Scott Kidder

We would rent planes and that sort of thing. The famous story is about a photographer who submitted an expense account during Second World War, and the picture editor looked at the expense account and cabled back, ‘You have $300 for taxi fares in April, and during that period you were on an aircraft carrier.’ And his mythical response was, ‘It was a very big aircraft carrier.’ That is the best story I ever heard, though it’s probably not true. And of course there was the drink cart, and the food being delivered. This was in the old building, 9 Rockefeller Plaza, where we were until 1959. I don’t remember the drink cart so much in the new building. On closing nights, which for Life back then was Saturday, first a cart would go by with wine and liquor, mixed drinks. Then that was followed by a French meal, from a French restaurant directly across the street. They would load up these special carts, with receptacles for the food, to keep it warm, and they would come by and feed you. This was a closing night ritual, first the drink cart and then the food.