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Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. XIV - Page 423« Previous | Next »

(Testimony of Earl Ruby Resumed)

Mr. Ruby.
very little mail order. It was mostly accounts that he had secured or we had in one way or another.
Mr. Griffin.
What area?
Mr. Ruby.
Like Mar-Din.
Mr. Griffin.
That was in St. Louis, wasn't it?
Mr. Ruby.
No, no; in Chicago.
Mr. Griffin.
In Chicago?
Mr. Ruby.
Yes.
Mr. Griffin.
Did he travel outside the Chicago area?
Mr. Ruby.
Not too much; not too much if I recall. I don't recall. I don't think he traveled too much.
I think, now that I think of it, that was one of our problems. We wanted him to go down or go out of town, to Milwaukee or any of the other cities, even close by, and definitely St. Louis where we eventually sold Katz Drug which is a big and good account for us and they turned out to be a pretty fair account. And anyhow as I said one thing led to another. Eva was wanting him in Dallas and he wasn't getting along too well with us so it was decided to buy him out.
Mr. Griffin.
The only other topic I want to cover with you now is the circumstances behind you changing your name from Rubenstein to Ruby. Did Mr. Hubert cover that with you?
Mr. Ruby.
Sort of. Well, first off, there are two reasons. First of all, we were, I think, very conscious of the Jewish name of Rubenstein, and we had worked for another Jewish fellow who we all looked up to, an elderly fellow who had been very successful in business and his name was Stanley Eisenberg and he said, "When you send out mail orders you shouldn't use a Jewish name because of the some people won't order even if they can use the merchandise," and anyhow he suggested we use a different name, and so we finally decided since they were calling us Ruby anyhow, with that in mind, and business reasons, that is, and we finally decided to--Sam and I did first, you know.
Mr. Griffin.
You did.
Mr. Ruby.
Yes; and Jack did it down in Dallas.
Mr. Griffin.
How much time elapsed between when you and Sam changed your name and Jack changed his?
Mr. Ruby.
Gee, I don't know.
Mr. Griffin.
Did you ever discuss with Jack the reasons for his changing his name?
Mr. Ruby.
No.
Mr. Griffin.
Do you have any idea why he changed his name?
Mr. Ruby.
No; it never came up. We never discussed it as far as I can remember, we just never discussed that.
Mr. Griffin.
Is my understanding correct then that the changing of your name and Sam's name was directly tied with your activity in connection with Earl Products, and thus since Hyman didn't have any connection with Earl Products and Jack didn't have any connection with Earl Products at the time you two changed your name, why there was no reason for those two at that time to change their name?
Mr. Ruby.
Well, Hyman never changed his name, as you know.
Mr. Griffin.
Yes; I know that.
Mr. Ruby.
I really don't know the reason for Jack. He may have had the same reason but since he did it there, and we never brought it up it just never was brought into our conversations, that I can remember. We may have at that time it was nothing important to us, and it happened along about 15-16 years ago, I think. I think we changed ours in 1947, I don',t even remember.
Mr. Griffin.
I think we can finish this off here now.. I want to hand you what has been marked as "Washington, D.C., June 3, 1964, deposition of Earl Ruby, Exhibit No. 3." This is a copy of a report which was prepared by two FBI agents, White and Lee of an interview they had with you on November 25 in Chicago, which consists of two pages. The pages are numbered at the bottom 171 and 1,72. I want to hand it to you and ask you if you had a chance to read, that?
Mr. Ruby.
Yes; I have.
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