Home
Search transcripts:    Advanced Search
Notable New     Yorkers
Select     Notable New Yorker

Bennett CerfBennett Cerf
Photo Gallery
Transcript

Session:         Page of 1029

Cerf:

No, I was busy writing stuff ahead for Jester...

Q:

You weren't concerned about money.

Cerf:

Never.

Q:

Did you use some of the income that was left to you after your mother's death?

Cerf:

Certainly, yes. And I had saved some money in that year I worked. Also, I began meeting people who were much richer than I was, and through college began meeting some of the people you read about now in “Our Crowd.” I suddenly found myself in a world that I hadn't known existed, where automobiles and country clubs were taken for granted, and girls were having big coming-out parties at the Ritz. I found it very easy to get accustomed to this kind of life.

Q:

Did you travel at all? Did you go abroad?

Cerf:

No. What I did: I learned there was such a game as golf, and that young men actually bought their own automobiles. I bought a second-hand automobile called the Kissel car. It was a dreadful car. I remember one summer I drove it up to the White Mountains, and it broke down about six times. But it was fun.

Then there was my last summer. You see, in 1918 the World War One was hanging over us. But in June, 1918, I found





© 2006 Columbia University Libraries | Oral History Research Office | Rights and Permissions | Help