When Dunkin Made Donuts

by Bill Russo, 

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So at my annual check-up, among the questions the doctor asked me was....

"Mr. Russo.  Do you drink coffee?"

Not willing to be chastised for my love of 'java', I responded...
"Well. I try to take the recommended amount. You know, three to six cups a day. "

She laughed, and did not pursue the point.

I've pretty much always loved coffee, but never really thought about its health benefits until I met a guitar legend.

You won't know his name but trust me, he was a master of guitar.  His name was Chet Krully and in his 60s he was the lead guitarist for Diana Ross. This was back in the 1970s when she won great acclaim for her role in the Billie Holiday Tribute Film, Lady Sings the Blues.  

After retiring from public performing, Chet took a full time job in Southeastern Massachusetts as a master guitar instructor.  That's where I met him.  I knew I was never going to be a good guitar player but I kept taking the lessons, just for the stories. 

A few quick tales follow.....

In high school, Chet tried out for the school band.  The director asked him what his instrument was.

"I play guitar," he replied.

"There's no guitar in bands," the teacher scoffed.

"There will be!," Chet fired back defiantly.

Less than two years later, in the early 1940s,  young Chet was the lead guitar player, and the only white man, in the Big Band of Fletcher Henderson.  The band was a 'train' group that played along the route of the tracks from New York City to Miami, FLA.  They'd play a night or two in one town and then hop on the Silver Meteor to go on to the next gig.  

Fletch's Band in the 1940s

Chet was appalled at segregation.  Being born in the North, he had little idea that his pals could not use a 'white bathroom', 'restaurant', or even a 'white telephone'.  In one town in the deep South, there was only one coffee shop.  The owner refused to serve the band.  Chet told the guys to wait outside. 

"Will you serve me?" Chet asked the restaurant owner.  

"Yes.  You all are a white boy.  You kin have whatever you want."
"That's good to know," Chet replied.  "because I want 15 donuts, and 15 cups of coffee - to go!"

Soon, Chet was outside with his buddies passing out the sinkers and the 'joe'.

The Fletcher Henderson big band was doomed (being an all black aggregation in a time when the 'white' folk took little notice) and Fletch ran out of money in the mid forties.  He went on to become the first black arranger for a top white band, when he signed on with Benny Goodman.  Fletch became one of the most famous chartmen in the history of swing. 

Chet moved on to a few other big bands before being selected by Diana Ross to head her band.  It was in this job, that he gained his widest acclaim.  If you hear any of the music from that era, the guitar licks that caress your ears will be from Chet.  

So how does all this relate to coffee? I told you that I was a student of Chet's.  I noticed that whenever he wasn't holding his Stromberg Guitar, his hand was wrapped around a cup of hot coffee.  He loved the stuff and must have swallowed 10 or 12 cups a day.  Chet was active deep into his 80s and retained his youthful smile and energy right to the end.

One winter's morning, I was waiting for Chet at the music studio.  He was 20 minutes late for my lesson - very unlike the usually prompt man that he was.  I talked to some other people in the school.  They speculated that the six inches of snow that fell overnight, must have prevented him from leaving his house.  He lived about 12 miles away. We made several calls to his home, that went unanswered. This was long before everyone was equipped with their own personal cell-phone.
Starting to get worried I went outside, and as soon as I stepped into the snow, I saw Chet's car pull in.  

"Sorry I'm late Bill. The snow was pretty deep at my house.  I just finished shoveling the driveway."

"Chet," I said in exasperation, "what are you doing shoveling your own driveway.  You're almost 80 years old!"

"Ah," he countered, "to die with a shovel in your hand.  That's a pretty good way to go," he laughed, as he hoisted a hot cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee.

Now, some 20 years later, I am closing in on 80 and I'm doing my best to emulate my old pal.  I still can't play guitar worth a damn, but I am ever eager to handle a snow shovel, and I can still manage a good three to six cups a day of Java.

One thing bothers me though.  It's the two biggest coffee chains.  Starbuck's is the biggest - but the place seems pretentious to me. 

Can you get an actual cup of coffee in Starbucks?  

As proof that you cannot - here are the top items in their menu: Arnold Palmer, Banana split frappuccino, Butterbeer latte, and
Cookie dough frappuccino!

I'm pretty sure if I go into a Starbucks (which I admit, I do not) and ask for a cup of coffee, the server will say,

"I'm sorry sir.  We don't serve that.  Would you like a Rift Valley Single Origin Blend?"

"No sir, I would not!  I don't want pretentiousness, I just want a damn cuppa hot Joe!"

And the prices!  They should change the name of Star-bucks to Star-Five-Bucks because you can't get anything for a buck!

Okay, now I'm going to knock the number two 'coffee' company - Dunkin Donuts.

But it is not called Dunkin-Donuts anymore.  They dropped the donuts, it's now just Dunkin. 

Collector's Cup, from Back in the Day When Dunkin had Donuts!

Years ago they made great donuts in each and every store.  If a donut did not sell in three hours, it went into the dumpster!  For real.  It was their pledge.  Donuts made fresh every three hours.  It was this pledge and their fresh donuts that built the chain from one store in Boston in the 1950s to thousands of stores all over the world.  Thousands of stores....but no fresh donuts.

Today the donuts are baked in a central store and trucked into the various satellite stores.  Judging by how stale the donuts are these days, I have to wonder if the main bakery is in China and the sinkers are floated across the Left Pond to California and then sent to New England by covered Wagons!

Okay.  That's it for my rant for now.  I'm going to relax with a cup of real coffee that I brewed myself.  See you again on these pages some other time.

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