Meet… Sid Gordon

WRITTEN BY MEGIN POTTER | PHOTOS BY SUPERSOURCEMEDIA.COM

Sidney Gordon was born in 1929, and despite being given the name Samuel at birth, he didn’t know it until he was 12 years old. To join Boy Scouts, he obtained a copy of his birth certificate. Alarmed by the discovery, he returned home to 68 Putnam Street and showed the sheet of paper to his mother. “Who’s this Samuel Gordon?” he asked. “Oh, that’s you,” she answered with a shrug. “We named you Samuel but I always liked Sidney better.”

A CHILD DURING PROHIBITION

Sidney “Sid,” is also the name his neighbors knew him by. Sid’s neighborhood was known as the “Gut” (the area between Broadway, Caroline, and Phila Streets) and his neighbors included an everchanging stream of customers for his dad’s coppersmith shop, as well as for the tenants who rented space in the Gordon’s building. Sid remembers there being a barbershop, restaurant, and gypsy tea room. In 1932, Sperry’s Restaurant opened nearby (an establishment you can still grab a seat at today). The infamous bootlegger and gambler Louis “Doc” Farone was one of Sid’s neighbors. When a baby was born into the family, a joyful Farone joked with five-year-old Sidney that he’d become an uncle. The boy’s response, “Ok…what is that?”

SARATOGA GETS ON TRACK

By 1941, with Saratoga entrenched in gambling, the town was primed for the opening of the Saratoga Raceway. “I knew it had opened and went to the track to watch the races from outside. It was very exciting seeing them run there but I didn’t bet on them, I just watched them,” remembers Sid. He watched people come and go on horse and buggy while shining shoes on the porch of the Grand Union Hotel. “You could tell who the horse betters were because they had racing forms in their hands. They certainly buffed up the city financially (and gave me $1 tips!),” he said, nodding.

TAKING A SHINE TO THE SPRINT

Shining shoes was a good gig for young Sidney until the day he spilled polish on the Grand Union Hotel rug. “My heart almost jumped out of my body,” he said. “There was nothing I could do about the stain so I quietly finished, packed up my little shoe shine box, walked off the porch, and ran all the way to Congress Park.” “I never went back.”

STATIONED FOR SERVICE

During most of World War II, Sid was attending Saratoga Springs High School. With the draft still looming, at age 17, Sid enlisted and was sent as an occupying military force to Japan. After two years of service, Sid returned to a thriving city. “It became bustling. Everyone was happy the war was over; the economy was good. Everything was just flourishing: the race track, the gambling, the lake. It was good. The town was busy.” A highlight for Sid - seeing jazz legend Cap Calloway perform at the lively Jack’s Harlem Club.

THE POST WWII BOOM

The changing times were signaled by the emergence of Stewart’s Shops – a convenience store that would become indispensable to the newly driving public. “It was kind of a small operation to begin with but they had make-your-own sundaes and that was big,” he said, his eyes widening. “They had this tray of four or five different toppings, you could put on as much as you wanted to and no one stopped you. You’d pile so much up; it was like a volcano exploding as it came down the sides.”

A COMMANDING PRESENCE

Sid bounced around for a few years before settling down to work for the Seeburg Corporation. For the next twenty years, he was Saratoga’s “Music Doctor,” working on jukeboxes at the Spa City Diner, Broadway’s Colonial Diner, and just about every bar in town, he said, adding that he was quite the jitterbugger himself. Sid spent another decade surrounded by music in his job cleaning SPAC with GFM Janitorial Services. Once, before a show, he had an argument with Liza Minnelli, who had instructed his crew to wax the floor so a large staircase for her performance could slide across it. Sid refused. “You can’t do that! The New York City Ballet dances here!” he shouted. After a moment, he said, “I’ve got the answer for you – use Ivory soap on the bottom, the staircase will go out smoothly and I can mop it up easy.” “It worked,” he sighed, “but for a while, she was not a happy camper.”

IN THE QUICK

Eight years ago, Sid became a Disabled American Veteran Chaplain. He now has six kids, seven grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and lives with Helen, his wife of forty years. Looking back on his life, he said, “I would do it all over again the same way. I wouldn’t change a thing.” When asked what he thinks of Saratoga’s growth, he answers… “It’s 15-pounds of potatoes in a 10-pound bag.” “Let’s take a big breath,” he continued, “Enough is enough.” SS