took a job as an all-around handyman/desk clerk at a small country inn in Connecticut called Boxwood Manor. I had high hopes that Nancy would be able to visit with me for a few wonderful days together, but it made me realize how difficult it was to be apart. We discussed the possibility of getting married many times, but being so young and having no money or a permanent job prospect in sight put the idea pretty out of the picture, at least for the time being.
When I returned to Miami in the fall of 1946 to take a job at the Hollywood Beach Hotel, I called Nancy’s dad, Dr. Nichol, at the family home a few blocks from downtown Miami. When I arrived, Dr. Nichol was having lunch while reading and sunbathing in his backyard.
I told Nick that I was in love with Nancy and intended to marry her. I said that I hoped he would give his approval and consent. He was probably expecting as much, and with a twinkle in his eye, asked me how I intended to support her “in the manner to which she had become accustomed.” I gave a not too reassuring answer and that was about all there was to our conversation.
Our actual engagement came several months later. My sister Claire, sensing that Nancy and I were serious about getting married, presented me with the engagement ring which Dad had given to our mother. It was a one-carat canary diamond in a channel setting in green gold. Grandmother put the ring in a sealed envelope on which she wrote, “For Jimmy’s Bride.” Claire, knowing how broke I was and recognizing my desperate need for an engagement ring, gave it to me so that I could present it to Nancy in December of 1946. Of course, Nancy was thrilled, and the ring became her proudest possession.
She later gave that ring to our own son, Whit, to present it to his own bride-to-be, Lauren Bryant, who gave it to their son James, who gave it to his bride Corina Clavo. And so the tradition continues.
Dad died shortly after I returned to Cornell in February of 1947, and I put Edgehill up for sale. The property would net only a very small amount of money, which meant that there would be very little left to divide between Claire, David, and myself.
I was alone except for Nancy. Nobody could have filled my life with more optimism, happiness, and confidence than she was able to do. Nancy came to me as a powerful and refreshing breath of spring at precisely the time I needed someone close to remind me that life could be wonderful, worthwhile, and promising. Nancy is the kind of person who looks at life in a positive and upbeat fashion. I have never known her to be “down” or depressed, and I have never seen her dwell on negative thoughts. Her mission in life always seems to be one of spreading joy and happiness wherever she can. She does this with extraordinary consistency.
Even though I had yet to earn my degree, I was sure that I wanted to get married. In spite of being in a difficult situation, Nancy and I decided to tough it out together. We were married on April 27, 1947, in the old Trinity Church in New York City. It was a small family wedding with Nancy’s family, my own, and a few close friends in attendance.
Sometimes there is never a “right” time to take on a new role, responsibility, or change in life. The key is to embrace your passions. Marrying Nancy, even with an uncertain future, was the best thing that ever happened to me.
The original Colonial Inn menu
After World War II, as the US economy and work force gradually expanded, companies grew and prospered and newly hired workers assumed that they had obtained lifetime jobs. The US economy was thriving at a time when Europe and Asia were desperately trying to rebuild after the near total devastation brought about by a horribly destructive war.
I personally began to get the message right after we were married. At the time Nancy and I were in pretty bad shape financially. My father-in-law, Dr. Nichol, had given us three hundred dollars and his 1941 Chrysler. He had paid for Nancy’s room and board at Cornell through the end of the spring semester, which helped. I was able to earn a little bit of money working at odd jobs, but I wasn’t able to save much of anything. If there would be anything at all coming from the sale of the farm, it wouldn’t come for a while.
These were financially tough times to be sure, but things were going to work out. I felt sure of that. I was prepared to expect that my future in the business world was going to be full of tough times. I felt that in order to become a success in life I had better figure out a way to deal with unexpected reversals and disappointments. I was already looking at my first one: I had taken on a wife, I had no money, I was still in college while trying to pay for it, I had no job and no prospects for one, and I was looking at a bleak job market where millions of returning servicemen were among the competition.
It was obvious that I had done a pretty poor job of planning. I was determined to do a better job in the future.
I believe that one of the cardinal rules of success is planning. So far as personal and business planning is concerned, this starts with preparing a budget, itemizing assets and liabilities, and projecting income and expenses. It is surprising to me how little thought is given to the simple listing of these numbers, but without them there is very little discipline in spending and the utilization of resources. In short, there is no plan at all.
I put myself on the verge of going broke four times in my life, mostly when I was young and just starting out. Looking back, I recognize that I was hasty, impetuous, and often guilty of jumping to conclusions.
My advice to young people starting out today would be to get really familiar and comfortable with numbers and learn how to use them. We have taken this approach with the Burger King organization since 1954. This is a company that puts people from all walks of life into a business which most of them have never experienced before. We try to teach financial discipline and fiscal planning. Still, I have seen very smart people fail in a franchise that should have been enormously successful simply because they didn’t plan properly.
Nancy and I followed many leads for jobs, but we were really concerned that we couldn’t see any promising opportunities anywhere. After a fruitless trip to Pittsburgh, Nancy and I returned to Ithaca to resume the frustrating task of trying to find work. After weeks of waiting, I finally received an encouraging response to an application I had submitted The YMCA in Wilmington, Delaware, was looking for a person to take over as their director of food service, and I was invited to come down for an interview. It didn’t take me long to pack. I took off from Ithaca in late August of 1947.
The job looked very challenging to me despite the meager pay of $267 a month. The YMCA operated the largest cafeteria in Delaware, with a soda shop on the main floor. Above the cafeteria kitchen and bakeshop were several floors of banquet rooms, each of which was equipped with a booster kitchen serviced by an elevator from the main kitchen below. A staff of about thirty employees was needed to operate this complex facility.
I desperately wanted to land this job. I needed to get to work and start earning a living. The job itself was not intimidating because I knew that, given a chance, I could do it. I wanted an opportunity to prove myself, and I felt very confident about my ability to demonstrate that I was up to the task.
After the interview I headed back to Ithaca where Nancy was waiting anxiously to find out what had happened. I told her about the interview and described the cafeteria, the food-service facilities, and the people I had met. She could easily see how excited I was at the prospect. The people at “the Y” had told me that they would make their decision soon.
The wait seemed interminable, but a call finally
