and Company, they were a big hotel supply house on 35th Street.

Mr. Griffin. What did you do for them?

Mr. Rubenstein. I was an assistant buyer, I want you to know, and I liked it, it was interesting. I was in politics for a good many years.

Mr. Griffin. Can you tell us about that?

Mr. Rubenstein. Sure. It was during my Deborah Boys Club days, I met a man by the name of Morris Feiwell, who took a liking to me, and he encouraged me to finish school, like a sponsor, you know, and when I graduated he says, “You come on downtown and talk to me. What do you want to be?” I says, “I don’t know.” He says, “Do you like to study continuously?” And frankly, I didn’t. He said, “Well, don’t study law. I was going to put you through law school but if you don’t like to study continuously after you learn a profession, don’t study law.” And through him I met many big political men in Chicago, because Mr. Feiwell was associated to our ex-Governor Henry Horner. Henry Horner was probate judge of Cook County, and a probate judge in Cook County is the biggest judge in the area because he took care of 5 million people probating wills.

The judge took a liking to me because we done certain things, running errands for him, distributing literature for the campaigns—then I met different people, I met Ben Lindheimer. Ben Lindheimer was a big man in Chicago, owned Arlington Park and Washington Park racetracks later on.

He finally became chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission and also president of the Board of Local Improvements in Chicago. So, I got a job as a sidewalk inspector. That is when I decided to go back to school, because the job as a sidewalk inspector was a political job, sponsored by Ben Lindheimer.

Mr. Griffin. That would have been in the 1930’s sometime.

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes; 1932 or 1933, right. So, I figured why should I waste my time. I can take care of my job and go to school, and I did that. I tried to get my prelegal training there. Then in 1932 the judge ran for governor. Ben Lindheimer became president of the—not president, chairman of the Commerce Commission, Illinois Commerce Commission. He took me with him. I became a warehouse investigator. I was there for 8 years.

Mr. Griffin. Warehouse investigator for the Illinois Commerce Commission?

Mr. Rubenstein. Right.

Mr. Griffin. For 8 years?

Mr. Rubenstein. Right.

Mr. Griffin. What period of time did this cover?

Mr. Rubenstein. I would say from 1932 to 1941. When the administration changed I was let go.

Mr. Griffin. Were your duties in Chicago or elsewhere?

Mr. Rubenstein. In Chicago; no, the entire State. I had to cover quite a bit of the State of Illinois inspecting warehouses that were licensed by the Illinois Commerce Commission, and storage houses.

Mr. Griffin. What would your duties as an inspector involve?

Mr. Rubenstein. Just to see everything was orderly, clean, fire extinguishers, clean, clean aisles, nothing to clutter up, so as to prevent fires, fire doors, to prevent internal combustion, different things like that.

Mr. Griffin. Now, during this period that you were with the Illinois Commerce Commission, were you politically active?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes. Since I had no civil service connections, I was politically active.

Mr. Griffin. Before that period, were you politically active?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes; in the local area.

Mr. Griffin. Was this Democratic or Republican politics?

Mr. Rubenstein. Democratic.

Mr. Griffin. Now——

Mr. Rubenstein. The whole family was Democratic.

Mr. Griffin. Would you tell us about how you happened to meet—I take it Mr. Feiwell was the way you got—made your political connections?

Mr. Rubenstein. Indirectly, not directly, indirectly.

Mr. Griffin. First of all, tell us how you happened to know Mr. Feiwell.

Mr. Rubenstein. He used to come down to the club and give us talks.

Mr. Griffin. What club was that?

Mr. Rubenstein. The Deborah Boys Club.

Mr. Griffin. I see. And what sort of work did Mr. Feiwell do?

Mr. Rubenstein. He was a big lawyer in Chicago.

Mr. Griffin. He took a liking to you?

Mr. Rubenstein. He wanted to encourage me because I was working my way through high school and he tried to help out all the boys that he possibly could.

Mr. Griffin. And he made introductions of you to people in politics?

Mr. Rubenstein. As I said before indirectly. Let me give you one example.

Mr. Griffin. Yes.

Mr. Rubenstein. When Henry Horner ran for probate judge in 1928, I believe, Mr. Feiwell was one of the men in charge of the campaign. So he didn’t have too much time, so I helped him whatever I could do. If we had a special meeting for fund raising, I would line up the hall, get the chairs, see that everything was ready made for the meeting, got coatracks and hatracks for the men for the meeting and they all got to know me that way, and so I became officially the sergeant-at-arms, and so that is how they got to know me. If they wanted something before they sat down, they told me if they get a telephone call, “Call me out” or if there was a call I could spot the man right away and tell them there was a call from out of the hall. Different things like that, that is how I got acquainted.

Later on I became more important because I knew the ropes a little bit because I knew what to do without their telling me everything. I knew how to pick up the printing, how to distribute the literature in the different wards and so forth.

Mr. Griffin. Were you active in any particular ward yourself or were you in the downtown headquarters?

Mr. Rubenstein. Mostly the downtown headquarters.

Mr. Griffin. Were you ever on the payroll of the downtown headquarters?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes. I was on the payroll for downtown headquarters. One year, when Adlai Stevenson was running, I was connected with the downtown Democratic headquarters at the Morrison Hotel.

Mr. Griffin. Was this after World War II?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes. And they didn’t pay me much, but I was glad to help out. I think they were paying me $25 a week.

Mr. Griffin. Prior to World War II, were you ever on a salary or payroll for any Democratic club?

Mr. Rubenstein. No. Only with the job that I had.

Mr. Griffin. So your political activities prior to World War II were on a voluntary basis and would have been in your spare time apart from your other job?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes. Unless the big men in Chicago once in a while if they had me do an errand purposely slipped me a $5 bill because they knew I earned it.

Mr. Griffin. Did you ever have occasion during that period to do any favors for Jack?

Mr. Rubenstein. What Jack, my brother?

Mr. Griffin. Your brother Jack.

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes. He got in a fight one time with a policeman for scalping tickets, and so I had to go to court for him.

Mr. Griffin. When was that?

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t know but that was dropped. That is the only time that I can remember when Jack actually got in trouble where you might say was minor. Never before.

Mr. Griffin. Did you ever have any occasion to help him get a license or anything?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes.

Mr. Griffin. Tell us about that.

Mr. Rubenstein. I will never forget that as long as I live. Since I was connected in politics, the man in charge of the vending licenses in the city of Chicago was a new man, and I didn’t mean to take advantage of him.

My brother came to me one day in early December one year, “Hy.” “Yes.” “I would like to get a license for selling novelties on the street at 63d and Halstead.”

You gentlemen must realize that 63d and Halstead is a business district where no such thing was ever before done because they have their own business association and no peddlers were allowed on the street, they have got their stores to worry about. So, I went up to this fellow, who I got to know very well, and he said, “What can I do for you, Hymie?” I said, “I have got to have a license for my kid brother.” “Sure, for Christmas?” “Yes.” “What is he going to sell?” “I don’t know. Probably toys or gimmicks or whatever he can put on a stand, you know, on the sidewalk and sell.” As long as he got a permit they can’t bother him. He says, “What corner do you like?” So, I gave him the corner of 63d and Halstead. You don’t know, I almost started a small war and they couldn’t do nothing to Jack because he had that permit. The business people came downtown and they raised particular hell with the guy in charge at the license department, and he couldn’t understand it.

Then he calls me, I think I was working at the time for some department in the city. He said, “Do you realize what you done to me?” I said, “What did I do to you?” He says, “You almost got me fired.” It was really funny.

Mr. Griffin. When was that?

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t know. I can’t remember but I will never forget that incident, and Jack felt like a hero. He has got a permit. They can’t do him nothing. The police even tried to chase him off. He says, “You can’t chase me off, here is my permit,” and the policeman told these people downtown at 63d and Halstead, he says, “The man has got a permit. What am I supposed to do, get myself in a jam?” But they finally had to get him off. They finally realized they made a mistake.

Mr. Griffin. This was in the Christmas season?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes; during the Christmas holidays when everybody tries to make a buck for the holidays selling Christmas novelties or toys or gimmicks on the street, you know. It was terrific. I will never forget that. That is the kind of a guy Jack was. When he wanted a permit he used to get one.

Mr. Griffin. Do you recall any other episodes of that nature?

Mr. Rubenstein. There could have been but this was the greatest. It is a wonder I didn’t get fired. I will never forget that.

Mr. Griffin. Were you working for the Illinois Commerce Commission at that time?

Mr. Rubenstein. I think I was at that time because that was the longest job I had with the city outside of being with the Board of Local Improvements for a couple of years.

Mr. Griffin. When was that?

Mr. Rubenstein. Before the Commerce Commission.

Mr. Griffin. You mention the period 1932 to 1941 as the Commerce Commission. Are you clear in your mind that that is when you did start there, in 1932?

Mr. Rubenstein. When Horner got in, I think it was 1932.

Mr. Griffin. And before that you worked for?

Mr. Rubenstein. The Board of Local Improvements for a couple of years, sidewalk investigator.

Mr. Griffin. So that would have taken you back to 1930 perhaps?

Mr. Rubenstein. About 1930 or even 1929. I will tell you why. As long as we had connections in Chicago and things were tough, you know 1929 was a bad year, you wouldn’t remember, but I would, as long as you had a letter from somebody downtown they were reevaluating all the real estate in Cook County.

Now, you know that is a tremendous job, fellows, and so I got on. They weren’t paying us too much in salary, but every morning I had to meet two real estate men, and I measured the buildings, the length and the width and the lot, and the stories and we gave a legal description of the building, reevaluation. That kept on for about a year. That was a pretty good job with the Board of Review.

So that also kept a lot of us fellows from starving. That was before the Board of Local Improvements. In the meantime I still kept my fingers in the politics on the good side with the Democrats in Chicago.

Mr. Griffin. Before you worked for the Board of Local Improvements did you have any government or city or political jobs before that?

Mr. Rubenstein. I am telling you that was it.

Mr. Griffin. That was the first one. The Board of Local Improvements was the first one?

Mr. Rubenstein. No, the Board of Review.

Mr. Griffin. So you worked for the Illinois Commerce Commission in 1932, you worked for the Board of Local Improvements——

Mr. Rubenstein. About 1930, and 1929 or 1928, I believe I worked for the Board of Review.

Mr. Griffin. All right. Now, between approximately 1922 when you got out of school and 1928 what did you do during that period?

Mr. Rubenstein. Worked as a cab driver, worked in a drugstore. I went on the road as a salesman in 1925.

Mr. Griffin. Who did you sell for?

Mr. Rubenstein. The Plymouth Rubber Co. of Canton, Mass.

Mr. Griffin. What did you sell?

Mr. Rubenstein. Rubber heels to shoemakers.

Mr. Griffin. Where did you travel?

Mr. Rubenstein. All over the United States.

Mr. Griffin. How long did you do that?

Mr. Rubenstein. A couple of years, I think.

Mr. Griffin. How did you happen to leave that job?

Mr. Rubenstein. I was a missionary man. They broke me in, they tried to make a salesman out of me and they did, because I done a good job for them and I worked hard. I liked it, I liked it for two reasons. Traveling and selling and when you can sell you felt like a moral victory, you felt that you had a station in life, something to do. The job just ended. I covered the territory they wanted me to cover. I went from Chicago to the west coast, Vancouver, Canada, all over the west coast, all through the Middle West. I don’t think I covered—no, never went south. I didn’t go south, no. We didn’t cover it. We just covered the west, kept on going west and west and over to the west coast and up to Vancouver.

Mr. Griffin. Let’s now shift the focus a little bit and rather talk about yourself. Now let me ask you some questions about your family, your early family life.

Was there any discussion in your home as a child of the background of your parents—where they had come from, what they had done before they had come to this country?

Mr. Rubenstein. My father was a soldier in the Russian Army for about 7 years. If you know the history of the Russian people, one member of each family must serve, one member. My father was elected to serve.

Mr. Griffin. Let’s just talk about your father for a minute.

As you understand it where was your father born?

Mr. Rubenstein. Sokolov, a small town outside of Warsaw.

Mr. Griffin. What kind of family did he come from, do you have any idea?

Mr. Rubenstein. Very nice family, good reputation. His father before him was a carpenter, his brother Abraham was a carpenter. Very well respected.

Mr. Griffin. How many brothers and sisters did he have?

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t know, I don’t know.

Mr. Griffin. Did any of his family come to the United States other than him?

Mr. Rubenstein. His brother.

Mr. Griffin. Abraham? When did Abraham come?

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t know.

Mr. Griffin. Before or after your father?

Mr. Rubenstein. I think after.

Mr. Griffin. Is Abraham still alive?

Mr. Rubenstein. No.

Mr. Griffin. Does he have a family that is still living?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes; he has a son, a doctor, Dr. Hyman Rubenstein, and he has got about three or four sisters, very nice, family.

Mr. Griffin. Where do they live?

Mr. Rubenstein. On the north side.

Mr. Griffin. They are living in Chicago?

Mr. Rubenstein. In Chicago.

Mr. Griffin. Did you see this family from time to time as you were children?

Mr. Rubenstein. Very, not as regularly as we should. We should have seen them oftener but we didn’t.

Mr. Griffin. About how often would you say?

Mr. Rubenstein. Once a year.

Mr. Griffin. Was your father trained as a carpenter?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes; in the army.

Mr. Griffin. How old was he when he went in the army?

Mr. Rubenstein. He was a young man, very young.

Mr. Griffin. Do you know what rank he attained?

Mr. Rubenstein. According to the thing on his hat for the uniform it was a No. 2, and he always used to get in trouble with the captain, but he always would get right with the captain’s wife, he would always make something for her, a cradle or a chair or something to even up the score.

Mr. Griffin. Did he tell you any of his adventures, where he was?

Mr. Rubenstein. He was in China, but he didn’t like it. He was in Korea and he didn’t like it. He was in Siberia and he hated it most of all. He broke away from the army.

Mr. Griffin. How did he happen to leave?

Mr. Rubenstein. He just left; walked away, walked away; went over to England; from England he went to Canada; from Canada he came to the United States.

Mr. Griffin. Now, when he married your mother was he in the service?

Mr. Rubenstein. He was in the service; in fact I and my sister were born when he left Europe.

Mr. Griffin. You mean you were born after he left Europe?

Mr. Rubenstein. No.

Mr. Griffin. You had been born when he left Europe?

Mr. Rubenstein. My sister and I.

Mr. Griffin. That is the oldest?

Mr. Rubenstein. That is the oldest sister.

Mr. Griffin. She is Ann Volpert?

Mr. Rubenstein. Right.

Mr. Griffin. Do you know where you and your mother stayed when your father left?

Mr. Rubenstein. Probably in Warsaw.

Mr. Griffin. Do you know any reason why you did not accompany him?

Mr. Rubenstein. Well, the only reason I can give you is he had to get away first. He didn’t want the army to find him.

Mr. Griffin. He was really escaping from the army?

Mr. Rubenstein. Right. He didn’t want any more of it. He had it. And I think there was a Japanese war going to break out there any day, and he didn’t want no part of that so he just broke away.

Mr. Griffin. Do you know if, did he ever mention whether religious problems were a reason, any factor in his leaving or do you have the impression it was strictly his dislike for the military service that caused him to leave?

Mr. Rubenstein. Well, you know Jews in the Russian Army is a tough proposition, a very minority race and he probably didn’t like that, either.

Mr. Griffin. He never mentioned that to you?

Mr. Rubenstein. No, he wouldn’t anyway. I don’t think he is the type of a man who would mention things like that. He always felt that he belonged. We, the Jewish problem was never really brought up. We felt like if you did you were a coward. The Jewish problem was always kept to ourselves. Even when I went to high school there wasn’t too many Jewish people there but we tried to belong. We tried to face it.

Mr. Griffin. And your father; I take it from what you say, was very much this kind of a man that he didn’t outwardly voice any feelings of sensitivity or separation because of the fact that he was Jewish in a——

Mr. Rubenstein. I doubt it. I doubt if he would have said anything. No, not with him. But if you asked me that about somebody else in our family——

Mr. Griffin. How about your mother?

Mr. Rubenstein. No, no; I don’t think she—she just wanted to look out for my welfare. My mother was very much interested in the welfare, how we got along, how we got along at school and how our progress was going with us in Chicago.

Mr. Griffin. Now, I take it from what you say also that if your father had any family back in Europe once he came to this country he didn’t maintain contact with them?

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t think he ever got one letter. I don’t remember ever hearing a word of his family in Europe; not one word. We would have known about it. If he heard anything about the family indirectly it was through somebody else. Somebody else from his home town might have gotten a letter and mentioned the fact that so and so——

Mr. Griffin. Did he go into the service with any of his brothers?

Mr. Rubenstein. Who?

Mr. Griffin. Your father.

Mr. Rubenstein. I told you there was only one member taken from a family.

Mr. Griffin. The reason I ask you is I believe that in one of the newspaper articles about Jack’s life that was serialized the story was told by the newspaper reporter that your father had joined the service with his two brothers and that your father and his two brothers married your mother and her two sisters.

Do you ever recall a story like that?

Mr. Rubenstein. Never. I don’t even remember seeing the article. I don’t think it is true.

Mr. Griffin. I am going to ask questions about your mother’s family then. Did your mother talk about her family background?

Mr. Rubenstein. Except her father was a very important man in the community. He was like a doctor.

Mr. Griffin. You say like a doctor?

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t know. That is the expression they used at home. I don’t know. You know, you are going back 4 or 5 thousand miles, and that is the expression that was used.

Mr. Griffin. Yes; but I take it the words “like a doctor” were used which sort of indicated to you that maybe he wasn’t quite a doctor or something similar to it.

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes.

Mr. Griffin. Like a pharmacist?

Mr. Rubenstein. Could have been. I know he went out and took care of people and my mother was called in to take care of the family when somebody was sick.

Mr. Griffin. Your mother was?

Mr. Rubenstein. Do you follow me?

Mr. Griffin. Yes.

Mr. Rubenstein. My mother went along as a servant to take care of the needs of the family that was sick. Her father took care of the family in a medical way.

Mr. Griffin. I see.

Mr. Rubenstein. That is the impression that I always had from the stories we gathered at home.

Mr. Griffin. Did your mother spend her life around Warsaw, her early life?

Mr. Rubenstein. I suppose, I don’t know.

Mr. Griffin. Do you recall her talking about her life in Europe where she came from?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes; I think Warsaw was her main life.

Mr. Griffin. Do you recall how big her family was?

Mr. Rubenstein. No.

Mr. Griffin. Did she have any brothers or sisters who came to this country?

Mr. Rubenstein. One brother, Harry Rutland. He was, he worked for the Union Pacific for many, many years as a boilermaker.

Mr. Griffin. Was Rutland his name?

Mr. Rubenstein. I think it used to be Rutkowsky and he changed it to Rutland, naturally.

Mr. Griffin. Where did he live?

Mr. Rubenstein. Denver.

Mr. Griffin. Is he still living?

Mr. Rubenstein. No.

Mr. Griffin. Do you have some knowledge he is dead?

Mr. Rubenstein. Oh, no; we know he is dead.

Mr. Griffin. Did he have any family?

Mr. Rubenstein. Four children, two boys and two girls.

Mr. Griffin. I see. Had your family maintained any contact with the Rutland family?

Mr. Rubenstein. About as much as we maintained with Europe. We would see them occasionally when they would come through or during the war, the boys would pass through Chicago they would stop off and say hello, and if I were working west with the Plymouth Rubber Co. and I went to Denver I stayed there for a week. And then Rita left a trunk at our house one time in Chicago for a couple of years and it blocked up our closet and we asked her to remove it. That is the only connection.

Mr. Griffin. Rita is one of his daughters?

Mr. Rubenstein. Out on the west coast.

Mr. Griffin. So far as you know the only aunts or uncles that you have, whoever came to this country, were your father’s brother Hyman?

Mr. Rubenstein. No; my father’s brother Abraham.

Mr. Griffin. Abraham, who has a son Hyman.

Mr. Rubenstein. A doctor.

Mr. Griffin. And your mother’s brother Harry?

Mr. Rubenstein. That is it.

Mr. Griffin. Did you ever hear your mother talk about having any sisters?

Mr. Rubenstein. Here in this country or in Europe?

Mr. Griffin. Either place.

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t remember. There might have been one—I don’t think she is a sister. She was very close to my mother. I don’t remember her name.

Mr. Griffin. Where was she?

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t know. It has been so many years ago.

Mr. Griffin. Did your mother—do you remember any contact being maintained by your mother with her family in Europe?

Mr. Rubenstein. None. Not even one letter.

Mr. Griffin. How did your mother—did your mother ever express any feelings about that?

Mr. Rubenstein. I imagine she got lonely. She used to sort of daydream and tell us a few stories about Warsaw, and her family but she never mentioned any names. I don’t remember her ever mentioning one name.

Mr. Griffin. As you were growing up, as a child, did your mother speak English?

Mr. Rubenstein. No.

Mr. Griffin. What did she speak?

Mr. Rubenstein. Jewish.

Mr. Griffin. Yiddish?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yiddish.

Mr. Griffin. How about your father?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yiddish mostly.

Mr. Griffin. So it—the conversation in the home was Yiddish among the children?

Mr. Rubenstein. Always, always with them.

Mr. Griffin. What sort of religious practices were maintained in the home?

Mr. Rubenstein. Not orthodox, not strict, nothing strict, except for the holidays. We would have for Easter, we would follow the Easter services. For Yom Kippur my father would go to synagogue and try to take me along when I was a little boy; and I went to Hebrew school for a while, and that is all I can remember. I don’t know whether any of the other boys went to Hebrew school or not.

Mr. Griffin. But at least you as the oldest child——

Mr. Rubenstein. I was an oldest child and they tried to set me as an example for the others, but I couldn’t see it. I couldn’t understand it. It is like speaking, what is that language that the Catholics use in their church?

Mr. Griffin. Roman.

Mr. Rubenstein. Roman.

Mr. Griffin. Latin.

Mr. Rubenstein. It is like the Catholics speak Latin in their churches and it is like Hebrew speaking to us kids in America, if you don’t know Hebrew you don’t understand it.

We tried to get some meaning out of it just enough so that we could stay in school and then there was no use. It just didn’t absorb. There was no practice. That is the word, practice.

Mr. Griffin. Did your family, did your mother, observe any of the dietary laws?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes, yes; we had two sets of dishes, and very clean. My mother was very clean with the children and with her own life and her own family and her own home. She was very strict about those things.

Mr. Griffin. Can you explain how it is that your mother would observe the dietary laws and so forth and yet the more religious, the formal religious aspect of the life was not incorporated in your home?

Mr. Rubenstein. Very simple. You try to bring up eight kids in Chicago and keep them in shoes and keep them in school, out of jail, out of trouble, that was enough, that is the big problem. That is more important.

Mr. Griffin. There were troubles in your home, weren’t there?

Mr. Rubenstein. Always.

Mr. Griffin. What kind of troubles?

Mr. Rubenstein. Family troubles.

Mr. Griffin. Would you be specific?

Mr. Rubenstein. Between my father and mother.

Mr. Griffin. What seemed to be the trouble?

Mr. Rubenstein. Arguments constantly, quarrels, unfortunately.

Mr. Griffin. What would they fight over?

Mr. Rubenstein. Who knows?

Mr. Griffin. Did your father drink?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes.

Mr. Griffin. Tell us about his drinking?

Mr. Rubenstein. Always. He learned that in the army.

Mr. Griffin. Where would he drink, at home or go to a corner saloon or what?

Mr. Rubenstein. I would say both.

Mr. Griffin. Did he drink to excess?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes.

Mr. Griffin. Was he abusive in any way?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes.

Mr. Griffin. Would you tell us about that?

Mr. Rubenstein. My mother objected to it and they would start to fight and started an argument and sometimes they hit each other.

Mr. Griffin. They did separate at one time did they not?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes.

Mr. Griffin. What was the cause of the separation?

Mr. Rubenstein. Just ill-feeling.

Mr. Griffin. While you were a child, did your mother have any peculiar ideas, any delusions of any sort, did she seem to have any mental problems?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes; she always felt there was a bone stuck in her throat and about once a month I had to take her downtown. I being the oldest, to a clinic for 50 cents, we had clinics, you know those days, and she insisted there was a bone stuck in her throat from fish, and everytime we would go there the doctor would tell her, “Mrs. Rubenstein, there is nothing in your throat, you are imagining things. Why don’t you forget it.”

Thirty days later, about 30 days, I don’t know, I would go back there with her again. She insisted and I went, she made me go. This kept on for a couple of years, and she finally got tired of going and then we quit going.

Mr. Griffin. Well, was this after you left high school?

Mr. Rubenstein. No; before.

Mr. Griffin. Did there ever come a time when your mother was inattentive to the children, sloppy and so forth?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes. There came a time when she felt very despondent, very disgusted, because she felt she had to keep up the job by herself taking care of the children, and she was unhappy, and so I think the family service suggested that she go to Elgin Sanitarium for a while.

Mr. Griffin. That was in the thirties, though, was it not?

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t remember what year, but I know I went out to see her one time with my sister Marion, I drove her out there. It could have been the thirties and it could have been the twenties.

Mr. Griffin. But it was after you got out of high school.

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t remember.

Mr. Griffin. How many children were born into the family?

Mr. Rubenstein. Nine.

Mr. Griffin. How many of them are now living?

Mr. Rubenstein. Eight.

Mr. Griffin. And one of them died as a young child?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes.

Mr. Griffin. Where did the one who died come in the picture, in the age span of the children?

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t know. It was a girl. She was about 5 years old, I think.

Mr. Griffin. How did she happen to die?

Mr. Rubenstein. She got burned. She tipped over a kettle of hot soup on herself. It was a very tragic incident in our family.

Mr. Griffin. Were you living at home at the time?

Mr. Rubenstein. I was a kid. I was only about 6 or 7 years old, I think.

Mr. Griffin. Was—it is clear to you that you were a child and you were not an adult when this happened?

Mr. Rubenstein. Oh, definitely.

Mr. Griffin. Was this before your parents separated?

Mr. Rubenstein. Many years before.

Mr. Griffin. How did your mother take that?

Mr. Rubenstein. Don’t ask. I thought she was going to go crazy. She loved her children.

Mr. Griffin. I take it you have considerable affection, affectionate feelings toward your mother?

Mr. Rubenstein. Always.

Mr. Griffin. How about the other children, did they feel that way or was there some fighting?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes; yes.

Mr. Griffin. All right.

Mr. Rubenstein. The reason I think for that is, she had a tough life. It wasn’t easy for her putting up with my father all these years, moving from place to place, trying to raise her children decently and honestly. It was tough for her, and alone.

Mr. Griffin. How did your father feel towards the children?

Mr. Rubenstein. I can’t find the word for it but it wasn’t like—wasn’t—he loved the children but I believe since he didn’t have to have an education he felt that grammar school was good enough for all of us, and that is what we should have done. But my mother felt differently. She realized that you have got to have an education to progress, and maybe that is why we all felt more for our mother than we did for our father as a parent.

Mr. Griffin. Your father ultimately came back and lived with you?

Mr. Rubenstein. After my mother died.

Mr. Griffin. Not before?

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t remember.

Mr. Griffin. Of all of the children in the family, who do you think is the one who has paid the most attention to this early family life and would have the most information to contribute on it?

Mr. Rubenstein. I imagine Eva. Eva is a pretty smart woman. She could, she was at home most of the time and I think she could, tell more about the family than any of us. She has a very good memory, too, by the way, which is important.

Mr. Griffin. How close were you to Jack as he was growing up?

Mr. Rubenstein. I wasn’t home much. I told you. You have got the history of my life here. I wasn’t home much. I am about 10 years older than Jack so when he was 15, I was already 25. I was working and traveling on the road, and whatever he was doing as long as he didn’t get into any serious trouble I felt it is OK.

Except one incident and I found this out not so long ago. On the West Side on Roosevelt Road there used to be a place called the Lawndale, it is a restaurant. During the Roosevelt administration some character made a wisecrack about Roosevelt. Jack picked up a chair and was going to hit him right in the head with that and got stopped by two guys.

Mr. Griffin. Did you see this?

Mr. Rubenstein. No; but I was told this by fellows who have no direct connection with them.

Mr. Griffin. Who were those fellows?

Mr. Rubenstein. I can give you the name of the owner of the tavern, I can mail it to you, and the fellow who told it to him was afraid to get involved because he has got a record and I said, “What are you afraid of?”

He said, “I don’t want to get involved.”

Mr. Griffin. Do you remember the name of the tavern owner?

Mr. Rubenstein. I can find it for you. I can give it to you, I can mail it to you as soon as I get back to Chicago.

Mr. Griffin. Why don’t you make a note of it and mail it to us.

Mr. Rubenstein. Sure, this came as a complete surprise to me because we tried to get, we tried to get, some information from the boys how he reacted away from home, and when a fellow told me this, I almost fell through the floor. I know this, Jack went out to the northwest side many times and broke up Bund meetings. That is one thing he wouldn’t go for.

Mr. Griffin. You know this from your own?

Mr. Rubenstein. From my own fact, and not that he will tell anybody. It came also back to me.

Mr. Griffin. This other people have told you?

Mr. Rubenstein. Other people told me. They said, “Your brother is terrific. He just goes in there and breaks up the joint.” He just couldn’t tolerate those guys. Nobody would dare mention the word “Jew” in a derogatory form to him because he would be knocked flat in 2 minutes. That is the kind of a guy he was, hasty, quick, and he was agile, he is built good, he never drank or smoked, and he took care of himself. And I admire him for it and I love him for it.

Mr. Griffin. Did he ever put this strength and physical ability to use in any sort of a job? For example, did he ever act as a bouncer any place?

Mr. Rubenstein. He never liked to show off. He is not that kind of a loud mouth braggadocio, he never went in for that stuff. He hung around Barney Ross all his life. He liked Barney Ross. Everybody liked Barney Ross.

Mr. Griffin. Were you one of Barney Ross’ followers?

Mr. Rubenstein. Naturally when you live on the west side you have got to be a follower.

Mr. Griffin. I mean did you hang around him?

Mr. Rubenstein. No; he was Jack’s age. I knew Barney through Jack, you know, met him.

Mr. Griffin. I take it you were not in a position to know Jack’s friends when Jack was a child.

Mr. Rubenstein. His friends were the fellows who loved life and go out and have a good time. His business associates were fellows who were hustlers and like to make money. So you put two and two together. You find good business associates who are hustlers, and you had to be, without much education, go out and make money, and in the evening you go out and you find the friends you like to spend it with. He never hung around with no hoodlums. We knew hoodlums, sure. If they come into a restaurant where you are, next to them you are sitting, “Hello, Hy,” “Hello, Joe.” What do you do, ignore them? You have known them all your life, you don’t ignore them.

Mr. Griffin. Kids from the neighborhood?

Mr. Rubenstein. Kids from the neighborhood.

Mr. Griffin. Do you have any people in mind?

Mr. Rubenstein. Wherever you lived on the west side there was a hoodlum or became a hoodlum who you went to school with, or you belonged to some club with, or maybe—let me give you another example or you played ball with them. You never knew. You never knew. They surprised you.

Mr. Griffin. Who were Jack’s closest friends before he went to Dallas?

Mr. Rubenstein. He was very popular, he had a lot of friends.

Mr. Griffin. Who were the people he was closest to?

Mr. Rubenstein. What age?

Mr. Griffin. Let’s take it after he got out of high school.

Mr. Rubenstein. Harry Epstein was one, a business promoter. Sam Gordon on the west coast now, very wealthy man, a business promoter.

Mr. Griffin. How about Ira Kolitz?

Mr. Rubenstein. He knew Ira from the Lawndale; he knew Ira.

Mr. Griffin. But they weren’t close?

Mr. Rubenstein. Leave me tell you something now so you people understand. Ira Kolitz comes from one of the finest families in Chicago. His father was a banker on the west side. But living on the west side you are next door—your next-door neighbor might be a hoodlum, you don’t know. Maybe Ira Kolitz went to school with Jack, it could have been. Maybe they hung around the same poolroom together. I was in the Army with Ira. How much Jack hung around with Ira, I don’t know. I know Ira had a couple of taverns downtown; that I did know. Whether a tavern owner is a hoodlum that is another category, that I don’t know.

Mr. Griffin. How about Marty Gimpel?

Mr. Rubenstein. He died; poor Marty. Marty was a nice guy; worked for the post office for many years, saved up a nice piece of change, went down to Dallas, Tex.; they tried to promote homes, build homes, out of log cabins. They built one, they sold it and that was the end of that deal as far as I know.

Mr. Griffin. Was Marty friendly with Jack during the thirties?

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t know. I imagine; yes.

Mr. Griffin. When did you first become aware that Marty was——

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t remember.

Mr. Griffin. Did you know Marty in Chicago?

Mr. Rubenstein. I knew of him. Probably met him once or twice at the house.

Mr. Griffin. Do you know when he went to Texas?

Mr. Rubenstein. No. Leave me tell you about Dallas, Tex. I mean anybody that Jack knew when Jack came up to Chicago maybe once every 4 or 5 years. “Come down to Dallas, I have got a proposition for you.” “Come down to Dallas, I have a proposition for you.” Everybody he wanted to come down that he wanted to have a friend down there, that was the kind of a guy he was, or else have a place for him to stay, he probably would have a job for them, or if a proposition come up that this fellow could handle Jack would fix him up for it. That was the kind of guy Jack was; you never go hungry with Jack.

Mr. Griffin. Did you know a fellow in Chicago named Frank Howard?

Mr. Rubenstein. No; never heard the name.

Mr. Griffin. Jack Howard?

Mr. Rubenstein. The musicman?

Mr. Griffin. Is that who he is?

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t know, that is the only Jack Howard that I remember.

Mr. Griffin. Tell us how you knew him?

Mr. Rubenstein. I can’t tell you nothing. I don’t know him that well; no.

Mr. Griffin. Did Jack know him?

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t know.

Mr. Griffin. Do you remember Jack being in the music business?

Mr. Rubenstein. No; I don’t.

Mr. Griffin. Selling sheet music or anything like that?

Mr. Rubenstein. That is the guy that Jack counted sheet music; that is the guy.

Mr. Griffin. Did your brother Jack sell sheet music?

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t know.

Mr. Griffin. Did you know a man named Irwin Berke?

Mr. Rubenstein. Never heard of him.

Mr. Griffin. Or Sam Chazin?

Mr. Rubenstein. Never heard of him.

Mr. Griffin. Did you know a fellow by the name of Paul Labriolla?

Mr. Rubenstein. Needlenose; I seen his name in the paper. I never met him.

Mr. Griffin. How about Hershey Colvin?

Mr. Rubenstein. Hershey was an Army buddy of Jack in Mississippi, and Hershey is a gambler by profession, and he now is a bartender on the north side of Chicago. That is about all I can tell you.

Mr. Griffin. Tell us what you mean by a gambler by profession.

Mr. Rubenstein. Well, years ago when everything was open in Chicago, like certain communities were. He is a professional gambler. He dealt cards or he run a crap table, or he was in that particular line. Maybe he booked horses; I don’t know. But I know Hershey.

Mr. Griffin. How about Jimmy Weinberg?

Mr. Rubenstein. Never—I heard of him but I don’t know him.

Mr. Griffin. Did you know Alex Gruber?

Mr. Rubenstein. Never heard of him.

Mr. Griffin. How about Mike Nemzin?

Mr. Rubenstein. Oh, there is a nice guy. Mike is a nice guy, but Mike is not Jack’s friend; he is Earl’s friend.

Mr. Griffin. How about Marty Eritt?

Mr. Rubenstein. Rambler agency in Chicago; very well respected and a very nice guy.

Mr. Griffin. Was he a friend of Jack or was he Earl’s friend?

Mr. Rubenstein. Both. I think Jack introduced him to Earl.

Mr. Griffin. Did you ever loan Jack any money while he was down in Dallas?

Mr. Rubenstein. No; I didn’t. Earl did, I think.

Mr. Griffin. How about Eva; did you ever lend her any money down in Dallas?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes. Eva went down there, I don’t know, before the war. What she was doing down there I can’t tell you, how she ever fell in love with that city that is her business. She came up to Chicago one year, and I had a little money hustling around like I told you, buying and selling things for myself. “I got a good spot,” she says. “1717 Ervay Street.” I said, “What do you need?” She says, “I need about a thousand dollars.” I said, “What for?”

She wants to buy a piano, so I bought her a piano and cost me $625 for the piano. She wanted a loudspeaker system for the nightclub, cost me a couple of hundred bucks for that. Then she bought some dishes, and some pots and pans for the restaurant in the back. I said, “O.K. I will ship them all down to you.” We picked out the piano. I got her the loudspeaker system, and the paraphernalia that goes with it, the speakers, and we went down to Maxwell Street and we bought pots and pans and dishes and cups and saucers and shipped it all down to Dallas, Tex. That was the last I heard of it until I went down there. I was subpenaed by the Government by a guy by the name of Paul Jones. They got in a jam. How did she meet Paul Jones? Eva sent him up to Chicago and he is in Chicago and he calls me. I came downtown and I met him. Do you want this part of the story now?

Mr. Griffin. Yes; go ahead.

Mr. Rubenstein. Paul is looking over things down in Dallas that they can’t buy. We were looking for stuff in Chicago that you can’t buy either; merchandise, legitimate merchandise. One of the items was pipe. Of course right after the war, you couldn’t buy anything. There was nothing to be had. I made a connection with somebody I don’t remember now—this is 20 years ago—on pipe. So I sent Paul down a small piece of pipe about 6 inches, and I put a sticker on it and I mailed it down to Dallas, and I said, I sent him a letter, how else can you send a piece of pipe, that was the best way. I figured nobody is going to use a piece like that. I put a label on it and I mailed it down to Paul Jones.

I mailed it to the tavern; Eva’s place. He got it.

Mr. Griffin. Had you met Jones before you sent the pipe down?

Mr. Rubenstein. Up here in Chicago. I never heard anything else from Paul Jones. But shortly after I am subpenaed, come down to Dallas by the U.S. District Attorney from Chicago, Al Lehman, who died since, they wanted me to go to Dallas. “What do you know about Paul Jones?” So I told them. He said, “Go down there and tell the truth,” and I did. I go down to Dallas, the district attorney down there cross-examined me for about an hour, and I told him exactly what happened about the pipe deal, and he didn’t like it because he subpenaed me as his witness, here I am testifying for Paul Jones on the pipe deal. I had to tell him the truth. So he got sore at me, and I said, “Look, I don’t want no part of this court; you sent for me and I am telling you the truth,” and he got angry at me. That was it.

I hung around, this was not in Dallas, the trial was in Nuevo Laredo, Tex. It seems that some of Paul’s associates were smuggling dope, by airplane, from Mexico—across the line—and Paul got grabbed. They found my ticket, I think one of my cards, in his pocket. So, I am subpenaed. I am a dope peddler right off the bat. What the hell do I know about dope peddling? And that was the story of my connection with Uncle Sam. I don’t know what year it was, either 1944 or 1945. That was it.

Mr. Griffin. Was it before or after Jack had moved down to Dallas?

Mr. Rubenstein. Jack was in the service.

Mr. Griffin. This was while Jack was in the service?

Mr. Rubenstein. I am almost positive.

Mr. Griffin. Jack didn’t testify in that trial, did he?

Mr. Rubenstein. No.

Mr. Griffin. Do you recall being questioned by Federal narcotics agents in connection with Jones?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes.

Mr. Griffin. Was that—were you questioned about that before or after the trial?

Mr. Rubenstein. It must have been before the trial because after the trial they let me go. They didn’t even bother with me after that because I was no good to them.

Mr. Griffin. So the best way to date it when you went down there was when the Federal narcotics agents questioned you in Chicago?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes. Al Lehman, I think, was the one who questioned me.

Mr. Griffin. How about Jack, was he questioned at the same time?

Mr. Rubenstein. Jack was in the Army.

Mr. Griffin. You don’t have any recollection of his being questioned?

Mr. Rubenstein. Jack was never in Dallas before in his life. He didn’t know nothing about Dallas. He never met Jones. I met Jones through Eva.

Mr. Griffin. You don’t ever remember meeting Jones with Jack?

Mr. Rubenstein. I told you Jack did not know Jones.

Mr. Griffin. Well now, if the record showed differently, would you think you might be mistaken?

Mr. Rubenstein. No; I am almost positive. Because this was before Jack went down there.

Mr. Griffin. Do you remember a time when Jack was living at the Sherman Hotel?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes.

Mr. Griffin. All right. When was that?

Mr. Rubenstein. When he came out of the Army.

Mr. Griffin. Do you recall if during part of the period when he was living at the Sherman Hotel he also went down to Dallas for a while to see Eva?

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t remember that.

Mr. Griffin. Incidentally, when Jack was in Chicago were there times when he did not live with the family?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes; when he stayed at the Sherman Hotel.

Mr. Griffin. Any other time?

Mr. Rubenstein. Either the Sherman or the Congress, one of the two hotels I know he stayed.

Mr. Griffin. For how long was he living in a hotel?

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t know, after he got out of the service.

Mr. Griffin. Why was it that he was not living with the family?

Mr. Rubenstein. He had sold out his business to my brother Earl or part of his interest to my brother Earl, and he had some money, and so he felt he wanted to live by himself for a while, which is all right. I mean he was no kid any more, he was a man.

Mr. Griffin. Was there room for him at home?

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t remember.

Mr. Griffin. Did you have any contact with Jack during the fall of 1963 prior to the time that the President was assassinated?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes.

Mr. Griffin. Tell us about your contact with Jack?

Mr. Rubenstein. In the fall of 1963. Let me tell you when the first time was. He called me on the phone, the records you get from the telephone company, and he is going to send me up—he wanted me to come down and become his manager of the Carousel Club.

Mr. Griffin. When was this?

Mr. Rubenstein. In the fall, sometime in the fall of 1963 and he also told me in 1962 he wanted me to come down——

Mr. Griffin. Let’s talk about this being the manager first before we get into the other thing.

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes.

Mr. Griffin. Why did he need a manager?

Mr. Rubenstein. He wanted someone in the family to run the place.

Mr. Griffin. What was he going to do?

Mr. Rubenstein. He was going—he used to come down later. Jack did not come down early. A manager has got to be there from 4:30 until closing. Jack used to come down around, I understand, nine or ten o’clock in the evening. Probably he belonged to a couple of the clubs there, I understand he was a member of the YMCA and the Dallas Athletic Club I think he was a member of—maybe even had a girl friend or two, I don’t know.

Anyway, he asked me to come down and be the manager. I could not see working in a place 7 days a week, I couldn’t stand the noise in the striptease joints, those brassy bands, you know. I know right away that was out.

Mr. Griffin. Were you having trouble at that time making a living?

Mr. Rubenstein. No; I had a good job. I was making good money.

Mr. Griffin. Now, this is in 1963, this was after you left the Lewis Ribbon Co.

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes; I had a lot of money outstanding on the road from merchandise I had sold to my customers and that was more important to me than taking any kind of a job.

Mr. Griffin. This wasn’t going to help you out?

Mr. Rubenstein. He thought—he didn’t know what my position was.

Mr. Griffin. But you told him, did you tell him, that you really didn’t need it? That you were doing all right?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes; I told him, I didn’t want no 7-day a week proposition right off the bat, that was No. 1.

No. 2, I was a little bit too old for that kind of a deal. You get to be a certain age you don’t want that noise all night long and you realize it, you don’t have to be there but you can realize it, you can visualize the job. I didn’t want it.

All of a sudden he sends me up, do you know what a twistboard is? I should have brought one with me.

Mr. Griffin. Tell us what it is.

Mr. Rubenstein. I showed it to the FBI. Somebody in Dallas invented a twistboard. It is a square board, two boards, one on top of the other with a ball bearing that separates it in the center.

Mr. Griffin. So that one piece of wood rests on the floor and the other would swivel around on the top of it?

Mr. Rubenstein. And you stand on this and you can twist.

Mr. Griffin. Indicating you stand on the board and twist your body around.

Mr. Rubenstein. “$1.69 retail, hottest thing in the world. Go out and sell it.” I still have it home with the original wrapper and all.

Mr. Griffin. This is what Jack told you?

Mr. Rubenstein. He told me and he also made me a sample.

Mr. Griffin. How many did he mail you?

Mr. Rubenstein. Just one. He mailed Earl one, anybody in Chicago he thought he could contact for promotion he mailed one, because he had the distributorship.

Mr. Griffin. Do you remember any——

Mr. Rubenstein. That is the kind of a guy Jack is. He gets a hot item, boom, he wants to go out and sell it, promote it, that is his life.

You can never take that out of a person.

Mr. Griffin. Do you remember some of these other things that he did like that?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes.

Mr. Griffin. Tell us about it.

Mr. Rubenstein. When Roosevelt died he was the first one with a plaster of Paris bust, and he sold them all over the country. I don’t know, it wasn’t much. He probably paid them $1 apiece for them and sold them for $2.

Mr. Griffin. Do you know who manufactured them?

Mr. Rubenstein. No; but somebody in Chicago done Jack a favor, they made him a mold and kept on making these things for him and he either shipped them or took them and sold them by himself, always something, anything that is hot, he is right there out with it.

Mr. Griffin. Any others; can you think of any others?

Mr. Rubenstein. Punchboard deals. He would pick up items that the average person couldn’t afford to buy. Let’s say a small radio, probably would retail for about $18 or $19 he would arrange on a punchboard card that from 1 to 39 cents the winner would get the radio and the guy selling the board would get a radio, that the radios would probably cost him about $5 apiece because they would buy lots of them, small radios, little ones, cheaply constructed. Well, you walk into a plant and get hold of a foreman and say, “Would you like one of these for yourself?” “Sure.” “Well, sell out the punchcard on their lunch hour, mail me the money, give the winner this radio and I will mail you a radio.” Perfect. Good gimmick.

Mr. Griffin. As I understand it then, part of the punchboard gimmick was that he would give some merchandise away with it, is that right?

Mr. Rubenstein. That is right. Incentive. Otherwise, why should the foreman take the board? The foreman wants one exactly like he is going to give to the winner, and there was always enough profit left over for Jack to sufficiently cover his expenses, and make a little profit on the side, and that was one of his other promotion deals.

What else did he do? During the football seasons when he was a kid, you know, these little footballs with the school colors. He would go out to the games, Wisconsin, Ohio, Champaign, Mich., he would leave on the Friday morning with some fellow who had a car and they would load up the car with these emblems and these different school things and he would sell them.

That is another one of the things he did when he was—after he got out of high school—I forgot to tell you that. That was a good deal for him.

Mr. Griffin. Can you think of anything else? While he was in Dallas, did he call you with anything else beside the twistboard, any other promotions he had? How about entertainers?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes. He had more trouble—this is a guy in charge of the union down there was giving Jack a headache.

Mr. Griffin. I am not asking you for his problems now, did he promote any entertainers?

Mr. Rubenstein. Yes.

Mr. Griffin. Tell us about that.

Mr. Rubenstein. He came up to Chicago on one time with a little colored boy by the name of Sugar Daddy, was about 10 years old.

Mr. Griffin. Would this have been Little Daddy Nelson?

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t know; I don’t know the extra name but there was a little colored boy who was the greatest pianoplayer and singer for a kid 10 years of age.

Jack took him to Chicago, tried to get him on the TV and tried to get him on radio, and we went to New York, Jack spent all this money, and the deal was all set, with even a tutor for the kid, a tutor, all set, the contract was going to be signed, and everything, and he had to give the mother and father 25 percent or something like that of the kid’s earnings and Jack took 25 percent, I think for his work and expenses, and the kid would get the rest of the 50 percent and all the money for the tutoring would come out of the kid, expenses and so forth, all set and signed. This you will never believe. A second mother shows up. You know that would make a story in itself.

Mr. Griffin. Tell us about it.

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t know, that is it. That is all.

Mr. Griffin. How did you learn about the second mother?

Mr. Rubenstein. From Eva.

Mr. Griffin. When did you learn about this?

Mr. Rubenstein. Way after; Jack was advised by his lawyer in order to avoid a lot of legal difficulties, and all that stuff, drop it, and Jack dropped it like a hot potato. You can get yourself into a lot of trouble, two mothers. Talk about Jack with his promotions. That is the kind of a guy Jack was, you would love him, nice guy, likable guy. Do you a favor any time.

Mr. Griffin. What other promotions can you think of?

Mr. Rubenstein. It is really funny. Jack’s promotions. I wish I could think of all of them. Ever since he was a kid. I can’t think offhand now. But when I heard about that two-mother deal that was really funny.

Mr. Griffin. Did you hear about the two-mother problem before or after the President was killed?

Mr. Rubenstein. Oh, this is long before.

Mr. Griffin. So this is something that was, you all knew about?

Mr. Rubenstein. I am just trying to give you the background of Jack’s life, what kind of a guy Jack was. He would never hurt anybody, I mean either physically or mentally. He loved life, he loved a story, he loved to laugh, he loved women, and—but don’t hurt him, don’t hurt him or you would never hear the end of it. He was very sensitive, very sensitive.

Mr. Griffin. Give us some examples of that.

Mr. Rubenstein. Well, I gave you one about the Roosevelt chair, and I am trying to think of something very important in his life. Yes; he popped Eva on the nose one time.

Mr. Griffin. How did that happen?

Mr. Rubenstein. I don’t know. Something about chop suey. I wasn’t there. He popped my own sister on the nose. That is the kind of a guy he was, something quick, something broke in him and he hit her, hit her right in the nose, which isn’t like our family.