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THE HOBOKEN FOUR In 1936, Frank went to a movie that featured Bing Crosby, and that night he decided to become a singer. It looked easy, it sounded like a lot of fun, and the well-dressed, well-fed Crosby apparently commanded a good salary. This was for Sinatra. With typical Sinatra thoroughness, organization and planning, young Frankie mapped out his strat- egy. First, he formed a group known as the Ho- boken Four. They picked up the necessary experi- ence, and some small change, by singing for private parties. In those days, one of the most popular radia programs was the famous Amateur Hour presided over by Major Bowes. Although the thousands of unknowns who appeared before the Major’s micro- phones are, by and large, still unknown, a few of his amateur performers went on to success as pro- fessionals. It was the logical and most convenient way to break into show business in the depression years. When the Hoboken Four appeared on the Hour, Frankie sang Night and Day and was applauded into first prize. The prize included a cross-country tour with one of the Major’s many traveling units. It. provided wonderful experience for the young troubador, but before many months had passed, he got terribly homesick for his native Hoboken, quit the troupe, and returned home. ce aa ee Re ee oe ee —o ‘RUSTIC. CABIN As part of his preparation for a singing career Frankie also appeared on local radio programs over stations in Jersey City, Newark and in New York, Not only was he impatient for the accolades of success, but he wanted to marry his sweetheart, Nancy, who became Mrs. Sinatra in 1939. So, for stability and some measure of security, he went te work at the Rustic Cabin, as a singing waiter, for the steady salary of $25.00 a week. Thus in 1938, at the age of 21, Frank Sinatra settled down. Five years later, he was earning $25,000 a week! Those were the lean years for Sinatra, He had married Nancy and he remembers especially one evening when Nancy had a yen for a ham sand- wich and a piece of apple pie. That happened on a night when Frankie didn’t have a penny in his pocket—a week before the birth of their first baby. So Frank went up and down the hallways of the 4 Frank Sinatra with Nancy, his childhood sweetheart who became the first Mrs. Sinatra, and bandleader Les Brown. Cae Ran uate oe ony