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[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Maybe you can start from the beginning.

Say who you are, first of all. [ Frank Soto ] Say who I am?

Hi. My name is, uh, Frank Soto.

I been working for Nathan's since 1954.

And I wanna show...

I don't even know your name. Lloyd. Lloyd.

Where his grandfather used to be.

He used to work in this office? A lot.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Is that the chair he used to sit in?

[ Frank Soto ] I'm pretty sure that was his chair.

[ Radio Announcer ] Oh, Coney Island.

[ Woman ] I love it down there,

but the excitement, you know, the glamour...

And you know what is my favorite thing what I do?

My mouth waters now when I think of Nathan's wonderful hot dogs.

[ Screaming ]

[ Reporter ] You are now looking at Coney Island, New York's playground,

where more than one million people, on the beach and boardwalk...

[ Radio Announcer ] World-famous Nathan's of Coney Island,

where six million hot dogs are sold every year.

♪♪ [ Calliope ]

[ Television Announcer ] Portrait of an American family.

Nathan Handwerker, who established this institution on this spot in 1916.

Nathan Handwerker and all the members of his first staff.

His wife, Ida Handwerker.

Okay, that looks fine.

Vice president of Nathan's, Murray Handwerker, older son of the founder.

Vice president of Nathan's, Sol Handwerker, son of the founder.

Founders and continuers of a national institution...

Nathan's Famous, Incorporated.

Well, to begin with, I'm Lloyd Handwerker,

and I am the grandson of Nathan Handwerker.

I'm sitting in his office. I'm just up here by myself.

They opened it up for me. I'm talking to this camera.

My grandfather died 14 years ago,

and there's still a lot of things left here... his rubber galoshes.

Here's a Nathan's iodized salt container.

Domino's sugar.

"What makes Nathan's famous?"

And what do you think the answer is?

The hot dog.

I think.

Maybe I should wear one of these.

What do you think? I don't know.

I never worked, personally, at Nathan's.

My cousins are in the business. My uncle runs the business.

[ No Audible Dialogue ]

Oh-oh! Oh!

Whoo!

[ Richard Traunstein ] Ah, yes. Nathan Handwerker.

He was a god in Brooklyn. He really was.

[ Al Shalik ] There is one Babe Ruth in baseball.

There's one Einstein in science.

There was one Nathan in the food business.

He had the genius, the intelligence, the schmaltz...

Whatever you wanna call it, he had it.

[ Crowd Sounds ]

[ Jay Cohen ] No education and barely could write his name,

he took a little hot dog stand and built it into an empire.

[ Jimmy Bologna ] Who was this guy?

He's just taking franks. He's squishing them...

and then putting them on a scale and...

In a little cup, spitting out the remains, and opening another box.

I'm just about ready to grab him 'cause I figured it's gotta be a nut. There's a nut.

There's a nut walking into my store. A nut! I'm gonna get in trouble.

Johnny, he goes, "No, no, no. That is Nathan."

How do you check on frankfurters by biting them and spitting them?

He says his taste buds is his only mechanism.

[ Al Shalik ] Serve a customer a frankfurter...

with a roll that wasn't toasted, he'd go crazy.

He says, "If you made a mistake, that's one thing.

But not toasting a roll is not a mistake, it's a sin."

[ Jay Cohen ] He was a very, very humble man,

and he would rip your nuts apart if you didn't do the right job.

I'll tell you that right now.

[ Jimmy Bologna ] The old man would be sitting on a milk crate...

holding onto the intercom pole...

yelling, "Give 'em and let 'em eat!

Give them. Let them eat. Feed them. Give them!"

[ Hyman Silverglad ] I doubt if there was a restaurant...

that did a better gross business than Nathan's...

in the whole United States. Of America.

I said the United States of America.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] In the year 2000 I took a trip to Poland...

to find and film my grandfather's childhood house.

When I finally found it, it was being torn down.

The year before my grandfather died,

he sat down with my cousin to tell his life story.

It was the only interview he ever recorded.

[ Tape: David Sternshein ] Let me just check. Um...

Hello, Grandpa. [ Nathan Handwerker Laughing ]

How you doing? Hi, David.

[ David ] Let me ask you something. When were you born?

[ Tape: Nathan Handwerker ]

[ Tape: David Sternshein ] Why not?

[ Tape: Knocking ]

[ Tape: Door Closes ]

[ Announcer ] The merry-go-round is far from modern.

It's been enjoyed since Grandma was a little girl.

[ Announcer #2 ] Here in New York is the home of the hot dog,

the block-long institution that flourishes year-round at Coney Island.

It goes by the name Nathan's Famous.

For Nathan Handwerker,

it was the big plunge into the mainstream of American enterprise.

Mr. Cohen, how many hot dogs do you sell here?

[ Jay Cohen ] Roughly, we sell about 75,000 a day, on a very busy weekend day.

About a quarter million people are down here on a busy day.

Bring 'em up here, no waiting. How many?

[ Morty Matz ] Everything's gotta work at an amazing pace.

This was fast food at nanosecond speed.

[ Hy Brown ] The atmosphere was hustle, bustle.

Almost wild, but it was coordinated wild.

[ Morris Sunshine ] And you had to move outta there,

otherwise you feel you'd be trampled.

I mean, you had to move.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Remember any of the famous people that...

[ Richard Traunstein ] Oh, how could you ever forget them?

Are we on now? [ Lloyd Handwerker ] Yeah.

Yeah? Sure. The famous people. Okay.

[ Richard Traunstein ] Never forget it.

They said to us, "You gotta go and tell the people they gotta finish up and leave."

Whoa!

This is Brooklyn. You gotta be cool with the people.

And who marches into the dining room...

[ Sighs ]

She wasn't Jackie Kennedy because her husband had been assassinated.

And she wasn't Jackie Onassis 'cause she hadn't gotten remarried.

So I guess she was just Jackie in the middle.

But anyway, there's Jackie Kennedy.

Wow!

In the schmutzy dining room of Nathan's, in the back, totally slumming it.

That little dining room was an absolute trip.

But it was low-class dining.

This was just as common as common could be.

[ Hy Brown ] The people after 3:00, 4:00 in the morning that are drunk,

and they would start ruckuses with the countermen.

[ Eddie Furst ] One time a guy got so mad at us,

he picked up a mustard bowl and hit me in the face with it.

[ Sidney Handwerker ] There were tough guys came to Coney Island, yeah.

We used to have fights with customers.

That happened, you know, a lot of times.

"I'll meet you outside."

[ Jay Cohen ] Look across the street.

That guy says, "We're looking for friendly people."

Nathan didn't look for friendly people.

He looked for people that were like horses...

who could come in at 10:00 and work till 10:00 the following night.

[ Hy Brown ] Jack Dreitzer, he was a real big bruiser.

He was a fast worker, but he was very nasty to customers.

[ Jay Cohen ] He would hit you with a hot spatula. He'd jab you with a fork.

[ Jack Dreitzer ] 'Course I wasn't gonna let nobody come over and say to me,

"Hey, you Jew bastard, give me a hamburger."

Uh-uh. When he did that to me, I'd say, "Come here. I wanna talk to you."

I'd reach over the counter, put my left hand behind his head, and I'd belt him with my right.

- They used to fall. - [ Audience Cheering On Cartoon ]

[ Leah Dreitzer ] Don't talk about the fights so much, Jack.

[ Jack Dreitzer ] It's all part of the business.

[ Leah Dreitzer ] All right. You said it.

Don't repeat yourself so much.

[ Jack Dreitzer ] I threw a tray at your grandfather one time.

If he didn't duck, he'd have got hit in the head.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] What was he saying?

[ Jack Dreitzer ] That the griddle was dirty and this and that.

I took the goddamn tray and I threw it at him.

I says, "Now you gonna get the hell outta here? Get inside!"

You know, of course I had no right to do that.

But, you know, how much can you take?

I don't know whether you know the story or not...

[ Leah Dreitzer ] There's no story!

You don't have to tell stories.

[ Hyman Silverglad ] O-Off the record...

I-I'm not gonna put this on the record.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] What? Okay... No... No.

I'm gonna stand here... [ Lloyd Handwerker Laughing ] Okay. Okay. What?

[ Hyman Silverglad ] No one ever got a ticket for double parking...

in front of Nathan's.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] How about policemen and things like that?

[ Jay cohen ] You wanna hear about that?

Because that's not on the up-and-up.

If you want it, you'll get it. This is 40 years later.

You have to understand, we did not have seating, we didn't have parking.

So it was important that we did have double parking.

So in other words, if a car was to come up and double park...

and run across the street and pick up three hot dogs, french fries and a soda,

we did not, as management, want that customer to be harassed.

And there were two men on the police department on the sidewalks.

Every one of those men would get two dollars per day,

and if the management had trouble with a rowdy customer, the policemen would step in.

Because after all, he was on your payroll.

It was a known fact that Nathan's was good people to the police department.

[ Female Reporter ] When a siren blared, up popped a cop.

Nathan's claimed Officer Norman Donahue...

was eating the company's 565,000,000th hot dog.

What makes a good frank? I don't know.

[ Chuck Scarborough ] 565 million Nathan's hot dogs. Trying to envision that is...

I can't, Chuck. Mind-boggling.

I-I just can't do it. [ Both Laughing ]

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Now it's working.

[ Max Kamiel ] Oh, is it on? Yeah.

[ Claire Kamiel ] All right. Go ahead.

Go ahead.

You want to recollect something? Yes.

Go ahead. You're Claire Kamiel.

I am Claire Kamiel.

This is Max Kamiel speaking.

[ Claire Kamiel ] They were just two of the greatest friends.

And we miss them a lot.

Therefore, when you came to the door and you said...

I never let anyone into the house. I'm alone, you know, or...

And you said you're Nathan Handwerker's grandson.

You said the magic words.

That's it.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Did Grandpa talk about his success?

He never said, "I made so much money," or, uh, that's...

He always gave the credit to the friends. The friends.

He always put the friends on a pedestal.

He was that type.

He was always for the underdog. Always.

The day came...

He made a statement to my house.

If his two sons come back from war,

he's gonna give a Sefer Torah.

- And that's what he did. - [ Claire Kamiel ] And he gave a Sefer Torah.

And the entire Coney Island was there.

[ Max Kamiel ] Music and dancing and...

All the food that you could possibly eat...

was brought in by Nathan Handwerker.

They walked with the scroll through the streets.

- [ Max Kamiel ] Music... - [ Claire Kamiel ] And music and dancing.

With all the food that you could possibly eat!

Nobody was questioned.

Only one thing... help yourself, enjoy.

Nathan Handwerker.

That's it.

[ Max Kamiel ] So, there's something to be proud of in that heritage,

I can tell you that.

[ Claire Kamiel ] Okay. I think we gave you enough.

What else do you want to know?

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] I wanna stay a little longer,

'cause you'll remember some stories you might not think of right now.

- What was the depression like? - [ Claire Kamiel ] It didn't affect his business.

He sold a frankfurter for five cents.

[ Max Kamiel ] Less than that. Three cents.

[ Claire Kamiel ] No, no, no, no. It was a five-cent frankfurter.

It was five cents a frankfurter.

Never three. Five.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] How about problems with his business?

Or family problems?

[ Claire Kamiel ] Family problems...

There's a lot of stories about family problems.

That I don't... That's not my business. I cannot...

That's not for me to say.

No, I can't.

There's jealousies and there's hate...

and there's a lot of things that occur.

It occurs in every family.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Mm-hmm.

That's it.

[ Bangs Hand On Table ]

That's it.

[ Lloyd Handwerker Narrating ] I knew from a very early age...

that my dad wasn't happy working at Nathan's.

He left the family business when I was about seven years old,

and I spent very little time in the Nathan's of Coney Island.

In fact, I only remember being there once or twice during my entire childhood.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Did you guys fight a lot?

[ Sol Handwerker ] We argued a lot.

'Cause we had different points of view about many things.

And a lot of it involved ego and, uh...

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] You talking about Murray and you or Grandpa and you?

[ Sol Handwerker ] All of us. We all had our struggles.

Grandpa and I, Grandpa and Murray, Murray and I.

But, uh, I don't wanna get... [ Chuckles ]

I don't wanna get involved in some of the stuff that, uh... uh...

that's sensitive.

Not on tape. [ Chuckles ]

[ Tape: Nathan Handwerker ]

[ Tape: David Sternshein ] You didn't want to go?

When you left your parents, did you say good-bye? No.

[ Tape: David Shernshein ] You couldn't leave? You weren't supposed to leave?

'Cause you were supposed to go in the army?

[ Tape: David Shernshein ] Smart.

[ Tape: Nathan Speaking Gibberish ]

[ Tape: David Shernshein Laughs ]

[ Tape: David Shernshein ] Okay, so wait a second.

[ Jay Cohen ] I would suggest you go to Coney Island...

and look for a guy named Blackie, the garbageman.

Yeah? He knew Nathan well.

Blackie? Blackie.

My nickname is Blackie.

You understand? My right name is Johnny Casillo.

I knew your grandfather since I was a little bit of a boy,

when I came down here with my grandfather.

We were selling fruit, potatoes, onions and everything.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] What was so special about him?

[ Johnny "Blackie" Casillo ] He was a man. You know why?

You didn't have to put nothin' on papers.

If you said somethin' to him verbal,

it was better than puttin' your signature on a piece of paper.

That's how honorable he was. Where you gonna find those people today anymore?

[ Johnny "Blackie" Casillo ] My family works in the lumber business.

Daddy'd come over here. He's in the, whadda you call it, chamber of commerce.

I hope I get a spot to park my car. Oh, gee.

This is a grandson of Nathan's.

- [ Matt Kennedy ] Oh, yeah? - He's looking for any kind of information.

When do you need it? Today? [ Lloyd Handwerker ] No. Anytime.

What is your name now? Lloyd.

L-L-O-Y-D. Yeah.

Yeah. Handwerker.

[ Matt Kennedy ] Oh, you're a Handwerker?

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Right. My father was Sol. Oh! Is Sol your dad?

Yeah. Oh.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Did you know my grandfather?

[ Gregory Bitetzakis ] Oh, yeah.

Yep. Knew him well.

[ Woman ] Eat 'em up over here!

He always worked hard. A gentleman and a scholar.

They don't make 'em like that no more.

That's what they say of the old school.

What do you got?

[ Boy ] Coke. Eighty-five.

Small one?

[ Man ] How long has the aquarium been down there?

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] How about my grandmother? Do you remember her?

[ Gregory Bitetzakis ] Yeah. A real lady.

What a beautiful lady she was.

[ Sol Handwerker ] My mother used to bring us down to the store...

and put us in a frankfurter roll basket...

so that we can play while she can go out on the counter...

and work alongside of my father.

'Cause this has always been a family business.

[ Sidney Handwerker ] One thing I remember about Sol.

He always had something, politically, for you to sign.

"Ban the bomb," or... He was always a socialist, or whatever he was.

[ Sol Handwerker ] I don't ever remember them talking about...

being in the business or saying something... it was a fact of life.

I was there. I was part of it till I went to the army.

Came back, went to college.

I had worked in machine shops for a while.

So I would drop in and out of the business...

and, uh, some time after we were married, Mom and I,

Grandpa wanted me to come back into the business.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Why do you think he wanted you to come back into the business?

[ Sol Handwerker ] Many fathers want their children to be part of the business.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] You never wantedme to be part of the business.

[ Sol Handwerker ] I would not want you to be part of the business.

It was a tough business.

I wouldn't want my children to be part of that kind of thing.

I'd want them to have a better life,

a more interesting life.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Didn't Grandpa have a great life?

[ Sol Handwerker ] Well, he did in some ways,

but he worked very, very hard.

He sacrificed his life for that business.

But he had no regrets.

Is it raining?

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Do you think Grandpa was proud of you...

as a person, as a worker?

[ Sol Handwerker ] Grandpa never expressed himself that well...

in terms of things of that sort.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Why do you think that was?

[ Sol Handwerker ] I, uh... Lloyd, I don't know.

I have no idea. [ Lloyd Handwerker ] You ever talk about it?

Lloyd, it's a different world.

You don't just go into all of those things...

psychological things, talking about it.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] What, say you're doing a great job...

or anything like that?

He... That... That wasn't his style.

He was a tough guy.

He was much more critical than ever... than praising people.

If he didn't say anything, he was praising you.

If he didn't criticize you.

That was his way.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Was Grandma praising? [ Sol Handwerker ] No.

Grandma was not one to praise.

She was also a critical person.

Not as much as Grandpa, but she was.

That's the way they were, the way they were brought up. It was a tough life.

And, uh...

[ Rain Pattering ]

Jesus Christ.

[ Lloyd Handwerker Narrating ] In 2006 I called my uncle Murray in Florida.

We hadn't spoken in almost 20 years,

when I had last interviewed him in his office in Times Square.

Growing up, my uncle and my dad had a very rocky relationship,

and when I tried to ask him about it,

he really wasn't comfortable talking about it.

[ Murray Handwerker ] Hello. Welcome here to our abode.

My name is Murray Handwerker,

and, uh, very happy that you're here.

We had a conversation, what, how many years ago?

Twenty-something. In your office. Yeah.

Yeah. I remember that.

[ Murray Handwerker On Phone ] After all, I sit on the board of a bank,

I sit on the board of a convention business bureau.

If there's no conflict...

[ Murray Handwerker ] See, my father worked 17, 18 hours a day.

[ Dorothy Handwerker ] And your mother worked too.

[ Murray Handwerker ] And my mother worked too.

In the summertime, they had to get me out of their hair.

They sent me to summer camp out in the Catskills.

And my father used to come to see me in camp.

He used to drive up early in the morning, see us,

bring us some salamis and frankfurters and things like that.

[ Murray Handwerker ] And we were very proud that he took the time...

Went to visit me for two hours and went back to Coney Island. That's a three-hour trip.

And I used to beg him to stay for lunch.

"Stay and have lunch with me." "No, I gotta go back to work."

Today they'd call it a workaholic.

And I worked hard. And I thought I did a great job.

This is my traumatic experience with my father,

when I was older and I should have known better.

He came to the kitchen. I was proud, I was happy. Everything was going great.

He says, "You're watching this place?"

I says, "Yeah. How do you like it?"

He spotted a raw potato that came out of the machine.

"Yeah, That's waste. That's waste. The profit's in there."

And my father, when he criticized me like that,

I was devastated.

He's always worrying.

Took us many years before we convinced him to go to Florida for vacation.

And in 1947, when he was down there,

we had that terrible blizzard up here.

That day he called up, wanted to know how things were.

When he called, we had already sold 6,000 frankfurters.

But he kept on worrying. Isn't that so, Pop?

[ Al Shalik ] He had two sons working the business.

They didn't realize they had another brother,

and the other brother was Nathan's.

They didn't realize this. Or maybe they did.

And, you know... And, uh, he...

What the hell is this? It's one of those... one of these golden...

[ Loud Chirping ] Get outta here.

That's a... cricket.

He'd embarrass them in front of the other people... raising his voice.

Not meaning to be mean, but he wanted to show he was the boss.

[ Jay Cohen ] He did go after his children unmercifully because they were not like him.

Nathan was not an office person. Nathan was outside watching the potatoes, how they were cooked.

His children were not into that. They were not into the nitty-gritty of the business.

They were not into the nitty-gritty.

'Cause he expected them to be like him.

It was obvious there was no way in hell that was gonna happen.

He would never compliment them when they did a good job.

He just couldn't. He didn't show love.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] For me, I didn't see... Grandpa was a kitten.

[ Jay Cohen ] You thought he was a pussycat, huh?

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Well, he was, as a grandfather.

[ Jay Cohen ] Well, I'm glad you have that.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] No, I loved my... They were very warm.

[ Jay Cohen ] And I'm sure nothing anybody's gonna say...

is gonna change it, to you at least.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Do you remember any of the songs you used to sing at the counter?

[ Joe Handwerker ] Okay, let's... Because I have to, uh...

[ Sighs ] I don't like to rush you, but, you know...

When the bars and grills closed,

when the... when the movie houses closed,

they were 20 people deep.

I thought they were gonna push the place into the ocean. That's how busy we were.

[ Man Talking, Indistinct ]

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Let me ask... One second.

[ Joe Handwerker ] Oh, he don't know. What the hell does he care about...

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Let's just sit down... Let's sit over there.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] That bench? That's two benches down. Thank you very kindly.

The man asked you in a nice way! [ Man ] So what?

So what? What the hell do you care?

What am I supposed to do? He asked you in a nice way.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Come down one more bench.

Huh? Come on! You're full of shit. Don't tell me what you are.

[ Man ] Go fuck yourself, man. Go and fuck yourself! Who do you think you are?

I got anger in me. I'll have to take a pill pretty soon.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] What, your heart? Huh? Yeah.

Ah, he was... [ Chuckles ]

They don't know they started off with the wrong guy.

And, uh...

- [ Joe Handwerker ] Were you mentioned in the will? - [ Lloyd Handwerker ] Yes.

You got some money, right?

I wasn't.

Everybody thinks he left me a million dollars.

I didn't get a... I didn't get five pennies.

When I worked for him, he buttered me.

Kept buttering me for 50 years.

Kissed me and hugged me and he loved me,

and I'm his right-hand man.

He couldn't live without me. He couldn't do without me.

A-And look what I... what I wound up with. Nothing.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] So you're saying he had two different sides to him?

[ Joe Handwerker ] He had two... He was two-faced.

And I'm not ashamed to tell you. It's the truth.

Look, if you wanna cut this out, what I just told you...

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Yeah, most of the material I'm not gonna use.

[ Joe Handwerker ] But this, what I just told you about your grandfather, you know...

I mean, I get aggravated.

When I retired,

I got a...

I-I-I got a gold watch...

after 50 years.

All right? Yeah.

Every time I look at it, I could cry.

I-I don't even wear it. I don't wear it.

I don't wear it. Okay, let's...

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Talk about Joe and Nathan's relationship.

[ Sidney Handwerker ] Oh, they... They were very close. Very close.

Joe was very instrumental in Nathan's becoming what it was.

[ Jay Cohen ] He used to fight with Joe a lot.

You could hear when they were at each other's throats.

They would lock themselves in the office and holler their asses off.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Did they curse? [ Jay Cohen ] In Jewish.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Really?

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Yeah. He didn't smile?

Not at work?

He was very serious?

[ Jay Cohen ] He was feared. He was a feared boss. He was a tough boss.

Nathan was this kind of a guy.

[ Jay Cohen ] He was a very charitable man. People don't know that.

If there was a customer on the street...

that didn't have the price of a hot dog, he'd say, "Jay, Give it to him."

He didn't want the guy to see that he gave it to him.

That's what I call a charitable man.

Why? Because he didn't want the whole world to know he gave that kind of a contribution.

I respected him because of that.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] What about my grandmother?

Did you hear any stories about her? [ Jay Cohen ] Yes.

His love, really, was his wife. I have not a bad word to say about that lady.

[ Anna Singer ] Hello, darling.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Tell me about how they met.

[ Anna Singer ] How'd they meet?

Nathan's wife and I, we built out, when we were single, a stand...

two, three yards from Nathan's.

So we didn't do no business!

And Nathan came outside and he was laughing.

"Two girls, they build a stand!"

So then he says, "I'll give them a job...

and pay big money."

So she says, "All right, Anna. I'm gonna go work for him."

So she was working for him quite a few weeks.

And then somebody said she put in the pocket two dollars.

Somebody said that Ida was stealing two dollars.

So Ida came to me and I told her,

"Don't go no more."

[ Women Chattering ] [ Lloyd Handwerker ] You wanna come by?

[ Woman ] You want me to exercise...

Okay. [ Lloyd Handwerker ] Okay.

"Don't... Don't you dare go back there."

And Nathan came.

I says, "If you say my friend steals, you prove me...

Take me to the police station.

If not, I'll take you."

So he came to me, I chased him out.

And then he came with a... with a cake...

and with whiskey.

We should make up. He wants to marry her.

Oh, I says, nowyou can come into my house.

And they made an appointment to get married.

And they were a very happy couple.

Very happy.

She was my friend.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Do you know the story about Grandpa hiding in the closet?

Oh, well, she...

He was... [ Laughs ]

He... He had a habit in the dresses...

To stay and have a dress and look out.

And stay for hours and hours.

How do you know all those things?

He was standing there between the closet,

between the dresses,

to see if somebody don't go in to his wife.

She was an honest wife...

and he was an honest husband.

Should I say how old I am?

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Sure.

Ninety-three.

And I don't feel it.

I feel like, uh,

thirty.

[ Hy Schuchman ] You got beer?

You got beer? [ Lena Schuchman ] What?

Beer. Beer. You got? What?

Beer? Yeah.

[ Lena Schuchman ] What can I do for you? To bring you something to eat?

A sandwich? And I'll make it.

I got, uh...

I'm gonna see what I got...

and I'll come back to tell you.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Okay. Oh, thank you.

Here. Okay.

Are you gonna eat too, both of you? Would you like something, Hymie?

Shall I make you a sandwich? Yeah?

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Were you... Were you close to Grandpa?

[ Lena Schuchman ] Yeah, yeah. We were very good to one another.

Yeah. We always went to visit them.

And they gave us... meals whenever we were there.

Dinner.

And they treated us nice all the time.

Oy, Ida, she didn't have such a good life.

They were never too happy, Ida, your grandma.

They were never too happy together.

[ Hy Schuchman ] Now, don't say that.

[ Lena Schuchman ] Money didn't help. [ Hy Schuchman ] Don't say that.

I shouldn't say? It's the truth.

He says don't say that.

I couldn't keep it in me if I know it's the truth.

She was never too happy.

[ Whirring ]

[ No Audio ]

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Dad, let me ask you a question. [ Sol Handwerker On Phone ] Yes.

I was listening to an interview with Lena... Lena Schuchman.

And she said Grandma and Grandpa were never too happy in their marriage.

Do you think that's true?

[ Sol Handwerker ] She said that? She said that.

[ Sol Handwerker ] Yeah.

So what does she know?

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] I don't know.

[ Sol Handwerker ] I don't know either.

And Anna Singer said they were very happy.

[ Sol Handwerker ] I don't know who's telling the truth. I don't know.

Or who knows.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] All right. I always thought of them as being very happy together.

[ Sol Handwerker ] It's hard to know.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Okay.

[ Sol Handwerker ] People pretend to be a lot of things.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] What about when you left to start your own business?

That had to make Grandma unhappy, right? Did she ever talk about that?

[ Sol Handwerker ] No.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Grandpa did, right? Yeah.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] I thought you told me...

that he said he wanted you to stay in the business.

[ Sol Handwerker ] Oh, of course he did. That goes without saying.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] All right, Dad. Love you.

[ Sol Handwerker ] I love you too.

[ Boat Horn Blowing ]

[ Horns Continue Blowing ]

[ Nathan Handwerker ] Testing, testing, testing.

This is it? This here. Yeah. Go ahead.

[ Nathan Handwerker ]

[ Tape: David Sternshein ] Just from hearing.

You didn't understand it though?

[ Tape: Nathan ]

[ Larry Moyer ] I remember I went there in middle of the winter.

It was like a blizzard.

People are lined up for Nathan's hot dogs...

in the middle of the winter on Coney Island.

Why Nathan's hot dogs should be better than any of those...

You figure, what can you do with a hot dog?

[ Paul Berlly ] Remember when it was bigger.

It was all beef.

The frankfurter was made out of bull meat...

and a pastrami or corned beef trimmings.

The outside of the frankfurter was the intestines of a sheep.

When you bite into the one with the skin on, it gives a snap.

He always used the highest-quality ingredients. Always.

[ Jimmy Bologna ] The meat didn't come in pre-wrapped.

These came in sides of beef. Not frozen.

[ Morris Sunshine ] French fries... excellent.

[ Maria Argano ] First of all, the way they were crinkled.

And then they would get so perfectly, beautifully deep-fried.

[ Richard Traunstein ] That fry bar... the seafood fry bar.

Wow, was that popular.

[ Maria Argano ] By the way, Nathan's... nobody knows this...

had the best clam chowder in the world.

They used to shuck the clams right there and put them right in.

[ Jimmy Bologna ] You had fresh filet which was cut... by hand.

Not... [ Imitates Chopping ]

Open it up... [ Raps Tabletop ]

[ Joe Sciammetta ] The orange juice... fresh squeezed.

And then they did the chow mein sandwich.

The chow mein on the bun. [ Lloyd Handwerker ] Yeah.

Then you had the barbecue. That was delicious.

Remember the barbecue? I remember everything. That whole menu.

[ Larry Moyer ] If I was goin' to the electric chair...

and they said, "What's the last thing you wanna eat?"

It would be a Nathan's hot dog. [ Laughing ]

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] You feeding me lines? [ Woman Laughs ]

[ Man Echoing ] Nathan's Famous, Incorporated.

[ Radio: Announcer ] Speaking of going into the water,

everybody's gonna be going down to Coney Island this summer, right?

[ Richard Traunstein ] I would walk in every day really stoned out, heavy duty.

And I even smoked at Nathan's too.

I'd go into the little toilet with a little hash pipe and take a few quick hits.

And the stuff was dynamite in those days.

The early hashes were wipeouts.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] And what was it like working there high?

[ Laughing ] What can I tell ya?

Working there... It helped because, you know, being stoned and all...

I went just... I only did it one time.

I went to work there one day...

really, really heavily tripping on LSD.

Oh, yes, I remember crystal clear.

I know. [ Chuckles ]

One of the black guys who worked at the counter,

as I was walking into the back area, he saw me.

He said hello to me.

And he looked at me and to me he said,

"Boy, you look like Moses when he crossed the Red Sea."

I said, "Oh, boy." [ Whistles ]

I could look through the people,

and I could actually dominate them...

and dominate them to give me higher tips, and they did.

It was kind of this psychic energy.

You know how they have the mustard... The LSD?

Yes. You bet.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Let's hear that story.

They had these big metal bowls on the counters...

with these wooden sticks in 'em.

The metal bowls were filled with mustard.

And what you did was, you took the wooden stick...

and you schmeared the frankfurter with the mustard.

However, when there were rumors about people dropping LSD into the mustard,

they immediately took away those big bowls with those wooden sticks...

and the mustards now came in these little plastic packs, and it wasn't nearly the same.

I mean, I didn't get high on LSD from eating the mustard.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Um... [ Laughs ]

♪♪ [ Man Singing In Spanish ]

You're not taking picture, right? Yeah, I am.

You're taking pictures? Yes. Why?

This is my type.

Yeah, see the people, how they dress? Yeah, yeah.

Unbelievable. My God.

So beautiful.

Thirty years I work here.

I didn't change my job.

Maybe I could make more money someplace... No, I wanted that place.

[ Hyman Silverglad ] These people,

if they worked in other places, they got minimum wage.

He paid them far above that.

If one of his workers came over to him and said,

"Nathan, I would like to buy a house.

I don't have the money, you know?"

So he'd say, "Don't worry.

Buy the house. You'll get a no-interest loan for the mortgage from me."

For the valuable employees, he did that many times.

They loved him. Those employees loved him.

And they remained on for years and years.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] How long did these guys work there?

[ Jay Cohen ] Till they died. [ Lloyd Handwerker ] Yeah. Yeah?

[ Hy Brown ] Literally. Till they died.

[ Hy Brown ] We had a maintenance man there called Gerry Monetti.

Says, "Hy, promise me that what I tell you, you'll get done."

And I said, "Why you telling me that, Gerry?"

Next day he died in the store.

He was laid out on the griddle,

and I came into work and I saw that.

I went into the office and I slammed the desk,

and an envelope fell off the top shelf.

It says, "To Hy Brown in case I die. Gerry Monetti."

And in that he had paper after paper,

what we should do in the store...

Clean this corner. We should buy a new piece of equipment.

To his dying day he was working for the good of Nathan's.

[ No Audible Dialogue ]

[ Richard Traunstein ] I'll never forget one of the guys working at the counter.

He's just whipping out these things at such a fast pace.

They bring him the basket. He puts it in the...

[ Imitates Machine ] Bubbling up.

And he was working at such a frenzy,

his whole shirt, from the heat, split open.

What a work dedication. My God!

The man... The man is... His skin is blistering from the heat,

and he's still whipping these things out. [ Laughs ]

How they could get the people to work that way,

I don't know.

[ Jack Dreitzer ] I wanted to be the fastest...

and the best at whatever I did.

Nobody in the world could sell hamburgers as fast as I could.

Nobody could ever sell 'em as fast as me. Nobody.

[ Chattering ]

[ Nathan Silverglad ] He was a, uh, enlightened employer.

Coney Island was verysegregated.

And one day, all of a sudden, you saw a number of black people...

working the counter and as managers.

[ Felix Vasquez ] There was no discrimination in there.

There were no discrimination. If it was Jewish or it was black or it's a Puerto Rican.

You got people from all over the world.

You know?

Nathan's was like a family.

We all fit. We all fit in there.

[ Joe Handwerker ] You're takin' my picture all this time?

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Yeah.

[ Man On PA, Indistinct ]

You want over to Nathan's, or what? Yeah, let's walk over there.

Huh? Yeah.

Well, there's nothing to...

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] You don't want to walk over? Haven't got the time.

Don't have the time?

Where did the store start originally?

Right here, this corner. Right... Little bit past the pole.

How you been? [ Izzy Rodriquez ] Good. How are you?

Okay. [ Joe Handwerker ] You wanna eat?

Fellas.

Come on in. [ Lloyd Handwerker ] Okay.

Enter.

Okay.

Boy, I'm gaining a lot of weight.

[ Man ] Aw, you look good. I'm gaining...

I gained too much weight. Gotta lose.

Put an apron on and get to work. [ Joe Handwerker ] No, no, no.

No more. No more work for me.

Believe me, I can get plenty of work. Sol...

You know who that is?

He's a Handwerker. That's Sol Handwerker's son.

[ Sol Seiderman ] Sure, I can see he's a Handwerker. I see the face.

[ Joe Handwerker ] He's been working here about 25 years.

[ Sol Seiderman ] Thirty-three years.

[ Joe Handwerker ] Thirty-three years. I hired him.

[ Sol Chuckling ] That's right.

[ Jose Santiago ] Hello, boss. How you doing?

[ Joe Handwerker ] All old-timers. All old-timers.

He's in charge of the kitchen.

Hi. How you doin'? Hey! How are you?

How's everything? All right.

Just tell it like it is. [ Laughs ]

Okay. Right.

So what do you want to eat?

I must make it quick. [ Lloyd Handwerker ] I don't know.

[ Chattering ] [ Lloyd Handwerker ] Thanks a lot.

[ Man ] Take care. Enjoy.

[ Man #2 ] How are you? All right.

Hey. How are ya?

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] How does it feel being back in the kitchen?

Does it make you feel like you want to work? Yeah, well...

I miss it. I miss it.

Believe me.

♪ A hamburger in the middle and an onion on the top ♪

♪ All hot ♪

♪ Red hot ♪

♪ A nickel, a nickel Only a nickel ♪♪

You know, everything was a nickel then.

[ Echoing ] ♪ A nickel, a nickel Only a nickel ♪

[ Riders Screaming ]

[ Dorothy Handwerker ] Murray was the one who started building the other stores...

and saying that we need to expand.

When Murray came home from the army, Murray said to Nathan,

"You know, I really feel that we can't have just one store.

People are moving out to Long Island, into the suburbs.

All the vets are coming home.

We should think of expanding."

Grandpa says, "Have one store.

It's enough for all the family.

You'll all earn a living."

Murray kept saying, "Times have changed.

You have to have more than one store.

You gotta grow. You gotta do different things."

[ Steve Handwerker ] His sons had different needs. His sons wanted to expand.

His sons wanted to do different things with it.

Which was not wrong. It was just different philosophy.

My dad built the business a lot and he worked very hard,

but he didn't have Grandpa's same values.

He never wanted to expand. He only wanted to operate something that he could watch.

[ Nathan Handwerker ] You and Sol think you know everything.

Well, let me tell you,

I expect to be here a lot more years,

and I'll see that you learn a little more.

[ Murray Handwerker ] I wanted Oceanside, a perfect deal.

Seven acres. Seven.

It was a beautiful business.

My father says, "I want nothing to do with it. Absolutely nothing."

I hocked everything we had.

And at that time, my father did everything...

to discourage me to be successful... everything.

Don't give him any help. He's gotta do what he's gotta do on his own.

[ Sol Handwerker ] Murray and I, our philosophy was totally different.

He was interested in big things, big businesses, big stores.

I was interested in smaller stores,

not a restaurant like Murray was trying to make...

and that's not succeeding.

[ Sidney Handwerker ] I'll tell you one thing I wouldn't touch...

is the relationship between Murray and Sol.

That's... That I...

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] You can tell me off camera. No, I...

[ Paul Berlly ] I think it broke Nathan's heart a little bit.

He didn't like the fight between Murray and Sol.

He said he can't understand what was going on between the two of them.

He says the business is big enough to hold the two of them.

[ Sol Handwerker ] At one time, I adored Murray when I was much younger.

I thought he was God.

But then, when I got involved in the business with him and saw what he was like,

it was a big disappointment for me and, uh...

He didn't really respect me and want to hear from me in terms of my opinion.

He wasn't concerned about my opinion.

I had my ideas of how to operate a business,

and I couldn't convince Pop to do anything about it.

So what could I accomplish? Nothing.

He wanted assurance that when Pop was gone,

that he would be in control.

Total control. Period.

That's what he wanted.

What can I say?

I hate to go through this, but it was sad.

To me, it was sad.

You know.

[ No Audible Dialogue ]

[ Sol Handwerker ] That's one of the reasons I went into Snacktime.

[ Lloyd Handwerker Narrating ] It was 1963, and my dad left Nathan's...

to open his own place.

It was called Snacktime,

on West 34th Street in midtown Manhattan.

It stayed open for 15 years, and my dad never worked for Nathan's again.

[ Tape: Nathan Handwerker ]

[ Tape: David Sternshein ] So through the '20s business was good and you kept...

[ Tape: Nathan Handwerker ]

[ Tape: Nathan Handwerker ]

[ Tape: Nathan Handwerker ]

[ Dorothy Handwerker ] We didn't realize she needed that,

and we were too young and too stupid to understand that.

He thought he was being good to her. [ Laughs ]

He thought he was helping her,

but we were wrong.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Grandpa ever talk about retirement?

Was he real sad about that?

[ Jay Cohen ] Yes. Yes. [ Lloyd Handwerker ] Did he talk personally about that?

I'm curious about some of that. [ Jay Cohen ] Okay.

He felt very bad about leaving,

but he knew it was inevitable that he was going to leave.

[ Hy Brown ] Didn't he feel he was kind of pushed out? He felt it. I'm sure of it.

And I think he got the idea that he wasn't wanted around there anymore...

because the expansion was a fact and it was gonna go on,

and Coney Island was gonna have less attention paid to it because of that.

The only one he could depend on in Coney Island to stay and watch was Joe Handwerker...

because the boys were...

It wasn't even the boys when the expansion started, it was Murray.

Because Sol had his own place then.

[ Steve Handwerker ] He enjoyed aspects of retirement,

namely his garden and his trees,

but he didn't really feel welcome when he came back.

He felt like he was coming back into a strange place.

It was beginning to be transformed...

into a much more profit center...

rather than a family business.

[ Steve Handwerker ] He wanted to be more involved till the day he died.

He wanted to die in the store, actually.

He said to me once, "I wanted to die here. I didn't want to retire ever."

[ No Audible Dialogue ]

[ Vocal Quartet ] ♪ Oh, good-bye my Coney Island baby ♪

♪♪ [ Continues ]

[ Female Announcer ] It has been said that Nathan'sis New York...

or at least their public relations people really know how to throw a party.

It's Nathan's 65th birthday.

The time was noon, the place, Times Square, the smell of weenies everywhere.

[ Reporter ] Big, better pigs. Better pigs.

No, it's not pigs. It's beef.

Better beef. Better beef.

We don't use pigs. It's beef. Beef frankfurters.

I personally like 'em naked.

I like to get the taste of the juices...

without any interference of mustard or sauerkraut or relish.

[ Lloyd Handwerker Narrating ] In 1968, my Uncle Murray...

convinced my grandfather to go public.

He wanted to use the money to expand Nathan's,

beginning with a giant new store and corporate offices in Times Square.

[ Hy Brown ] The store was open about three, four months,

and Murray Handwerker got in touch with me...

and asked me to come down to the store.

He said it needed some good management.

And I came down and ran the store.

Murray Handwerker put up an office there.

Like having a suite in a hotel,

with carpeting... Persian carpeting...

with gold faucets, gold handles,

with everything that you could think of.

It was so beautiful.

And then he took downstairs,

and he tried to make it into a steakhouse...

with a fine menu, with a bar,

and then he found out the hard way...

that people do not come to a hot dog place...

to go downstairs to a steakhouse.

[ Steve Handwerker ] But I think Grandpa was right about no complicated restaurants...

and dealing with all this hoopty-do that Times Square had...

because he knew that it would eventually take the company down,

which, of course, it did.

It was a different business.

It was a bigger business. It was a franchise business.

Twenty, 30, 40, 50... Kept growing and growing.

[ Sidney Handwerker ] When Nathan's went public, opened at 15 went up to 46.

But then they bought out this chain of hamburger places,

and it went down to 50 cents. [ Chuckles ]

[ Jay Cohen ] When Murray was in charge of things,

the company really went to pot, rack and ruin.

He ends up buying a bankrupt company,

he takes the bankrupt management with him,

and he pops out all the people that helped make this company successful.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Why?

He feared us. He feared...

Me, he didn't like anymore because he knew that I was Nathan's "stepchild." Stepson.

What do you mean, he feared you?

He feared me 'cause I always used say to him...

that Nathan wouldn't have liked it this way... He didn't want to hear that.

He really didn't want to hear that...

because I was very negative toward what he wanted to do.

Right. And I had to go.

And after 30 years, I was told I don't need you anymore.

So that was a nice good-bye.

To bring it up is really... It's tearful. It hurts.

But it wouldn't have happened if Pop was around. The grandpa.

That's all I wanted you to be aware of.

[ TV Reporter ] Nathan's has a huge reputation, and a good one.

People come here from all over the city,

even bypassing the Nathan's branches...

that have opened up in the suburbs and the city.

But they are sentimentalists and not gourmets...

because Nathan's is grossly overrated.

[ Al Shalik ] 'Cause he said you can't have your ass in two chairs, and he was right.

He wanted every place to be run properly, but you couldn't do it.

Nathan's became too sophisticated.

They had big fancy offices.

Their overhead became so immense, they closed up over 40 places.

[ Steve Handwerker ] There was a lot of fraud.

There was a lot of problems with dishonest franchisees.

And that was a totally different dimension of business.

And then the business... And then they sold the business...

to these other people, this private corp.

[ Chattering, Laughing ]

[ Man ] ♪ Coney Island washboard she would play ♪

♪ You could hear her on the boardwalk every day ♪

♪ Soap suds all around ♪

♪ Little bubbles on the ground ♪

♪ Rub-a-dub-a-dub In her little tub ♪

♪ All those tunes she found ♪♪

♪♪ [ Continues ]

[ Tape: Nathan Handwerker ]

[ Nurse ] Your brother is here.

[ Murray Handwerker ] Oh. Hello.

Hi, fella. Hi.

Good to see you, fella. Same here. How are you?

How are you? I'm okay.

[ Murray Handwerker ] Where's your wife?

[ Sol Handwerker ] Right here. Right here.

[ Minnie Handwerker ] How are you? Tired.

Tired? Oh.

[ Murray Handwerker ] You look very well.

[ Sol Handwerker ] Yeah? Thank you.

How old are you?

[ Sol Handwerker ] Eighty-five.

How old am I? I think you're 89.

Eighty-nine? [ Laughter ]

[ Minnie Handwerker ] Hard to believe.

[ Sol Handwerker ] I don't remember... I don't remember dates.

I can't remember what details. I...

[ Chuckling ] I don't know.

[ Sighs ]

You'd better ask Mom some of these questions.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] You don't remember when the business was in trouble?

No.

I don't know.

You can't remember anymore?

I can't. Okay.

[ Chuckles ]

No, Lloyd, I knew all these things, and I can't remember.

Okay. That's all right. I'm just asking.

I can't remember.

Okay. It's okay.

And how about yourself? How would you like to be remembered?

How would I like to be remembered? [ Laughs ]

Let 'em forget about me.

Aw, come on. I don't care. I really don't care.

[ Laughs ] What can I tell you, Lloyd?

I just want my family to remember me that...

that I was an honest guy.

I'm proud of you.

You are? Yeah.

I am.

That's good. [ Laughs ]

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Go back... Yeah, go back a little.

Okay, there. And there you are.

[ Minnie Handwerker ] Oh, my God. I don't believe it.

[ Laughter ]

[ Sol Handwerker ] Is this a wedding or a funeral?

Oh, God. [ Laughs ]

That gap.

[ Woman ] It's beautiful. [ Sol Handwerker ] Beautiful.

[ Sol Handwerker ] I liked all the things I saw.

It brought back a lot of memories.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Yeah.

[ Lloyd Handwerker Narrating ] In 1974, my dad called me up...

and told me that my grandfather had died of a heart attack,

and it hit me hard that I was never gonna see him again.

And I was in the funeral procession,

and we went past the store in Coney Island,

and lined up on Surf Avenue...

were all the workers with their hands over their hearts...

as his casket rode by.

[ Jimmy Bologna ] When the funeral procession passed the front of the store,

we were closed.

We knew it was gonna pass at 11:00, and after that, we would open.

And we all stood there.

His family was hurting.

His employees were hurting more.

I cried.

[ No Audible Dialogue ]

[ Jimmy Bologna ] Everybody looked up to him. Everybody respected him.

Not because you sell 100 million hot dogs,

but because how he treated people.

And how you treat people is how you're gonna be remembered.

[ Jay Cohen ] I mean, hell. I mean...

With a pen and pencil? No. But upstairs, the common sense that he passed along.

Only once in a lifetime does a man like that come along, and when he died...

It's gone. In other words, that's the end of it.

Not the dynasty, but that's it, whatever it is.

Whatever it was is gone. There'll never be again another one.

And that was true.

The chief. We used to call him the chief.

Yeah.

[ Indistinct ] Well, I think you gotta it.

[ Gregory Bitetzakis ] I tell you, that is the most beautiful place in the world.

Coney Island, the boardwalk and that beach...

is the most beautiful place in the world.

It really takes a lot out of you knowing what it was and seeing what it is.

Takes a lot out of you.

[ Woman On Speakers ] ♪ Love someone new ♪ [ Man On PA, Indistinct ]

♪ When I'm crazy for you ♪♪

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Do any of these places open up at all?

[ Larry Rocco ] Yeah, they're gonna open up.

They're gonna stay a couple of hours and go home.

'Cause I've been here... This is my boss.

And I think I got three or four dollars in there.

You can't live on that. Forget it.

It costs me 3.50 to get over the bridge. Looks like a thing of the past.

[ Man Continues ] Ain't nobody comes down here anymore.

Hey, bowl game! Winner every game!

[ Paul Georgoulakos ] Now Coney Island, there's nothing left.

Used to be 170 stores on the boardwalk and under the boardwalk.

Now we've got seven.

That's it. [ Chuckles ]

[ Woman ] When they had the Parachute and everything, it was nice.

Now, little by little, it's starting to, uh,

you might as well say disintegrate.

[ Man ] And Nathan's, it's famous for a hundred years.

Wally, I don't think George Washington ever visited Garden Estates.

And in the meantime, I've got my cousin Burt...

spreading the rumor they discovered oil there.

♪ What do you do when you got a good thing goin'? ♪

[ Together ] ♪ Then you don't change a thing ♪

♪ Oh, yeah ♪♪

[ Sidney Handwerker ] Sometimes I go to a franchise Nathan's now,

and I see a few people waiting for a hot dog.

And somebody goes like this and they turn around,

and they take it and they turn around.

I say, my God, I can't believe it. Look at this.

What we used to do, somebody'd put a quarter down... boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

Next! Next! You know?

It was a different...

People don't have the same pride,

and they just look to get through the day now.

[ Tape: David Sternshein ] Any last words?

[ Tape: Nathan Handwerker ]

[ Tape: David Sternshein ] Okay.

[ Tape Recorder Clicks Off ]

[ Bob Levine ] We were out there one day, two high school kids,

doing a very menial job cleaning the parking lot,

and this big Cadillac pulled in and a guy in a suit got out.

He took a broom and he started sweeping.

And I asked him, I said, "Why do you want to help us do this?"

He says, "I'm Nathan Handwerker. I own this place."

And I said, "Wow. Nice to meet you."

And he spent an hour with us out in the parking lot...

just, you know, asking us where we went to school...

and how were we doing in school and that kind of stuff.

He gave a damn about us.

And he told us about the value of work,

that it doesn't matter what you're doing, do it right.

Do it to the best of your ability,

and you'll be rewarded for it.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] I guess there's not as much here in the office as I had hoped.

My grandfather's not here.

There's a few plaques and a few pictures,

and I guess they're gonna put them somewhere.

They think they have some kind of museum memorabilia.

I don't know what it adds up to.

I'm not sure that it... it adds up to a whole.

It certainly doesn't add up to them.

It certainly doesn't add up to their lives.

I don't know. I mean, I think that's...

that's about all I got to... [ Man On PA, Indistinct ]

[ Chattering, Laughing ]

[ Chattering Continues ]

♪♪ [ Mid-tempo Pop ]

[ Velvet Underground ] ♪ That's the story of my life ♪

♪ That's the difference between wrong and right ♪

♪ But Billy said ♪

♪ Both those words are dead ♪

♪ That's the story of my life ♪

♪ That's the story of my life ♪

♪ That's the difference between wrong and right ♪

♪ But Billy said ♪

♪ That both those words are dead ♪

♪ That's the story of my life ♪

♪ Oh, that's the story of my life ♪

♪ That's the difference between wrong and right ♪

♪ But Billy said ♪

♪ Both those words are dead ♪

♪ That's the story of my life ♪♪

♪♪ [ Ends ]

[ David Sternshein ] Everybody say their last words. The tape's running out.

[ Nathan Handwerker ] Oh, for goodness sakes, close it up already.

[ David Sternshein ] Grandma. Grandma, say good-bye.

[ Ida Handwerker ] Good-bye. Good night.

[ Nathan Handwerker ] I'll talk to you next time. I'll talk to you next time.

[ David Sternshein ] Okay, good-bye, Grandpa.

[ Nathan Handwerker ] Wonderful dinner, wonderful company...

and wonderful...

[ Ida ] Quit while you're ahead. [ Laughter ]

Good night, dear.

[ Lloyd Handwerker ] Grandpa, say your last words.

[ Chattering, Indistinct ]

[ Nathan Handwerker ] So long.

[ Man ] ♪ You're my Coney Island baby ♪

♪ You mean so much to me ♪

♪ You're my pretty little lady ♪

♪ I love you tenderly ♪

♪ You're my lucky star ♪

♪ That's what you are ♪

♪ You're my Coney Island baby ♪

♪ You're so precious, so sweet ♪

♪ Since the day I met you ♪

♪ My life has been complete ♪

♪ You're my everything ♪

♪ Soon you'll wear my ring ♪

♪ You're my girl ♪

♪ Just the two of us here on a blanket of love ♪

♪ Writing love letters in the sand ♪

♪ As long as there's sand ♪

♪ And as long as there's a sea ♪

♪ You'll be my Coney Island baby ♪

♪ Oh, you're my Coney Island baby ♪

♪ Don't ever let me down ♪

♪ You're my pretty little lady ♪

♪ Feel like I'm wearing a crown ♪

♪ Don't ever leave me ♪

♪ Don't ever go ♪

♪ You're my Coney Island baby ♪

♪ I love you, I love you so ♪

♪ You're my Coney Island baby ♪

♪ I want you I want you to know ♪

♪ You're my Coney Island baby ♪

♪ I love you, I love you so ♪♪

♪♪ [ Fades, Ends ]