Sidtennial Part 1: Celebrating 100 years of Sid Hartman

sidtennial
Photo credit Entercom

We look back on some of Sid’s early years growing up in Minneapolis

Looking back on the legend, the Oracle, and the man known as “Sid”, is an overwhelming task. 

Sid’s story is so long and deep it probably requires a book to tell properly (and of course there are a couple of books too).  At WCCO Radio, we have had a unique angle to witness Sid. 

Since 1955, he’s graced our airwaves as he still does today.  In a shock to absolutely nobody, he’s the longest tenured radio personality company-wide at almost 65 years now. 

Several years ago, I started to save audio in my role here (at the time) as Assistant Program Director and now as the Director of Content.  Nobody had paid much attention to our archives.  For our 80th Anniversary in 2004, a few people took the time to rifle through all our old tapes.  Some gems were unearthed, and I’ve done my best with limited time and resources to at least keep a few things for historical sake. 

One of those gems, was an early 1990’s interview Sid did with his (sometime) buddy Dark Star.  Much of what I’ll share here comes from that interview. 

To wish Sid a happy birthday, or make a donation in Sid's name on behalf of his grandson, Quintin, click here.  

This is part one of a five-part series that will tell the story of “The Oracle”, Sidney Hartman.

Childhood

As Sid has mentioned probably a thousand times on-air or in print, he grew up in North Minneapolis.  525 Humboldt Ave. North was his address.  That area today, just off Hwy. 55 near an apartment complex, is nothing like it was in 1920, the year Sid was born. 

He has described his early life as difficult.  It was a very poor area full of Jewish immigrants.  Sid’s father was an immigrant from Russia. 

Sid has always described his father as uneducated but hardworking.  But he had issues with alcohol.  “My father had a serious drinking problem for a long time,” said Hartman.  “We had a rough time.   In fact, my father and mother separated when I was about 13-14 years old.”

The family then moved.  “We ended up in a two-bedroom apartment with four kids, three boys and one girl.”

Sid’s mother also tried to provide for the family.  “To try to make ends meet, my mother had a dress shop on what they call Olson Highway right now (Highway 55), they called it 6th Avenue North in those days.  It seemed like every time she got something going, they’d break in and steal half her dresses.”

Growing up Jewish, Sid remembers fondly how they celebrated his Bar Mitzvah.  It’s a lot different than some of the extravagant parties thrown now. 

“I’ll never forget how proud my dad was.  He bought three boxes of Snickers candy bars to hand out.  I think they cost him 75 cents a box.  He thought that was an extravaganza.  Most of the kids who wouldn’t have gone to the Bar Mitzvah went because there was a chance they’d get a candy bar.”

In those days, Sid became very interested in back alley gambling games. 

Sid remembers: “If you went down an alley, there were nothing but craps games going on, blackjack games all the time.  The best one I remember was when they had this truck driver strike in the ‘30’s, and the cops used to come in there and they’d gamble with us.  The old Journal had an elevator going up to the mailroom which was on the third floor.  We’d wait until there was a big pot in there.  Then we’d take the elevator up.  We wouldn’t take all the money, but we’d take enough so when we’d come back down, those guys were a little short.”

It wasn’t always a safe environment for a kid.  “When you’d come in those alleys, if some guy was short money, he’d turn you upside down and take your money.  The stories I could tell about that alley, it was unbelievable.  There was plenty of fights, and it was survival.”

When Sid was 10-years old, he met a famous newspaper writer and WCCO Radio personality he would one day work with, Halsey Hall who was one of the legendary personalities in Twin Cities’ history.  He wasn’t the only big personality either. “There was a Kirk’s Pool Hall in the alley.  Halsey Hall would come in there and he’d bet 25 cents, but he’d only put in 12 cents.  And he’d bet and only win back 6 cents.  And we had a guy in there who used to mark the scoreboard.  He’d put the chalk up his nose while he was waiting for the next score.  And old man Kirk must’ve run me out of that place fifty times.  Finally, he gave up, said ‘come on and sit down you punk!’ 

Sid’s love of sports also was born out of sneaking around.  Sid explains that sneaking into the old Minneapolis Auditorium was another of his pastimes.  The old Auditorium hosted the Minneapolis Lakers until they moved to the Armory in 1959.  The Auditorium was eventually torn down in 1989 to make room for the Minneapolis Convention Center.  It had 80-foot tall ceilings.