24th St. Between 10th And 11th Ave
Saul Reichbach started the “Rapid Stencil Advertising Company” in 1949. Now it takes up the back third of the first floor. He was helped by his Uncle Al. The business languished while Saul was in Canada, because he left it in the care of his employees. In 1957, Tommy, one of his oldest and dearest friends, who was an architect and an engineer, came in at a low point in the real estate world. They became partners and enlarged the business to also become a mailing service. Shortly afterwards, Tommy left for Europe and in 1960, Dick Freudenheim bought out Tom’s share. With Dick’s sales ability and his head for business, they expanded.
Now, through machinery and manpower, 60 million pieces of written material are sorted, put into envelopes, stamped, sealed, placed into large bags and taken to the post office. Since Uncle Al is in the publishing business, he was able to give a lot of sage advice.
Saul explained who the people in the painting are:
“Jack Circus, a friend for 35 years, collected scrap metal, and I got to know him because I needed scrap metal for the stencils. We’ve remained friends all these years.”
“Tom had been a friend most of my life, long before we became business partners.”
“Harry Klein, who is carrying a bag, is someone whom I’ve known for at least 20 years. He services machines for many businesses. We’ve become friends who share a common interest- the theater.”
“Walter _______ is with me almost since the beginning of our operation, and had become a very important part of it. He has his own truck and his own business,which consists mainly of mailings. Many mailing businesses use their own trucks, but no one can do the work as efficiently as he does.”
“Stan Karlivicz came to Mass Mailings around 1961 as supervisor and has done a very good job all those years. With his expertise in mailing he has been able to make our company a much more efficient one.”
“Gert Mintz came shortly after Stanley and was the glue that made the office stick together.
As the business grew Gert added Dora Damsky and Ada Druck to her staff. These two very fine people help lighten the load.”
“Sid Fields became our accountant through his judicious use of postcards when they only cost 1 cent. He has been our accountant and friend for almost 30 years.”
“Another friend of many years is Frank Coolie. He is a cabinetmaker and carpenter.”
“Donna Koetschmer and I have been close companions for years.”
“Paul Jones worked for another mailing company and that’s how we met. Now he’s on the other side of the desk since he sends the mail from the Metropolitan Museum to Mass Mailings, and has done so for many years.”
“Blanche Alston is a reporter and editor at the New York Times and was a dear friend and neighbor at 24th Street.”
Saul has a wonderful working relationship with everyone and most are in the painting. They are Mario, Tom, Blanche, Francine, Bill, Lisa, Claretha, Donna, and Gloria Lesley and others whose names I have not been able to remember.
In the background of the painting is a beautiful building complex called London Terrace. It was built in the 1930’s as a self contained experiment in middle class childless living. 95% of the units consist of one bedroom apartments. The complex has its own shops, swimming pool, solarium, meeting rooms, and even interior gardens. Also, it is built on the site of where Clement Clarkmoor wrote “Twas the Night Before Christmas”.