From the Archives

This 67-year-old letter from October 1950 shows the somewhat dubious lengths a mother can go to for a moment’s peace. You never know what your next trip may be when you drive a taxi. I answered a call one day and a lady came out of the house with three small children. The oldest looked about three and the youngest was about nine months. The lady put them in my cab and said, “Pull the meter, please. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

So I sat there waiting, and the children bawled and yelled. Fifteen minutes later their mother came back. “How much do I owe you?” she asked.

I asked her if she wasn’t going any place. “No,” she said. “But I had a long-distance phone call to make and needed peace and quiet. Here’s the fare. Thanks for waiting.”