Floss Stingell says people have made millions of dollars from her famous "Watch the tram car, please" warning in a Jersey Shore town, while she's received nothing but occasional free tram tickets. The recording is heard thousands of times a day from tram cars on the Wildwood boardwalk. According to a lawsuit filed this week, the recording has been used to promote tourism and sell memorabilia, including toys that play the phrase.
reports. The recording also featured in an episode of . Stingell, who lives in North Wildwood, says she recorded the warning as a favor to a boyfriend in 1971 and was never paid for it.
"A man I was dating at the time worked for Ramagosa, who owned the tram cars. And I just spoke into a recorder and it's been used ever since," she said at a news conference on the boardwalk Tuesday, per . The lawsuit says the tram, which charges a $5 fare, makes more than $2.
5 million annually. The lawsuit, which names defendants including the city and the Wildwood Business Improvement District, doesn't ask for a specific sum but it seeks compensation "attributable" to the profits made, reports. "She has not received a single dime from this while they've received millions of dollars," says Emeka Igwe, Stingel's attorney.
"Our goal is to allow the voice to continue because we don't want to mess up the culture and the fabric of Wildwood," Igwe tells NBC Philadelphia. "All we're asking for is for the defendants to compensate her and then they can continue to use the voice.