| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
In the mid-1970s, two young men began calling a bar named the Tube Bar which was located in Jersey City, New Jersey. The Tube Bar was owned by Louis Deutsch, who went by the nickname "Red", and most of the time, Deutsch was the person who answered the calls. During each call, the callers would ask Deutsch to call out fictitious names, which, when said aloud, sounded like something else entirely (for example, "Al Coholic" = alcoholic, or "Cole Kutz" = cold cuts). Most of the time, Deutsch would call out the names, unaware that he was being subjected to a prank. Sometimes, however, Deutsch would catch on to the prank, and when he did, he responded with extreme hostility, shouting at the caller with profanity, obscene sexual references and threats of physical harm.
The callers, whose names were Jim Elmo and John Davidson, recorded the calls that they made on tape.