June 5, 2024

— Dick Gidron

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Dick Gidron Cadillac

You probably know that the Ford Motor Company is named for Henry Ford, but did you know that Ford was actually Ford's third car company? The first was called the Detroit Automobile Company, and the second was called the Henry Ford Company.

This was all a very long time ago. In fact, Ford left the Henry Ford Company in 1902; it turned out he was much more interested in building a race car. So, his business partners (including one named William Murphy), gave Henry Ford $900 and the rights to his own name to go away.

Afterward, the Henry Ford Company needed a new name. For some reason they eschewed the obvious and awesome choice: the William Murphy Company.

Instead, they renamed it after the French explorer, Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, Sieur-de-Cadillac, credited with founding Detroit. Since nobody could possibly remember all that, they shortened it to simply, "Cadillac."

Today is NOT the anniversary of Cadillac, but it is the anniversary of one of the first Cadillac dealerships that was owned by a black person—certainly the most successful—June 5, 1972, when Dick Gidron Cadillac opened its doors for business in The Bronx.

In general, I stay away from milestones in which someone wasn't the first to do something, but instead the first woman, or the first person of a particular race or ethnic background.

As I wrote a few weeks ago, this is why I'm much more impressed that Amelia Earhardt was the first person to fly alone from Hawaii to California, than that she was the second person (but first woman) to fly from New York to Europe.

Here, however, it's more of a desegregation story, like Jackie Robinson breaking the color line in Major League Baseball.

By 1972, Cadillac was such a powerful brand name that the name itself was used as a synonym for quality and luxury, and about 12 percent of all Cadillacs in America were bought by black customers. But none of them until then were sold by black dealers.

So, how did Dick Gidron get his dealership?

Heck, this was a car dealer ... in The Bronx ... who was profiled twice by The New Yorker during the run of his success.

Also, at the modern nadir of New York City, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, he also bought and opened a Ford dealership, which at the time was the only place where you could buy Ford in all of Manhattan and The Bronx.

Now, there's a tragic turn to Gidron's story, in that as America fell out of love with big, American luxury cars in the 1990s, his Cadillac dealership suffered. Sales fell sharply, he fell behind on taxes, and he even served a year in prison.

Released in 2006, he had an ambitious plan for a comeback, but unfortunately he died the following year. (The long quote above is from his obituary in the New York Times.)

Still, what I like about this story is that no matter how divided we are in the United States right now, there are still some great lesser-known stories about the American Dream to be told. As Grdon himself put it:

Behind the scenes

Yesterday morning (although: 2 minutes ago, as I write this), I was sitting at the kitchen table finalizing today's newsletter, when I started laughing uproariously.

Reason: It's easier to take the previous day's newsletter, copy it, and then change the content than to track all of the formatting each day. However, I have to be careful to replace everything: the date, the quote, the attribution, all of the "other things," etc.

Otherwise, you can wind up with the almost-mistake (that I caught), which was that I'd changed the quote, but not the attribution. So, it read like this:

Know someone who might like this newsletter? Please send them here!

Other things! Get your other things!

• Twitter (which owner Elon Musk now calls X), has updated its rules to officially allow adult and graphic content (which some people still call X-rated, based on the old movie rating system) on the platform. The new guidelines, first reported by Tech Crunch, explicitly permit users to share adult content "as long as it is consensually produced and distributed adult nudity or sexual behavior." (Barrons)
• Almost two-thirds of Americans considered middle class said they are facing economic hardship and don’t anticipate a change for the rest of their lives, according to a polla of 2,500 adults. Among those who earn more than 200% of the federal poverty level (at least $60,000 for a family of four), 65% said they struggle financially. Also, among those who earn more than $150,000, 25% say they also worry about paying bills. (Bloomberg)
• More than 300 House lawmakers were reimbursed at least $5.2 million for food and lodging while on official business in Washington last year under a new, taxpayer-funded program that does not require them to provide receipts. The program was intended to make it easier for lawmakers to cover the cost of maintaining separate homes in D.C. and their home districts. Critics argue that its reliance on the honor system and lack of transparent record-keeping makes it ripe for abuse. (Washington Post)
• Colorado has a new law mandating that election officials bring voting services to county detention centers and jails for statewide general elections. The statewide program is the first of its kind, as only a handful of prisons around the country offer in-person voting to eligible residents. Colorado bars felons from voting, but it is legal for incarcerated people awaiting trial or serving time for misdemeanors to cast ballots in the state. (NBC News)
• Major League Baseball is facing another potential gambling controversy. Months after Shohei Ohtani’s longtime interpreter was charged with stealing $16 million from the Dodgers superstar to pay off sports gambling debts, MLB is investigating injured Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano for violating baseball’s gambling policy — with the possibility of a lifetime ban, according to a report Monday by the Wall Street Journal. (NY Post)
• Cyndi Lauper is retiring from the road. The “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” singer-songwriter announced a farewell tour Monday morning, setting one last national jaunt that will take her to arenas in 23 cities in North America this fall before she calls it a day as a touring artist. The Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Farewell Tour will begin Oct. 18 in Montreal and end Dec. 5 at Chicago’s United Center. (Variety)
• Do you have to return your shopping cart in a parking lot? A psychologist on TikTok made a video saying "heck no!" Replies numbered in the millions. (LA Times)