October 2004 Interview - City of Alexandria

Interview with Sigmund Bernheimer, October 2, 2004 Page 24 of 26
MB: You just talked about the trolleys a little bit. When did they take those out,
do you remember?
Sig Bernheimer: I don’t remember…let’s see. ’Cause, see, I was away at the time.
MB: So that was during the time that you were living away.
Sig Bernheimer: Yeah, but I would say, you know, late [19]40s early [19]50s. They had a
taxi war in Washington somewhere around that time. You could go
anywhere in Washington for twenty cents, five miles up they had a tax war,
a taxi war there.
MB: This was after they had taken…
Sig Bernheimer: …No that was in the, probably either [19]50s or [19]60s.
MB: So was it hard to get a taxi or?
Sig Bernheimer: The cabs were twenty cents, it was hard ’cause everybody was drivin’ cabs.
MB: Right.
Sig Bernheimer Instead of the buses [unintelligible].
MB: Instead of the buses?
Sig Bernheimer: Yeah.
MB: Do you know why?
Sig Bernheimer: Well, like I was sayin’, as long as you get a cab they didn’t need to ride the
bus.
MARRIAGE
MB: When did you marry your wife?
Sig Bernheimer: 1938 [unintelligible].
MB: Here in Alexandria?
Sig Bernheimer: We had 57 years.
MB: Did you meet her here?
Sig Bernheimer: No, we worked in the same place in Chicago. Then I left Chicago to take a
New York firm and we were apart for about, I’d say two and a half years.
We were married here on Oak Street and living in New York, I was in New
York. We rented a building, an apartment at 72 nd [Street] and Riverside
Drive. Andy Goodman, the [unintelligible], he lived in that building. I think
rent was $49.50 for one-bedroom apartment, [unintelligible], Riverside
Drive in New York. And we went there, in New York, in …oh we were
married in [19]38 so let’s say about 1940.
MB: And you came back to New York or came—