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tricityrevivals · 7 years

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Chapter 1.5: Mr. Teterboro

It was just a normal day at the office for us organizing, posting/looking into Items, and finalizing our schedule for the upcoming week. We were put onto a lead by Kate, Chris’s wife, for a lady named Cathy who is moving to Florida soon. She and her boyfriend Chris, of 25 years, inherited his Aunt and Uncles house in Saddle Brook, NJ. After calling Cathy and speaking with her a while we decided lets pick up and go today. She was pretty overwhelmed with the amount of stuff in the attic mainly. We put everything else on hold and headed over there and good thing we did.

We went there with all parties knowing the deal. She needed some extra cash as well as help getting rid of the clutter. We needed more inventory, and we promised to go through everything because we didn’t want to take her family heirlooms. From the moment we walked in Cathy and her dog Bella couldn’t have been any more hospitable to us. We got to know each other and than she started telling us about her uncle who has owned this house previously.

“His nickname was Mr. Teterboro, have you ever heard of him?”

Both of us looking puzzled at each other

“No…. we haven’t”

“He was one of the first employees ever to work at Teterboro Airport, he was there for over 55 Years”

We couldn’t think of anything else to say but

“Wow…really?”

As if she was going to lie about that.

She went on to tell us how he he was friends with tons of celebrities and presidents. He met all of these people mostly through Teterboro Airport.

Let’s get into Teterboro Airport for a second for most of you who don’t know.

Teterboro Airport is a general aviation relief airport located in the boroughs of Teterboro, Moonachie, and Hasbrouck Heights in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is owned and managed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and operated by AFCO AvPORTS Management. The airport is in the New Jersey Meadowlands, 12 miles from Midtown Manhattan, which makes it very popular for private and corporate aircraft. The airport has a weight limit of 100,000 pounds on aircraft, which is meant to make it nonviable as a commercial airport. The airport takes up almost all of Teterboro and consists of 827 acres and has more than 1,137 employees. Teterboro is home to many private aviation charter companies that fly nationally and globally. The Aviation Hall of Fame of New Jersey is also on the airport grounds.

So now that you know my wikipedia copy and paste skills I’ll tell you from a real perspective on what Teterboro Airport means to us. As two kids growing up in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ, Teterboro Airport is literally in our backyard. It is a staple of our town, even our high school mascot is the Hasbrouck Heights Aviators. The airport is located right across the highway from our football field, and almost any time of the day or night you can look into the sky and see planes coming or going from Teterboro Airport. Constantly you’re hearing about celebrities coming and going through the airport if they have shows in the area. We even took field trips in grade school to learn about day to day operations.

So for us hearing just the name “Mr. Teterboro” we knew we were in for a treat that day. After chatting a little more we noticed Cathy had layed out some items on the table that she thought may be worth something. As we approached and started browsing we saw some generic antique scales, a couple of toys, german beer steins, and then we saw it, Frank Sinatras Funeral Mass Program. Only 400 of these were made and they were only given to the people actually invited to his funeral. As we picked it up and started browsing through it Cathy said

“You know he was friends with Frank”

“Really? ….He was?”

Again, as if she would lie about something like that.

Both of us being huge Sinatra fans we were in awe. Who was this man “Mr. Teterboro” who even Frank Sinatra liked enough to become friends with?

H.J. (HANK) ESPOSITO, better known as “Mr. Teterboro,” was a U.S. Army Air Corps veteran and served in Europe during World War II. After that, he embarked upon a half-century-long career at Atlantic Aviation’s New Jersey FBOs in 1949. He was also a graduate of our Alma Mater Hasbrouck Heights High School in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ which made this pick all the more special. He later moved to Saddle Brook, NJ with his wife Helen who he was happily married to until the day he died.

“Unfortunately Uncle Hank became very ill when Frank died, and he couldn’t attend his funeral in California, So he wrote a letter to Franks assistant whom he had known to explain why he wasnt there”

Frank Sinatras assistant of 21 years Dorothy Uhlemann had written a letter back to Hank after the funeral and thought it would be best that she send a Funeral Mass Program to Hank even though he couldnt make it. Frank and his assistant Dorothy were so close he even left her a cash gift in his will of a reported $50,000.

(Read the personalized letter in photos above)

As amazing as that story was what we saw next really put into perspective of who Hank was. Cathy pre-warned us these items weren’t for sale, but that they were amazing. What could be more amazing than a legitimate documented relationship with Frank Sinatra? She pulled out a test tube with a label on it, and an old zippo lighter. Seems pretty normal until we actually saw what these items were. In the plastic test tube container it was actual D-Day Sand Hank took home with him from the war. Amazing. In our hands, holding the history of America from someone who was there. It was labeled “D-Day June 6th 1944 Utah Beach”. Possibly one of the most infamous battles in American History. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about it was the graphic battle in the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan. The zippo lighter was amazing as well. While at war Hank inscribed on one side “1943-44 "Espo”“ on the other side he inscribed the places he had been "France Belgium Germany England”. Sometimes you see in the movies things like this but this was real life. Holding these items it got real vey quick. Just think about not just Hank but all the soliders there that day. What they must have went through and seen that day. All the different countries they were shipped to, and Hank inscribing and keeping track of them. It was different times, and the start of the foundation that made this country what it is today. We’re lucky because in this business you’re constantly reminded of America’s past time, and you have to respect the people who layed the ground work for us to get us here.

(See Photos of the lighter/sand up above)

Now by this time we were chomping at the bit to get up to the attic and see what else could possibly be up there. We had just come across 3 items we never thought we’d see. What else could we find? After sharing a few more funny personal stories about Hank, Cathy walked us up to the attic. It was loaded to the brim. We’ve never seen an attic this packed. Filled boxes everywhere you looked, furniture, crawlspaces with no more room to put anything, and a loft with things hanging and piled everywhere. Now we saw why she had said she was getting overwhelmed trying to go through all of the stuff. We told Cathy that this was going to take a while and she could go downstairs if she wanted. We said we’ll make a pile and at the end she can come up, check on the stuff so it doesn’t have sentimental value, and than we can work on a price. There was just so much stuff we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to skip a box or an area. We had to see what we could find.

We for once came unprepared for this pick. We had the most important part- the cash, but we forgot our gloves and masks we like to wear for safety when were going through old dusty dirty attics. This especially started effecting us a few hours in. Coughing, sneezing, squinting eyes. I can guarantee we wont make that mistake again. By the 2 hour mark we had already built up a pretty decent pile of things we were interested in, and we were only a little more than halfway through. We had to suck it up. You don’t get opportunities like this everyday.

When you’re picking, you’re going through the items of someone’s life. Their story, told through their things. Even the stuff that wasn’t valuable was worth looking at for us. For example, we came across Hanks old flight log from Teterboro Airport, Military Paperwork, Books, Clothing, Music Records, Tools, Repair Kits, Artwork, and Posters just to name some. After looking through all of these inexpensive items is the part where you really get a feel for who he was and what he enjoyed. That’s the most underrated part of picking to us because nobody talks about it. We’re not there to find valuable stuff and run. We’d like to get to know your story so we can pass that on to someone who may buy one of his items from us. The story is everything, and sometimes unfortunately when your gone no one is there to tell your story, but your things will always be there to tell it.

Hank was a cool dude. He had exactly what we look for to sell. Going through his things you could tell by the huge belt buckles, cowboy boots, and cowboy hats he must have been some character. We also found a lot of “Dear Hanks”. Letters. Not just any letters, but personalized hand written letters from people such as George HW Bush, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Frank Sinatra, and John Wayne. I’m sure there were tons of more letters but it would have taken us all day to go through the box of them. Cathy told us Hanks favorite person to hang out with besides Sinatra was John Wayne. Every time he’d come into town Hank would always have a bottle of whiskey and big cigars waiting for him. They’d hang out, drink, eat, conversate, and smoke, and eventually call it a night. What stories he must of had hanging out with all these celebrities and presidents.

Hank being at Teterboro Airport for 55 years says something about Hanks character as well. Being in a profession and doing it for 55 years is an accomplishment to say the least. If it tells you anything it’ll tell you that he truly loved his job. He loved what he did, and when you love what you do it isn’t really a job to you. Even when he retired from Teterboro Airport he couldn’t stay away for long. The job offers came in from various different companies and everyone wanted him to be a consultant. When you throw the word “consultant” on a job title you’re basically paying someone for their experience and knowledge of that industry. Whenever you can just give your opinion on how to make a company better and get paid for it, you know you have to be an expert, which is what he was. He settled on Atlantic Aviation, wound up keeping that job for another 7-8 years until he officially retired, only because he got sick.

Another note worth mentioning is that Hank was inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame in 1986. Still at about 35 years of service and another 20 to go, the Hall of Fame thought he deserved to be inducted. This is the same Aviation Hall of Fame that has names like Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart in it. Imagine what he must have meant and.the things he must have done for the Aviation industry to be inducted into the actual Hall of Fame. Only the best of the best make it here, and him and his family will forever be able to say he’s with the elite in this profession.

At the four and a half hour mark we finally called it quits after going through as much as we could and pretty much got to see everything available. Some of our favorite items include a busted plane propeller, parachute, cigar memorabilia, some old aviation calendars, and general vintage knick knacks about 3 full boxes worth.

As far as the items we picked, they weren’t worth much monetary wise, but the experience, stories, and items we were able to look through were priceless. To this day it’s still our favorite pick.

We tried to put a dent in as much as we could because the goal for Cathy was to get rid of the clutter to make the move to Florida in the future easier. The reality was that there was just way too much stuff. Realizing that, we offered another service to Cathy- a clean out. Generally when we’ve picked through everything and decided what’s valuable and what’s not there’s almost always leftovers. Unused or broken furniture, which takes up the most space, and boxes filled with general household items that even Hank and Helen probably haven’t used in over 20 years. We made a small dent but it wasn’t enough. We exchanged numbers and said we’ll figure something out to help out getting rid of the rest of the stuff. We had to stick to our word and help them get rid of the junk.

After running some numbers and figuring out details to make the clean out work, we decided we were going to do the clean out pro bono. We realized whatever price we gave would have put them over budget, and with a big move coming up we felt they could put that money to better use somewhere else. We’ve never done that before but all things considered, if anything, we figured we owed it to Hank. We’re sure he wouldn’t have wanted to overwhelm Cathy and Chris with all his stuff, and just the opportunity to see his stuff and hear his stories was enough for us to come to that decision. Cathy couldn’t have been any more thankful offering us lunch and drinks every day (alcoholic drinks). She was also up there with us on the three day clean out helping sort and organize. She also said we could take whatever we thought was cool or thought we could resell that we may have missed. In the end it was mostly garbage, but we found a few hidden items like typewriters, some cool coins, and an old schwinn bicycle.

In the end, the pick was amazing. The clean out was brutal, and Hanks stories were legendary. We were glad we got the opportunity to go through Hanks stuff, and even own some of it. A lot of the items sold fairly quickly so it shows we had a good knack for finding what people liked. It was truly an honor to see some of the things Hank collected that had been hidden from the public for decades. Although we’ve never had the chance to meet Hank, we do feel we have a special bond with him. His story is one of many, but its pretty damn cool to hear it, and it’s a great reminder of why we love doing what we do. Picking. You get to meet the most incredible people and hear the most incredible stories. Without these people and these stories nothing would ever be passed down, and were just trying to do our part and continue to pass down the knowledge and the story of our items past. Thank you for creating such a legacy for us to discover Mr. Teterboro! Until we meet again…

#pickers #nj #vintage #antiques #oddities #tricityrevivals #Teterboro #atlanticaviation #Hasbrouckheightsnj #hometown

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