SATAN’S CANDY SHOP (1911)
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The story you are about to read was composed from research conducted in the course of one of those investigations.
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If a man named Hell offered you some candy – would you take it?
That was Otto Herman Hell’s problem.
And, yes, in fact he was about to open a confectionery in Brooklyn on Broadway.
THE DEVIL’S CONFECTIONER
It must have been difficult growing up with a name like Hell.
There were probably countless jokes and plays on the name. Otto must have been quite tired of it all by the time he reached the age of maturity, at which point he began thinking seriously about changing it.
Having emigrated from Germany in 1891, he was 25 when the immigration officials must have looked up at him in surprise as he stood before them hoping to gain entry into the country.
“Hell? Hell?” the official must have half-asked, half-shouted, incredulously. “O’Connor, come quick, or you’ll have Hell to pay!”
Lots of uproarious laughter here, then a loud stamp, and then Hell was on to the next set of jokes somewhere in his new country.
He probably found it curious in the early days, perhaps a bit enjoyable if he had had a playful streak.
But, by George, it was 1911 now, and Otto was 36 with a wife and two children. He was more than ready to get serious with his life and move on from the unavoidable tirade of jokes at his expense.
And he was also planning to open a confectionery and could not stomach the idea of “Hell’s Confectionery” in great bright lights along Broadway. It was at this point that Otto made his decision.
Hell had to go.
FROM HELL TO HILL
Before Judge Grant in the County Court, Otto said that his name had been “a source of great humiliation” to him. He was a confectionery by trade, he continued, and was about to open a large confectionery store at 1483 Broadway. On top of this there would be great lights and his name on the plate glass window – “O. H. Hell, Proprietor,” it would read.
Before Otto had even finished making his case, Judge Grant had been convinced. No more needed to be said. Indeed, no more would be said.
Two days later, Hell would be Hill.
But the Brooklyn Daily Eagle could not resist one last gibe for poor Otto. In their rag, in the “Personal and Impersonal” section they explained the change to their reading public:
“Otto H. Hell has had his name changed to Hill,” the paper dryly noted. And then it delivered its punchline.
“He is on his way up.”
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