My microfilm record of the Queens county directory for 1964-1965 has an exceptional listing at the bottom of the second column. The first letter in the first name field is missing. This listing reads "Oswald <blank> os."
The bottom of a column is an inconspicuous place to publish a listing with a
missing letter. If an "Oswald <blank>os" were the sixth listing then the neat
justification of the fifth and seventh listing would highlight the missing letter in
"Oswald <blank>os." This consideration applies to any listing with preceding
and following listings. Of the many listings in a column only the first and the
last listings have no preceding and following listings.
If the phone directory were a listing of only subscribers then the appearance of a particular listing at the bottom of a column would a matter of chance. In order for the phone company to list someone at the bottom of a column they need fictitious listings that can be added at will. Commercial considerations compel the phone company to include many fictitious listings.
The phone company (1) generates their directory from a database on a mainframe computer. Costs of this equipment, printing and distribution of the phone books are substantial. The phone company offsets these expenses by licensing advertisers and market researchers for one-time use of their database. Each time a licensee uses the database they call some fictitious listings. This is how the phone company knows if the licensee violates the condition of one-time use.
Fictitious listings, which protect the intellectual property of the phone company, make placement of a specific name at the bottom of a column possible.
The phone directory is an alphabetical list. We can identify the missing letter as "J" since "J" is the first letter of the first name in the listing preceding and following "Oswald <blank>os."
In 1964 three Joseph Oswalds resided in Queens county. This multiplicity is
curious. Queens had a population of about one million and about thirty listed
Oswalds during the sixties. We can trace the development of this curious trio.
Joseph Oswald was a resident of Glendale since 1955. In 1961, a second Joseph Oswald appeared in Ridgewood. His address was 1873 Linden Street and phone number was HY7-6670. The following year, the second Joseph Oswald moved to 2025 Menahan Street in Ridgewood and retained his HY7-6670 phone number. This was also the situation in 1962 and 1963, one Joseph Oswald in Glendale and another Joseph Oswald in the neighboring community of Ridgewood. The curious trio arose in 1964 with the initial listing of Joseph J. Oswald.
Individually the initial residency of Joseph Oswald in Ridgewood appears innocent. In isolation from other events, the second residency of Joseph Oswald seems benign. Intrinsically the appearance of Joseph J. Oswald in Long Island City looks guileless. These three events become controversial when we consider how they complemented the exceptional listing of an "Oswald <blank>os."
The phone company inconspicuously published the exceptional listing of an "Oswald <blank>os" just once in 1964. Most readers would likely overlook the missing letter. If someone did recognize the missing letter they would be inclined to dismiss it as a printing error and look no further. Only someone looking for an exceptional listing would recognize an "Oswald <blank>os" as a subtle hint.
The implied hint in the exceptional listing was not apparent from just the 1964 directory. However, comparison of the 1963 with the 1964 directories revealed two clues. The 1963 listing of an "Oswald Jos" had the same address and phone number as the 1964 listing of an "Oswald <blank>os." New listings in the 1964 directory contained the next clue. These new listings were an "Oswald Wm A," an "Oswald Peter," and an "Oswald Jos J."
If someone were looking for a hint they would examine the sequence "Oswald Jos," "Oswald <blank>os," and "Oswald Wm A" and recognize no patten. They would come to the same conclusion when they substituted "Oswald Peter" for the last member of the sequence. However, they would immediately recognize a patten in the sequence "Oswald Jos," "Oswald <blank>os," and "Oswald Jos J." The missing "J" in "Oswald <blank>os" moved to the middle initial field of "Oswald Jos J."
The significance of the curious trio and the exceptional listing is that five seemingly unrelated circumstances produced the suspicious sequence "Oswald Jos," "Oswald <blank>os," and "Oswald Jos J." We can examine the three contingencies and two coincidences that produced this suspicious sequence.
When Joseph Oswald moved to Ridgewood in 1961, the phone company would have suggested listing a middle initial. The reason was they listed another Joseph Oswald in neighboring Glendale. The following year, when Joseph Oswald moved from Linden Street to Menahan Street, he had a second opportunity to list his middle initial.
If Joseph Oswald in Ridgewood listed his name with any middle initial then there would have been no suspicious sequence. Joseph Oswald declined twice to list his middle initial. These two contingencies contributed toward the suspicious sequence.
In 1964, Joseph J. Oswald moved to 21-51 42 Street in Long Island City in northwestern Queens. Despite the distance between Joseph J. Oswald and his namesakes in southwestern Queens he distinguished himself by listing his middle initial.
Had Joseph J. Oswald distinguished himself by listing his middle name then he would have frustrated the suspicious sequence. The decision of Joseph J. Oswald to list his middle initial was the third contingency that supported the suspicious sequence.
These three contingencies though necessary were not sufficient for the production of the suspicious sequence. The suspicious sequence was dependent upon two more coincidences.
Fourth circumstance to foster the suspicious sequence was the coincidence of the middle initial of an "Oswald Joseph J" with the missing first initial of an "Oswald <blank>os." Finally the fifth prerequisite for the suspicious sequence was the coincidence in 1964 of the initial listing of an "Oswald <blank>os" with the initial listing of an "Oswald Jos J."
Normally when many pieces fall into place to produce a result, we attribute the circumstance to design. In this case, the interconnections between the exceptional listing, the curious trio, and the suspicious sequence suggest that someone underwent a change in identity and left a clue. However if we attempt to examine if someone did change their identity too many Joseph Oswalds will frustrate our efforts.
In 1962 when a Joseph Oswald moved to 2025 Menahan Street we are not certain if this Joseph Oswald was the Joseph Oswald who resided at 1873 Linden Street in 1961. We know these Joseph Oswalds shared the same phone number and we do not know if they shared the same middle initial.
Likewise in 1964, we cannot decide whether Joseph Oswald from Glendale or Joseph Oswald from Ridgewood established a second residence in Long Island City as Joseph J. Oswald.
This multitude of mistaken identities effectively curtail any investigation. All that remains is suspicion and inaccessible evidence for anyone without access to confidential records.
The curious trio was a short-lived group. Just once, in 1965, the phone company explicitly listed two Joseph Oswalds and Joseph J. Oswald. After 1965, we find Joseph J. Oswald not listed in the Queens directories. The curious trio dissolved by 1966 when its distinguished member, Joseph J. Oswald, went his own way leaving two Joseph Oswalds in Southwestern Queens beyond the mid-eighties.
Notes
The Ruben H. Donnelly Company publishes many specialized directories for the phone company. Probably they publish the standard phone books.