Melody Lingers On

When my mom and dad recounted the story of their literally touch-and-go romance, listeners urged them to write it down. They never did. So, I interviewed them; this is their story.

A shy, thin, darkly attractive young woman, Annette “Netty” Schwartz had arrived in Los Angeles in 1936 on her 19th birthday. She and her grandmother, Regina, had traveled for 14 days aboard the "S.S. California" steamship from Havana, Cuba, through the Panama Canal, to San Pedro, California. After they arrived, they stayed in Los Angeles with her father’s brother, Adolph, his wife, Rose, and their three children: Ralph, Mortimer “Mort” and Fay. Netty shared a bedroom with her cousin Fay, who was 10 years younger, and her grandmother. Unsure of which college to attend, Netty checked on a few. But the University of Southern California (USC), then a Methodist school, was close, so she could commute by bus. She had hoped to study architecture, but her father insisted she study law. After some disagreement, they finally compromised on pharmacy.

A serious student, Netty had little time for play. Her social life consisted primarily of accompanying her aunt’s younger sister, Libby, to the public dance halls, even though Netty always felt uncomfortable, cheap and out of place. Her sheltered, chaperoned upbringing in Cuba had ill prepared her for the unrestricted, dance-hall environment. In fact, she had warned Libby that she wasn’t going to do it anymore. But that September night in 1937, Libby called and complained of a bad toothache. She said she needed to distract herself from the pain by going dancing and begged Netty to accompany her, so she hesitantly agreed.

They took the bus and streetcar to the Palomar Ballroom on Vermont Avenue and Second Street in Los Angeles, paid their entrance fee of about 40 cents each and entered one of the largest dance halls on the West Coast. Although she had consented to go to the Palomar, Netty decided that she didn’t have to dance, so she politely refused each offer.

While Netty was a reluctant visitor to the dance hall, Bernard “Bernie” Kaplan felt at home there. He worked for Otto K. Olesen Illuminating Co., selling lighting products, and one of his customers ran the ballroom’s spotlights. Bernie visited him frequently. While the customer operated the spotlights during the vaudeville-like shows, Bernie would saunter downstairs and grab a dance or two.

On one of his dance breaks that Saturday night, Bernie saw a young woman who looked “rather inviting,” so he asked her to dance. Luckily, Netty also found the sandy-haired young man with a runner’s build attractive. She rescinded her no-dance decision and accepted his invitation.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

“Bernie Kaplan.” he responded.

“Oh, so you are Jewish,” she said. “So am I.”

Acknowledging this link, Bernie started speaking Yiddish to her. He had barely gotten a few sentences out, when Netty began laughing at his “poor Yiddish.” Deciding to try safer ground, Bernie shifted the conversation to where Netty lived; she was staying only a few blocks from his family’s home. The couple had danced together for about an hour when Bernie asked Netty for her telephone number and offered to give her and Libby a ride home. The two young women accepted. Bernie ushered them into his 1932 Chevy and took Libby home before dropping Netty off.

The next night, Netty had a blind date with a young man who was studying for his master’s degree at USC. They went to the show. Two weeks passed; Netty hadn’t heard from either Bernie or her blind date. Finally, the telephone rang and the caller asked if she would like to go out. She accepted, but she was unsure which of the two men was calling.

When Bernie arrived that night, he introduced him to her uncle and then started asking him about his studies at USC. Confused, Bernie invited her to go for ice cream. While sipping on his double chocolate malt, Bernie decided to confess.

“I don’t know what line I handed you that night at the Palomar,” he said, “but I’m not going to college.”

Immediately, Netty realized that she had mixed up the two men but was too embarrassed to admit it was her mistake. She graciously accepted Bernie’s apology and hid her guilt.

For their first major date, the couple went to the Rollerdome in Culver City. Netty had skated on sidewalks as a kid, but she was far from being a proficient skater. In contrast, Bernie demonstrated his skating mastery with twirls, twists and intricate dance steps.

After that evening, Bernie and Netty dated often. Usually, they went to nightclubs or out dancing. Occasionally, they would go up to Mulholland Drive in the Santa Monica mountains, where they would revel in the privacy, “spoon” and fall asleep. Their dating went smoothly except for the household herald. If Netty returned after midnight, her uncle’s watchdog, a white husky, would loudly proclaim her arrival.

In June of 1938, Netty and Bernie went to the tailor shop operated by Bernie’s father, Louis, to pick up a suit he had made for Netty from material she had brought from Cuba. Unexpectedly, Bernie asked her the momentous question.

“If I make $2,000 in six months, will you marry me?” (This was at a time when the average home cost $3,775 and a new car, $815.) Pondering this rather unusual proposal for a moment, Netty responded. “I never figured money was that important, and yes, I will probably marry you.”

Despite the young lovers’ decision to marry, Netty faced a government restriction that required her to return to Cuba to renew her two-year visitor’s visa. Her uncle advised the couple to marry before Netty left for Cuba but added that he didn’t want to know about it. He feared the wrath and anger of his brother Julius.

On June 13, 1938, Bernie and Netty drove out of Los Angeles to the then suburban city of Santa Ana. The city had no waiting period, and the wedding announcement would not appear in Los Angeles papers. Judge William Morrison married them at the Santa Ana courthouse. The court clerks were their witnesses. Their wedding afternoon was spent at a motel on Cahuenga Boulevard in Los Angeles near the Hollywood sign. Toward evening, Bernie returned Netty to her aunt and uncle’s home as if nothing had happened. Only Netty’s aunt knew they were getting married.

Three days later, Netty left to return to Cuba. She made it to Florida and planned to catch a boat from Miami to Cuba. But she missed the boat and had to take a bus to Key West, Florida. Irritated and tired, she went to a club called Sloppy Joe’s, tried to calm herself with a gin fizz and promptly got “somewhat tipsy.” She managed to catch the boat the next morning and when she arrived in Cuba, Netty told her father she was engaged. A domineering, possessive man, Julius alternated between threatening her with having to stay in Cuba and attend the University of Havana and bribing her with a trip to Europe.

On her 21st birthday, August 1, Netty’s stress level increased. In his letter to her, Bernie shared that one of his friends had advised him to annul the marriage. Humiliated and hurt, Netty wrote back telling him if that’s what he wanted, he should go ahead. Shocked by her response, Bernie reassured her that it was not what he intended.

Fearful that her father would not allow her to leave Cuba, Netty asked Bernie to come get her. Although he had just started his own theatrical lighting company, Bernie sold everything and borrowed money from relatives to go to Cuba.

The day before Bernie was due to arrive, Netty confessed to her father that she was married. Julius exploded in rage and threatened to have the marriage annulled. They argued on into the night.

The next day, when Bernie arrived, Julius angrily greeted him with, “You’re no gentleman!” and set about to get even. He arranged for Bernie to stay in a hotel in downtown Havana; in actuality, it housed the working offices of numerous prostitutes. When Bernie protested the environment, Julius found him another hotel with a “penthouse.” The “penthouse” contained permanently open windows. As Bernie lay on the bed, he recalled that the bedsprings simulated the experience of ocean waves and each morning, pigeons awakened him by flying around his head. Disgusted and exhausted, he abandoned the “penthouse” and found his own lodging.

Bernie stayed in Cuba nearly a month, depending on one of Julius’ friends to help Netty get permission from the U.S. government to return. Day by day, he watched the money he had borrowed drain away. In desperation, he went to the U.S. Consulate himself and secured the necessary permission in one day.

Julius, begrudgingly accepted that his daughter was leaving and decided the couple should have a Jewish wedding. At 6 a.m. on Aug. 29, he informed Netty and Bernie that he had arranged a Jewish ceremony for them. At 9 a.m., Bernie and Netty, Julius and his wife Anna, Netty’s sister Violet and her husband gathered for the wedding. Netty wore a blue hat and dress she had worn to get married in Santa Ana. But the Jewish ceremony required that she wear a veil. Resourcefully, the rabbi found a mosquito net and draped it over her face and head. At the conclusion of the ceremony Bernie had to fight his way through the netting before he was able to embrace and kiss his now religiously official wife.

A few days later, Bernie and Netty arrived back in Los Angeles ready to begin their married life. They were $800 in debt. Their assets consisted of 20 cents and a love and commitment that lasted some 70 years.