NEW YORK
It’s the one thing certain to make Isidore and Joan Schwartz, married 60 years, feel like newlyweds again: a romantic room at the Waldorf Astoria for just $16.80.
The still-happy couple will stay at the still-swanky Midtown hotel this weekend for the same price they paid on their wedding night back in 1952.
“I’m going to see if anything looks familiar,” said Isidore, 88, as the East Lyme, Conn., lovebirds prepared to mark six decades as man and wife.
He can count on one very familiar sight: his bride, Joan, 82.
Their old Waldorf bill, saved across the decades by Joan, totaled a mere $17.10 — $16.80 for the room and another 30 cents for a phone call. Rooms at the hotel now start at $319 a night.
Joan also kept her wedding night peignoir and gown.
She recalled what a big deal it was for two native New Yorkers to stay at the landmark Art Deco hotel on their wedding day.
“A kid coming from the Bronx, you go to the Waldorf ?” she said Wednesday. “It’s an elegant place.”
Isidore remembered driving his new bride across town from the Upper West Side reception. Today, the cost of parking your car in a Manhattan garage would run higher than their hotel bill.
What does Joan recall most about their March 2, 1952, nuptials?
“I remember standing on some sort of balcony, looking down at the wedding party, and seeing all my relatives grabbing at the food,” she said.
Isidore, demonstrating the diplomacy of a longtime spouse, gently interrupted: “It was a great party. Everyone had a great time.”
The pair met via a blind date arranged by relatives on Thanksgiving 1950 and were walking down the aisle 16 months later.
“ I was impressed,” said Isidore.
While their love remained constant, most everything else in the world changed. Harry Truman was president and Casey Stengel was managing the Yankees when they said “I do.”
Joan remembered the cost of her reception: $4.75 a head for a catered steak dinner — plus ice sculptures.
The couple had three children and now boast four grandchildren. She’s retired from her job as an office manager, he’s still dabbling as an accountant.
It was their daughter-in-law who contacted the Waldorf.
The palatial Park Avenue hotel has a policy of charging the original room rate for returning guests celebrating a milestone event. In a typical year, two or three couples take advantage of the deal.
Only one other couple can match the 60 years celebrated by Isidore and Joan, said a hotel official. Among the many couples who spent their wedding night at the Waldorf: John and Jackie Kennedy.
The whole Schwartz clan plans to meet for lunch at the hotel, followed by a family dinner and their deeply discounted overnight stay.
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