Jim
Gill’s Sip Avenue and Newark Avenue offices were both storefronts, so, while he
had a large regular clientele, there was, especially at Sip Avenue, which was
just a few blocks off Journal Square, a lot of “walk-ins” over the years. Jim would lovingly (and I do mean lovingly)
refer to his clients as “the great unwashed masses”, shortened to “the great
unwashed” and occasionally the “GU” (pronounced GOO), and I also adopted the
term. Obviously, some clients were more “unwashed”
than others.
Back
in the 80s when workplace sitcoms were popular Jim suggested we could do a
sitcom based on our office and clientele.
However, he pointed out, it would be criticized for being “too unbelievable”.
Advertising
was never a line item in Jim’s, or my, business budget. While I would on occasion purchase a business
card ad in a charity fund-raising journal when asked by a client, neither of us
advertised for business. With the
exception of the walk-ins and personal friends, Jim and my clients all came to
us by referral.
We
had a vast and diverse clientele. Over
the years Jim and I prepared the returns for Louis DePalma, John Holmes and
Michael Jackson. I still do Matt Dillon’s
returns. Of course, not “the” Louis
DePalma, John Holmes, Michael Jackson and Matt Dillon.
But,
due to our proximity to New York City, we did actually prepare the returns of
some "semi-famous" taxpayers. One year in the late 1970s we prepared
the 1040 for the then captain of the New York Giants football team, who was
partner in a local restaurant with one of our long-time clients. This was well
before the days when professional athletes all had multi-million-dollar
contracts. FYI, this person was one of the rare clients, I can count them on
the fingers of one hand, who "stiffed" Jim over the years.
When
the drummer for the original off-Broadway production of ONE MO' TIME became
sick and a local union musician, our client, took his place we welcomed as new clients
most of the members of the cast, who came up to New York from New Orleans where
the show had originated. It was the first year we added the Louisiana state
income tax return to our repertoire. I remember having complimentary tickets
for the show upstairs at the Village Gate and going backstage after the
performance to deliver finished returns. We also did the tax returns for members
of the road company, which one year included a future Broadway actress who I
later saw on Broadway in THE GOODBYE GIRL and also appeared in FOLLIES and more
recently CHICAGO.
While
Jim’s and my clients were for the most part lower, middle and upper
middle-class taxpayers, there was the occasional high-income client. When Jim’s only $! Million W-2 client (who
continued with me until his recent passing) moved to Miami he flew Jim and I to
Captiva Island in Florida, where he had several condos, one May, and me to
Miami another year, to prepare his return.
Many
of Jim’s clients were compulsively consistent, coming in to have their returns
done on the same day each year. Back when Abe Lincoln had his own separate
legal holiday February 12th was a busy day for us, especially with teachers. We
also had our share of clients who would wait until the very last day of each
tax season, generally April 15th, to come in. When we saw a certain local
police officer come in to the office, the last person on the last day, we knew
that the tax season was over! And we had a tv repairman who was always a year
and a day late - he would come in on April 16th of 1975, for example, to have
his 1973, not 1974, tax return prepared!
Our
clients, Jim’s and mine as well, were, and are, extremely loyal. If they moved
out of state, they would continue to mail their tax returns to Jim or to me. Back
in the 1970s Jim had one client who had retired to the Netherlands and still
had us prepare her US Form 1040 each year.
This
50th tax season many of the clients whose returns I prepared, who were
originally from my own practice, had been with me for 20, 30 or 40 years. And those that I “inherited” from Jim had
been clients of “the firm” (first Jim and then me) for over 50 years. Jim’s Sip Avenue office was around the corner
from an Allstate Insurance office, and Jim prepared the returns of all the
agents. My first 1040 was for an agent
from that office – and 50 seasons later I still do the returns for one of those
Allstate agents (not the same as my first 1040) who retired years ago.
TTFN
