Pearl Ablon
Pearl's father came from Austria and her mother from Romania, and the couple married when her mother was sixteen. After building a successful business abroad, her father emigrated to the United States, settling first in New York, where he began by selling piece goods and prospered. Pearl was born in New York, one of five children along with brothers Joe, Sam, and Max and sister Fanny. Her brother Sam, who was among the first to come, died at age twenty-three during the 1918 flu epidemic. Around 1913 or 1914 her father, encouraged by a close cousin who ran a men's store, came south to look over new business opportunities.
The family first lived in Fort Worth for about a year and a half before moving to Dallas, living briefly on Swiss Avenue and then at the Park Hotel, later known as the Ambassador, before her father bought a home at 2929 South Boulevard. Pearl treasured the lively young Jewish social life of that neighborhood, including a group called the Brandeis Club. She graduated from Forest High School in January 1922 as valedictorian, attended the University of Texas for two years and SMU for a year, and married Bernie in 1926. The couple lived on Park Row and South Boulevard, spent twelve years in Fort Worth, and returned to Dallas in 1944, building their home at 5314 Nakoma in 1949.
Pearl's family attended Shearith Israel, where she taught Sunday school, and her Jewish observance centered on Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Passover, and Hanukkah in a home that was Jewish though not strictly kosher. In Fort Worth the family joined the Temple for the sake of their children's religious education, a change Pearl came to appreciate, and they continued at the Temple in Dallas. She devoted herself to organizational life, serving as membership chairman for Hadassah, on the board of the Council of Jewish Women, and in sisterhoods, Brandeis, City of Hope, and B'nai B'rith, always willing to help while declining most presidencies. In later years her observance deepened, especially through her sons and grandchildren, with the family gathering for every holiday in her home.
Full Transcript
Edlin, and the date is July 21st, 1982. How many years have you lived in Dallas? I've lived in Dallas since 19... Let me see. 1914. Or 15. I was 11 years old at the time. If you want to take my age. Did you come right to the Dallas area? Yes. Yeah, my father went into business here. I was born in New York. And then my father had told his business there, and he was looking for a new business. And a cousin of mine, I really, who had a store here, said to my dad, they were very close, and he said, You ought to just go down to Dallas and let the land over before you decide to go into business again.
And he did, and he liked what he saw. And he decided to come down here, and he came down and opened up a store here. My brother Max was 16 years old at the time. put his first hair along KM Song, came down to Texas with my dad and my brother, I had a brother Sam, and they came down and they opened up the store here. And it was after he, you know, started to settle, he came back to New York to get my mother and my sister and I. and we moved now we first when we first came down here we moved into an apartment on Swift Avenue we lived there about a year and decided that wasn't the part of town we wanted to live in so we moved I don't know if you remember the old ambassador hotel it was called what was it called at that time I was even forgotten it was a family hotel And family, the children, I mean, it was a hotel.
It wasn't because we had no cooking facilities or anything, but it was a hotel and we moved there and it was lovely across the city park. And we lived there about a year a year and a half And then my father bought a home on South Florida We were all it was very unique to the serious population at that time What year was that? I really can't remember because I was, um, let me see, I had, I was in my first year, Oh, well, I skipped a part. We did move to Fort Worth first when we came down here. We lived in Fort Worth about a year and a half, and then moved to Dallas.
So I started high school in Fort Worth, and so I was an upper freshman when we moved to South Dallas, and I started school there. Do you remember the year when you started school? Well, I graduated in January of 1922, so figuring back four years, about 1918. See? Let's back up for a minute. Yes. Was your father a first-generation arrival? Where did he come from? My father came from Austria, and my mother came from Romania. And why did he leave Austria? Well, see, um, father was a young man when he left Austria. Now, what his reasons were he was, um, I don't think he came to this country by himself first, and left my mother, who had two children in, they were living in Romania at the time.
And, uh, he left my mother with the two children until he stopped and he was able to bring her over here. And then he brought my mother over, did the two children, and they settled in New York, and he went into the Pea Stoods. He started off selling Pea Stoods. How? You know, one roll, I don't know how, and he'd sell it to, um, no, he'd sell it to manufacturers, maybe woolen, big rolls of woolen, and first he'd sell one with that, he'd buy two, and then he'd go into four, and that's the way his business do, and he was very successful. Before he left New York, he was quite successful.
Do you have any idea what year, about what year he came? He must have come down here about 19, well, 19, 13 or 14, shortly before we came down here. And then what year about what year did you come to the United States My brother Max was born in this country And my brother Max was born in about 1898 somewhere around there I have a date in the other room, the exact date, but I can't remember it off hand. He was the first child born in this country. I had two other brothers at the time that were born in Europe. Do you know when your mother came?
When he brought your mother over with the kids? Well, it would have been before my brother Max was born. You know, he wasn't there that long without him. Yeah. You know, so as soon as he saw his way clear, he immediately sent for her and brought her over here. When you moved, you mentioned that you moved to South Boulevard. Yes. What was the life like? What was the lifestyle like? It was great. On South Boulevard. It was great. What was the, what was some of the things that you did? What was the day like? It was great because I had a lot of girlfriends at that time.
I was, say, 14 years, 14, 15 years old. And I had a lot of girlfriends because they were in a two-box radius. And we had a nice young social group. And, in fact, while I was going to high school, the young Jewish crowd and formed a little club that was called the Brandeis Club of boys and girls, all going to high school at that time. and we would meet and have little social gatherings, even if it were house parties, because we were all rather young. And it was a delightful, I remained friends with those girls all my life. And did you go to Forest High School?
Oh, yes. Was that the high school you went to? Oh, yes, I went to Forest High. And I graduated from Forest High. What was your address on South Boulevard? Do you remember? 2929, South Boulevard. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Now, you graduated high school. Did you go on to school? Mm-hmm. Yeah well I had a scholarship when I graduated from high school I was valedictorian when I graduated from high school I went on to Texas University It was just the honor that was involved with Skylitz It wasn't worth that much. But anyway, I would have gone on to college anyway. I went on to Texas University for two years.
Then I transferred to SMU. And I went to SMU for a year. And then Bernie and I became engaged so I could school. So that was it. I want to back up again, if we may. Your uncle suggested that your dad come down to Dallas. Do you know why he told him to come to Dallas? Because he was a very successful businessman in Dallas. And he thought, and they were very, very close. And he thought since he was just going into a new, this is fertile territory. since this was a new business he was going into. He had sold his business up there. Was your uncle also in Peace Goods down here?
No, no, no, no. He had I-Rudy's Men's Store. He was the one that used to give all that merchandise away at Christmas time to the needy. I don't know. I'm sure it was before your time. Yeah. Can you tell me a little bit about it, and then we'll come back to it. I-Rudy? Mm-hmm. I-Rudy was his name. And every year at Christmas time, He would give the clothing, shoes, sweaters, suits, pants, to the community. They'd form lines all around the block. They'd have them come in and fit them. He just didn't do that. They came in, they fitted the children, and sent them out all dressed up.
And he did this for many years. Now, my father did the same thing in Fort Worth. Actually, it was something he liked that my cousin was doing here. He did it in Fort Worth when we, he had opened a store in Fort Worth, too. That's why we moved to Fort Worth first. And he did it, of course, with ladies' and children's clothes for the needy in Fort Worth at the time. I followed that policy. and it was a very rewarding thing, you know. But I really, it's one that any old time you will remember. When did he come here? And I know I'm... Long before, he was here long before we ever came here.
Was he here as early as the turn of the century? Oh, no, no. He was originally from Denver. He was connected with the Consumption Holdings in Denver a lot. He contributed. He was quite charitable and contributed a lot. There's a building in his name there and all at the Jewish Consumption Holdings in Denver. That was the cousin that I was talking about. And anyway, I really was my cousin. He was actually my father's aide, but they were uncle and nephews. So they were really like brothers. Very close. Well, okay. Oh, one more question about the store. Where was the store located? On Elm Street. Which part?
What is it? 1212 Elms. It's an easy remember. The numbers I remember are easy to remember. What, again, what was the time frame then? That, that, my father or I Rudy? Both of them. Well, I Rudy was here long before we were, and I don't really know, based on his at all. Except that when we came by, came down, his business is already a growing business, you know. He'd been here quite a while. And my father, as I said, some were in the neighborhood of 1914 or 15, whatever. I think four, about four, too. Okay. Now, what about Jewish education now? What was it like?
Well, my father joined sheriff business. He became friends with Mr. Kleinman. And, of course, with Mr. Kleinman, if you remember him, he, Mr. Vestner had a store near ours, And all the men that he met were along to Cherith Israel, and he joined Cherith Israel all of the time. And, of course, I went to Sunday School at Cherith Israel. I can still. I really can't remember too much about my Jewish education at that time, except that I went to Sunday School. Was there any Hebrew education at Cherith Israel at that point? No, I didn't. I never did study Hebrew at that time. Did you start Sheriff Israel when it was on Jackson Street?
I remember Sheriff Israel yes I remember Sheriff Israel But it was shortly after that when we Sheriff Israel built Because I could almost Well the first building was in the 1880s No but I talking about the one on Park you know near the city park 1919. Well, so I evidently started in the old one, but I don't have any vivid recollection of of my Sunday school days at Cherish Israel. I don't know. Was there confirmation at that time? Were you confirmed? No, I don't think so much. Uh-uh. What was your Jewish observance at home like? Well, our home was not orphaned, strictly orphaned. strictly orthodox songs, but there was always observances of the holidays, and I mean, there was a great deal of Jewishness in my home, without being a kosher home.
But other than that, it was a, there was an ideal Jewish environment in my home, on the holidays and you know, Friday night and what have you. But, other than that. Did your mother light candles on Friday night? Yes. And your father's day kiddos? Yeah, but my mother was more inclined towards it than my father. So, I can't remember the taste part at all, but my mother did light the candles, you know. But, you know, they They didn't make a beat to do like this. What about holidays like Pesach? Oh, I've always observed it. And Strictly. Do you have a seder? Oh, yes. At home?
Oh, yes. Yes. Seders, yes. The seders were really carried out in an Orthodox fashion. What about like Sikha and Shavuos? No, I don't really know about the holidays. It was Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Passover. Those were the big days. How about Hanukkah? Hanukkah, yes, the observance because it was a happy holiday. There were the pancakes and the gifts and that was it you know What about Purim I don recall anything You what you go on Purim No I don recall that at all No, we didn't observe that part. Has your observance changed over the years? Of course, you know, we belong to the temple now for many, many years.
And of course, I think the temple is sort of leaning to the middle more now these days anyway. It has through the years. My boys were, and when we lived in Fort Worth, we lived there for 12 years after the boys were born. And they went, you know, to the Temple Sunday School there. But we observed everything, even more so than I can remember in my youth. You know, because I was a Sunday school teacher there. Well, I was also a Sunday school teacher at Sheriff Israel before we moved, but when I graduated from high school and while I was going to college at SMU, I taught Sunday school here.
And I think I taught the first couple of years that I was married, about the first few years. And really, my association with sheriffism was due to Mrs. Reshmer, who was a great influence on me. Someone I admired tremendously and who I worked with. When I was just short, well, it was more after I married when I was a bride. But she was quite a lady, and I enjoyed working with her, and I did. And I guess she thought maybe I had the potential, and so she... I really didn't know that much about it all. I learned a great deal from her. Did she teach at the time?
She was connected with the Sunday School, and she put out the bulletin. And I remember, of course, after I married, I joined the-we joined the sheriff as when we first married. And I blocked the sisterhood. And she encouraged me to be her co-editor of the bulletin that they were putting out. And then eventually she backed you know did other things and left it all up to me And so I was able to get the bulletin there first until we moved to Fort Worth Um, now, you've been a member of Temple for how many years ago? We moved back to Dallas in 1944. We blocked the Temple in Fort Worth too, and when we came to Dallas, the boys were already going to Temple Sunday School and all, all so we join the temple here and so we moved back in 1944 and we've been members of the temple ever soon how is it that you changed from being of conservative orientation or orthodox yes to It happened in Fort Worth.
When we moved to Fort Worth, the Orthodox synagogue there was rather small. The temple was larger. It wasn't that much difference, you know, when we joined the temple in Fort Worth. The Orthodox synagogue was too Orthodox for us. The Sunday school was poor. They did not have a good Sunday school. We were interested in the children's education. The temple had a very good Sunday school. And we looked them both over and decided to join the temple because of the children, because we wanted them to get a good religious education, which the Harvest Shill, I think is the name of the synagogue there, was not offering to children, and that was very important to me.
Now, my children did take Hebrew when they would go down there to the, it was at the, what do they call it, it wasn't called a community center in Fort Worth, I forget what it was called, right next to the shill in Fort Worth, and they would go there for their Hebrew lessons, which the temple did not offer. I wanted them to have a Hebrew education. And so, then when we moved to Dallas, the boys were already going to temple, and also we just joined the temple here. And they continued going to the temple here. How did you feel about the change? It didn't bother me at all.
In fact, I'm very honest with you, I understood a great deal more when it was all in English than I did before. Before, I would sit there and not understand what it was all about. And when I joined the temple, I really learned a great deal more. How about your husband? How did you feel? He was a little bit more reluctant to begin with it. But after, we didn't join until we attended services at both places. And I didn't make the decision. We discussed it. And we decided this is what we wanted to do. So he accepted it, and after going once or twice, I mean, he was perverted.
What is your experience now? Well, you mean the... Presently. Of holidays. Well, you know, I have no children. I have no children here at all. And so it's just Bernie and I. Right. So our observance is of the high, all the holidays. And we have all the family functions for every holiday here where I have both of my children and my grandchildren, then their wives and then their grandchildren. And now it is a family occasion for every, the rest of the zone of the breaking of the fast, if everybody comes here. We have all the dinners, all the family together on every holiday. What about Seder?
Do you draw the Seder? Yes. We have the Seder here all the way through. And now it's gotten so the boys conduct the Seder. I mean, my sons. And so it's really more of an English Seder because they explain everything to the children as we go along, even though the children are having their Hebrew education. But they understand a great deal more when it's translated into English. What about the Sabbath candles? Do you still like Sabbath candles? I'll say occasionally. Okay. And especially if the children are here. Has there been change in that ritual over the years? Do you find that you observe less over the years?
No, more. More or more? More because of my grandchildren. We've really gone into it more. And you know my son Sam he has been a Sunday School teacher at Temple He very very much interested in religion and all and it a big part of his life And so we really carry it on. That's why I say I even observe more, because I know how he feels about it, and we want to pass it on to the children. Now, what about your organizational life? How has that been? Through the years? Through the years. Oh, it's starting to fall heavy. I told you, the first one that influenced me was Ms.
Vesner. And so I became interested in chair of Israel. Then Mrs. Sacks, L.B. Sacks, lived on the corner of South Boulevard, if you remember. And I don't remember the street. It was just on the next corner from where we lived, anyway. And you were at 29? 29, it was, she lived in the 2800 block, the corner. That would be Jeffreys. Yeah, Jeffreys, I think that's what it was. So they had the corner house there, and my mother would be on the board, my mother was active, and, but Mrs. Spack, I think was president of the Hadassah at the time, and she was having a board meeting, and of course my mother was on the board, and she'd call my mother and She said, why don't you bring Pearl to the board meeting?
I was a bride at the time. Of course, you go to the board meeting, and the moment you go, you're hooked, because they're glad to see a new face. They always need volunteers, you know. So when she, I said, she said to me, will you be membership chairman? I said, Ms. Sacks, I'm not a member. I'm not even a member, but I will join. I'm happy to join, but I don't know that I'm qualified. She says, we need a young person to be membership chairman. All the members are older women, and we have to get the young women into it. We have to get the young women into the organization.
We need them. And so, I think there were about, I don't think there were over, There must have been about 70 or 80 members up in the doctor at the time. They were rather small. I wouldn't know exactly. And I became membership chairman Of course all I did was ask my friends And I got all my friends in it and I got 50 new members the first year 50 50 5 Okay And of course they wanted me to be a delegate to the convention and all that, which I didn't want to do, because being the membership chairman was not that difficult for me, and I didn't want to get involved any more than that.
But anyway, from that time on, I became involved in public. We moved to Fort Worth. I belonged to Council of, I joined the Council of Jewish Women. I was on the board of that in Dallas. Well, when I moved to Fort Worth, so by the time I was a member of the sisterhood, a member of Hadassah, the member of Council of Jewish Women, and what else was on in Fort Worth? That might have been it in Fort Worth, because they didn't have that many organizations there at that time. And then, so I was very, I was on every board, and this was my way of life, I'm not going to say how far up I went, because I went up pretty far.
Oh, come on, come on. No, I was not only on the board, I was an officer in every organization. Never would accept the presidency. Finally, I did accept it in the Council of Jewish Women. First, you had to grow into it. You first were second vice president, first vice president. And I was elected to be president, and the election was-I was nominated, and of course you know if you're nominated there, there's no competition. The election was in May. We left Fort Worth in April, and I was to go into the presidency the following year. So, of course, then they had to hunt for-well, the new first vice president was moving up the presidency.
So, but I never did want to be president. I really didn't. And I'm always glad to do my bid, but never wanted to be president of any organization. And I don't know that I'm qualified even, but I never did want to exist. I had a lot of experience and so forth. Then when I moved to Dallas I joined Brandeis I joined the city Save I joined of course I joined We also joined Tepharis Israel because my father-in-law was president of that Tepharis. So we joined for that reason. We knew that it would make my in-laws very happy if we joined there. So I belonged to the sisterhood of Tepharis Israel and what other organizations?
B'nai B'rith. Then I became interested in B'nai B'rith when my son's son was an AZA. And I said, well, my son benefits by any organization I'm going to join. So I joined the B'nai B'rith then. The Jewish organization, I think, that's a horrible look. I don't know. So I still belong to everything. So. Are you active in some of the things? I have been. You mean in Dallas? I had been through the years. You've remained active in all these things. Not in the last 10 years. Oh, okay. Sort of let loose it, but I was very active in Brandeis for a while. When I came back to Dallas, I was the editor of the Council Bulletin.
When I came back to Dallas, I, well, I just joined the temple. I was at, well, they knew that I was the incoming, the president-elect in Fort Worth, so the council immediately put me to work here. And, what other organization? Oh, City of Hope. My parents were very interested in the City of Hope. So I became involved with the City of Hope because of my mother. And so you see, I was very interested in a lot of organizations at one time, which was not a good policy, but I did it anyway. I was young and I could do it. What about the civic and cultural affiliations?
Not strong. Have you had any change in your affiliation with the civic and cultural organizations over the years? No. No. Well, we'll go, you know, we'll go to some, I mean, we'll go to them and all, but never, no strong affiliations in the community. Anyway, except to attend. What are some of the things that you attend? Well, I mean, the Sympathy, the Opera, I mean, we'll go in for all these things, but nothing where we're participating in any way at all, other than just attend. Um, what were you... I was gonna say, not regularly, just when whatever it was appealed to us, before we attended.
Now, what have your addresses been over the years, or about, well... Your address is where you've lived over the years. Okay. Well, we lived on South Boulevard until I married. And of course, we lived, we, we had a small apartment on Park Row. It was in the 2,900 block of Park Row, but I can't remember the number of the house. Do you remember the year? Yeah, we moved there in 1926. Okay. when we married. We moved into a little apartment on Park Road. We lived there about, I would say about two years or maybe three I've gotten. And then my father built a home on South Boulevard.
It's on the corner of Oakland and South Boulevard. And then we lived there until we moved to Fort Worth. Bernie went to work in Fort Worth. And that was, he commuted until after Sandy was born, my first child. And let's see, we were married almost six years before we had new children. So it was quite a while. There's quite a time lapse there. And so then when we lived in Fort Worth, we built a home in Fort Worth, and we lived in Fort Worth for 12 years. First we lived in apartments until we built our home because we built it from all. We lived there 12 years, then we moved back to Dallas.
It was during, in the 40s, 44, when there was no construction of homes at that time. So we were fortunate to get a one-bedroom apartment that we thought we would just move into until we bought a home Well we looked and we looked and every day we looked the boys were not happy with what they the house we were picking because all they could visualize was their Fort Worth home and nothing compared to it to them because that was the first home they remembered well And so we lived in that apartment for five years, intending to just move there until we found a home. Until the building opened up and we built our present home.
And that was in what year? About 49. Yeah, we moved here in April of 49. That's easy, because in fact, five years later, we moved here. We built this home and we're still living here. And this is on 53 what, Nakoma? This is 5314 Nakoma. Nakoma. Uh-huh. What was the neighborhood like when you built here? It was, this was an old neighborhood. Greenway Park's an old area. Some of the houses. But the time we moved here, there was a lot of new buildings, homes going up because the building had just opened up. So there was quite a bit of building going on. But it was an established area already.
And we liked it because the boys, they had already started going to the Highland Park School, and they wanted to continue going there. And even though this was Dallas, they told us that the boys could go to the Highland Park School, even before we started, before we bought the property. And they did. They both graduated from Highland Park High School. You said you lived in an apartment. What was the address of that? On Roland. Fifty, wait a minute. It was a fifty, it was a fifty-four, forty-five. Anyway, it was between Preston Road and what is now the Toll Road, right behind Loma Alta Hotel, because my parents lived at the Longmouth Hotel.
And we were lucky to get these. And my mother-in-law just lived about five, six blocks away too. So I was right in the neighborhood area of my parents' in-laws. So we worked it out. They were good years even though it was a one apartment But we were very happy there What about the family structure over the years While you were in grammar school, did you have any relatives living with you? Were there any boarders that ever lived with you? No, never. Anything like that? No. In fact, we had no relatives in this town. in this town. We didn't have, because my cousin actually was not a Dallas man.
He had a business here, but he did not live here. He lived in Denver. He was from Denver, but he had a store that was managed here, and he would come in, you know, check on it occasionally, but did not live here. So we had no relatives at all in the city of Dallas when we moved to Dallas. How many children were there of you? There were five children. My brother Joe, Sam, Max, my sister Fanny, and myself. Now my brother Sam died in 1918 during the flu epidemic. He was 23 years old. That was while we were still living at the Park Hotel. That's what it was called.
The ambassador was called the Park Hotel, and he just came back to me. And he died during the flu epidemic. So there's just four of us remaining. And, but by this time, we were related to an awful lot of people in Dallas. You had mentioned that your father's occupation was that of a shopkeeper. Well, he opened his store. He opened up a ladies' ready-to-wear store, a specialty store. No, he opened up a ladies' store. Okay, when he came to the United States, did he have a particular skill that would bring him to that situation? No, except that he was already a successful businessman. in Romania.
When my mother married him, he was already a successful businessman. What did you do? It was in the Peace Goods line Now just what he did but it was related to materials and things But when my mother of course from what I heard you know naturally that my mother was 16 years old when my father married her she was a beautiful young girl and her parents thought she was doing very well because she was marrying a successful businessman but evidently they saw the change over there i don't recall just what it was i really don't even know what his reasons were how old was he when he was married he my father was 10 years older than my mother He was 26 or 16.
So he was an established businessman. And so, I mean, he'd always been a big business, and everything he attempted, he was a success at. He'd start from scratch, and he was just a good businessman, you know. Was there ever any intermarriage in the family? Or is there? No. None on the Rudy's side of the family. What about the others? What about the other side, the Evelyn side? Has there been intermarriage? Well, Lisa. That's fine. But she was converted. Wonderful girl. What about the kids, their kids? Where are they now as far as their... They are living in Washington. Carol married a Jewish boy. Carol was married at Deferreth, Israel, in a strictly Orthodox marriage.
And they too belonged to the temple, too. There was, what happened was the date that the boy she married was from Washington, and he'd only come down at a certain time because he was working and going to college at night. And so there were some other weddings at the temple that day, and it didn't work in. And so Hazel asked Bernie if he thought that he could arrange the wedding at the fair of Israel, which we did, and she married there in a strictly Orthodox. What about you? And the boy, they have a son who is not married. Okay. So they are following the Jewish faith.
Okay. Oh, definitely. Well, Hazel, too, all the way through, when she moved to Washington, The first thing she did was go to the various temples. I think there are two big temples there. And she went to them to see which one she wanted to join, and she joined the temple immediately. All her friends up there were Jewish. She really converted, but was a real Jewish person in every... Never thought of hers, anything else. Now let's talk about the Jewish community generally over the years and as you remember. When you were young, you know, on South Boulevard when you moved to Dallas, what was the neighborhood like?
It was a lovely neighborhood. South Boulevard was a lovely neighborhood. How was it Jewishly speaking? Very Jewish, most of the people. were very, very Jewish. And I mean, the whole environment was Jewish around there. And most of the people living on the two blocks, you know, the two blocks that I was close to were along to Sheriff Israel at the time. A little farther down, they'd lost the temple. in those days the temple was extremely reformed I mean we couldn't I would never would have joined it had it been as it was when I was a girl but when we came back we could see the change that would take place due to the rabbis that had come in I can't think of the name of that rabbi that was there when we first moved to Could it have been Greenberg?
That's who it was. Extremely reformed. And so we were never interested in the temple in any way at all prior then. But when Leftwoods came in, things started changing up a little bit. And then of course when Olin came in, it even changed more. And now with Klein, it's even more. But more to our liking, let me put it that way. To our feeling. And have you noticed change in Deferrith Israel perhaps? Deferrith Israel Oh yes to a degree Because when I first married and of course on the high holidays then we would go to the Teferiath Israel with my in the women were sitting on one side and the men were sitting on the other you know I mean it was extremely well orthodox so there's quite a change at Teferiath Israel.
Was there a thing in the middle of the building that you went to? You mean Teferath Israel? When you were married at Teferath Israel, do you remember? I was not married then. No, I'm sorry, at Teferath Israel. Do you remember the building that you're talking about? Yes, it was a small building. Yeah, I remember it. It was in North Dallas. Yeah. Do you remember the street it was on? Was it Alamo? I don't know. I don't think it could have been. Where Highland is now Akron. Yeah, it could have been Highland. That's, I don't know. I really don't know. I really don't know. I just went out and didn't even notice what street it was on or anything.
But you know, there was the division with the curtain between the men and the women, and of course that was all very new to me. What about Sheriff Israel? You had gone? Oh, well, Sheriff Israel. No way. You had been in Sheriff Israel? Yeah. It was conservative, and And of course that's what I was accustomed to more or less. The reason it was easy for us to go to temple. Were the women and men separated on high holidays? No. No. No? Never. What about the balcony? Could be that they might have separated up there. I never went up there. I don't know what happened up there.
Because actually the first years I was married, I mean when I was a girl growing up, my host partner took there, to share a theater. So I spent most of my time in the park. And I'd go in and greet my parents and all and sit there for 10 minutes and then I'd go out in the park where all the young folks congregated. That was the holiday to me. So really, that's why I say I really didn't get that much from the shul when I was growing up. Did you make it a point to come in when the chauffeur was born? Toward the evening, yes.
Uh Yeah there were certain things we come in for and then we wouldn stay any longer than we had to And we go out And we used to walk to Shul I remember We walk from our home to Sheriff Israel And we observed a lot. There were a lot of observances there. Did a lot of the people on South Boulevard and Forest walk up to Sheriff Israel? Yes, uh-huh. On the holidays? Yeah, a group of us used to walk together. We'd all walk down there together. Yeah. You had mentioned getting married at the Adolphus Hotel. Was that done very often? That was the thing. How did that come about?
Do you know? No, I really don't. Everybody I knew married at the Adolphus Hotel. You know, that's where all the weddings were taking place. Did the shul have any strong feelings about that happening? No. No problem. The rabbi performed the ceremony there, no problems at all. I mean, it was sort of a thing if you could have that type of wedding. That was what we all did. I could... Morris and Ethel married at the Adolphus. My sister and her husband, Dan, Goldberg, married at the Adolphus. It was sort of a family custom, you know. Now, you mentioned that your family had lived at the Park Hotel, which was later and now called Ambassador.
Can you tell us about that? Was it only an apartment hotel? What was it like living there? Actually, it was really very, very nice. Who lived there? Families with children. Not babies. More or less teenage children, or even if they were younger. I mean, I don't remember babies there somehow or other. But, you know, they had a dining room, and we didn't have a kitchenette or anything in our apartment. We just had a three-bedroom apartment, you know. And we'd go down, and they had a dining room downstairs where we'd go to eat on the open. If we wanted to go out, we went out. We did whatever was the...
We ate there a great deal because we were going to school. and, but it was very, very nice. There were a lot of Jewish people there at the time. It wasn all Jewish but there were a lot of Jewish people there a lot of families Jewish families And it was really it was a very good time in my life After dinner, they had parlors there, they'd all congregate and visit together. They had a phonograph in those days, we played, the youngsters would play the phonograph and dance in the parlors. I mean, it was a real warm feeling. What about things like breakfasts? You'd have breakfasts out there.
We'd go down for breakfast every morning. On our way out, we'd stop in there. It was sort of a cafeteria-like deal, you know, where we could get out fast. We'd go through, get our breakfast. They'd charge to the room. We kids would go on to school. Why did people choose that lifestyle? Well, we didn't particularly. We knew we didn't like where we were living. living. You know, I told you we lived on Swiss Avenue, was completely out of the district. And we moved there really to decide, my father did, you know, planned them on my father and mother, to decide where it was that they wanted to buy a home.
And when they decided on South Boulevard, when they found the home they wanted, my father bought the home and we moved. But it them about a year, a year and a half to do that. Was that typical of families living there? Yes, uh-huh, I think so. That's, yeah, that was typical because it wasn't, it was expensive living there. It wasn't cheap. I mean, they had to have some means to live there. And these were all people, they could, they bought their own homes and when they moved out, they moved to their own homes. Or if they liked the lifestyle there, they might have stayed on.
I don't know. Now, several presidents supposedly stayed in that hotel. You mean the United States? The United States. I don't remember any of them. This is what some of the literature says. Did they have people, or did they have arrangements for people that were coming through Dallas where they could have also stayed at that hotel? Oh, yes. Yeah, they had private. It really was a hotel. It was not, we called it an apartment hotel. Now there may have been some apartments with kitchen facilities. I don't know. But we didn't have it. See, my mother used to go to the store every day anyway. My mother would go to the store.
We'd go on to school. She'd go the store she'd be home when we came home from school but back at the apartment see there were no problems and if she wasn't there were no problems you see because we went into a hotel where we knew people that was a little unusual for her to work yes my mother never worked before she came to Texas but she liked going into a ladies store and she fit right in she had the personality for it and she liked what she was doing. How did your dad feel about that? Did he enjoy having that? Yes, my father at that time did the buying for the business, so he was in New York half the time.
That's the reason we didn't move down immediately after he went into business, because he was still coming to New York to do the buying up there. In those days, that's where all the buying was done and for ladies wear. So he was in New York quite a bit buying. And so she really, it really fit into her lifestyle because we were all at school. She had nothing to do all day long. So she'd go to the store and began liking it. And she enjoyed doing it. Then when we moved into our home, I think she sort of quit it then. She didn't go down then.
She was home more when she had a home. It was while she was at the hotel that she really fit right into her lifestyle. Now, the Jewish Community Center was over on Pocahontas? Yes. Off of Park or by Park. Yes, I remember that. Was there social activity? And if so, you know, were some of the activities there? Oh, yes. There was a lot of them, a lot of social activities there. And there were a lot of dances there. And then it wasn't the, what was the name of the club? Parkview Club there for a while. It was a private club. And then the community center took it over.
Wasn't that the way it worked? YMHA. YMHA, yeah. That's right. And so of course, we belonged to it when it was a Parkview Club. And so we, you know, it was easy for me to fit right. And then I remembered that this was before your day too the T Club which was a boys met young men club used to have their meetings there And sometimes after the meetings they invite the girls up there and we dance up there It was a real social place When it was a social gathering. When it was a Parkview club, what type of club was that? Well, it was a private club.
I don't know whether it was like any private club. It wasn't a country club, because it was right in the heart of the city. And they would have their affairs, their formals, their parties, and women would have their luncheons there. now they didn't have the extreme kitchen facilities that they have at the country club but i was young then and i don't even remember the you know the mechanics of it all was it a jewish club oh yes it was a jewish club the park street club is a jewish club how was it supported by membership dues it was a jewish club strictly private jewish club yeah it was a private jewish club supported by its membership and uh it was a it was a social place to gather you know okay all right now there was the phoenix club that was the predecessor of the colombian club no i don't remember that father okay was the parkview club the only club at that time no the The Columbian Club was on the next corner.
Columbian Club was on Pocahontas and Irvey. Okay. And the Parkview, I think the name of that street is Pocahontas, isn't it? Correct. Yeah. The Parkview Club, because that, as you said, became the YMHA. And that was on the same street. One was Reformed and one was Orthodox. Ah. Okay. Oh, definitely. Tell us about that. Yes. Okay. Yes, there was a-in those days, there was a distinct line between the Orthodox and the Reform. There was a distinct-because I went to many dances at the Columbian Club, only because I'd date somebody, and I was a fairly good dancer. Not that I ever dated them that much but I was a fairly good dancer and so they would I get dates to their functions there and but I would never feel comfortable now at the Parkview Club I felt very comfortable I knew everybody but I didn't there I knew some of the younger boys and girls that I went to school with but that's about the extent of it I didn't know the I never knew the old time the old time reforms, reform people well, because my first affiliations were with the Sheriff Israel community.
Do you have any idea about the Parkview Club and how that came about? I don't have a sign, I can't remember. I was pretty young. I knew I liked to go to the dances, but I didn't, beyond that, I didn't know too much about it, but I went to many, many, many affairs there, and people I know would have private parties there if they were entertaining anniversary big dances and all that, because it wasn't expensive running the place. You could get your bands and your invitations out, and they had, I might even have some in the things that I have, memorabilia I have put away, I may even have programs from some of their affairs.
You know, dance programs. That would be wonderful. I have some, I'm sure, I threw some away. But I don't know what I've got in there. But that's what I'm getting ready to throw out. Do it. Please don't do it. Okay. All right. All right, now let's talk about... I may even have programs for some of their affairs. You know, dance programs. That would be wonderful. I have some, I'm sure, because I see some away. I don't know what I've got in there. So that's what I'm getting ready to throw out. That's good. Please don't do it. Okay. All right. All right, now let's talk about, or is there any other things that you can remember about the Parkview Club and the Colonial Club?
No, because I'm not, I said I wasn't familiar with the culinary club except that I was invited because a boy would invite me at his date you know would call to make a date and take me to the function And I but beyond that as I said I went there but I never really felt at home there. Okay. Now, the Jewish Federation. Yes, is there too. When YMHA left, the Federation went in. Well, they took over the debt of the YMHA is what actually happened. Do you remember the Federation before then, before it came into the building? No. Okay. Let's talk about the businesses and the business area.
You mentioned that there were a lot of Jewish shopkeepers and shops around where your father had the written store. Okay, what streets were they on and what type of street? On Elm Street, where Mr. Vesma was in the shoe business okay two doors down um i'm trying to think of the name of the i thought it was first from the uh with all the businessmen down the street i thought it was successful business and he knew all the business then that's how come that's where he became affiliated through the men my mother didn't through the women because she really didn't know anybody it was my father's contact.
Right. What types of stores were there at that time? She stores, ladies stores. Now my cousin had a men's store down the street, but most of the exclusive men's stores were either on Main Street or E.M. Cannes was down farther, you know, across from where Sanger's used to be. We were about two blocks, I don't know what direction you'd call that, toward the center of town. We were between Ackard and Murphy. And there were a lot of lady stores in that area. Cress's was there. But there were a lot of ladies. I can't remember. Was the Lerner store down there? Yes, the Lerner store was there.
That's right. Was the Millinery? Oh, and in fact, there was Milnery Storth and Hurstein's Milnery. You may know the daughters now, Milton Hurstein's daughter. One of the daughters was Ruth Pines, and one was the other one's daughter's active in the Temple District, too. And Milton had a daughter. See, my father's store got larger, and he would lease departments there. And Milton leased the millinery department. In every store that my father ever opened, he'd rent the millinery. There was a Peace Goods man who was not a native Dalafite who would rent the Peace Goods department. There was somebody that would rent the shoe department. My father would rent...
He would keep the ladies ready to wear it. The children's department. he kept the things that he was interested in and he rented out. So the store got bigger and bigger and they were several three stories high, three floors, you see, because it was a little department store. How, up until what year did you have that? Well, then my brother Max took over. It was called The Leader. And then my brother Max took over when my father retired because Max was the only one that was really interested in the business at that time. And he continued in that business until his health started failing and then he retired.
What year was that? Do you remember? I don't remember what year Max retired, but he retired very young. Very young. Those days if you had a heart attack, the first thing they told you not to take life very, very easy and not do anything. Of course, the treatment today is completely different, you see, in those days. So the only thing he did, and he was able to financially, there were no problems, so he retired. Is that the area where Lynn's perhaps was?