MAMARONECK, N.Y.
The widow of the Chock full o'Nuts coffee company's founder and the voice behind its famous jingle was found cowering on an upstairs balcony of a burning home over the weekend and was carried down a ladder to safety, firefighters said.
Volunteer firefighter Thomas Broderick said he initially didn't know the identity of the person he had saved on Saturday, Page Morton Black.
"I never got her name," he said. "As soon as I got off the ladder, I went right back in to fight the fire."
Fire Chief David Commender confirmed Monday it was Black who was rescued from the electrical fire at the home in Larchmont, a village about 20 miles northeast of midtown Manhattan. He didn't answer questions about her.
A security officer at the coffee company's main office in Suffolk, Va., said no one was available to talk about the fire or Black's condition. The company also has an office in Portsmouth, according to its Web site.
Black, also known for her work with the Parkinson's Disease Foundation founded by her husband, William Black, is a former cabaret songstress.
She began singing the Chock full o'Nuts jingle, based on the song "That Heavenly Feeling," in radio and television advertisements around 1954.
"Chock full o'Nuts is that heavenly coffee," the jingles goes. "Better coffee a millionaire's money can't buy."
The word "millionaire's" was replaced by "billionaire's" in an updated version of the jingle.
Chock full o'Nuts was founded in New York as a nuts store. But when shelled nuts became viewed as a luxury during the Depression, William Black switched to a counter service coffee shop, selling a cup of coffee and a sandwich for a nickel.
The company was bought by the Sara Lee Corp. in 1999 and by Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA in 2006.
To hear the company's jingles, go to www.chockfullonuts.com/.
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Firemen are true heroes.
Firemen are true heroes.
The "old days" in NYC
The best coffee and fantastic whole wheat doughnuts. I ate them for years. I still miss them although you can still purchase the canned coffee, which I do. It's not quite the same as the brewed from the shop.
To me, there is nothing to replace Chock Full O'Nuts.
So glad Ms. Black is alive and hope she is well. Thank you NYFD. This company (Chock Full O'Nuts) always had a great product at a fair price. A different time and place, I guess.
Chock Full O' Nuts jingle
I remember the jingle very well. I was just a lad growing up in NYC in the '50s. The original jingle was "better coffee Rockefeller's money can't buy." The Rockefeller family complained, and it was changed to "millionaire's."