Sale Barshop
Sam Barshop's grandfather came to Texas from Poland or Russia, arriving alone through Galveston sometime in the 1870s or 1880s. He began as a peddler with little more than twelve walking canes, trading piece goods and ribbon for eggs, butter, and other farm goods from a horse and wagon. He met Sam's grandmother, a German Jewish woman, while peddling in the country, first attracting her by giving her a ribbon for her hair. He eventually settled in Dallas and opened a general dry goods store in the 1800 block of Elm Street, building his life up from an immigrant with nothing. He and his wife had about eleven children, though some died young.
Sam's father, Max, was born in Dallas in 1892 and served in the U.S. Navy during World War I. Afterward he went to Kemp, Texas, about sixty miles east of Dallas, where his brother Louis had a general merchandise store, and bought a half interest. Sam was born in Dallas in 1920 while his mother stayed with her own mother on Akron and Gaynor Street, but the family lived in Kemp until roughly 1926, when Max moved them back to Dallas so Sam could attend better schools and be closer to Jewish community life. Max built a store at 2542 Elm Street on land he owned, reflecting the immigrant family's ambition to own property.
Max later shifted from dry goods to a railroad salvage business, selling unclaimed and damaged freight. Drawn to guns, musical instruments, and jewelry, Sam entered the pawn business around 1945, taught by his father's neighbor and mentor Dave Goldstein. After his father died in 1946 and his brother in 1948, Sam bought out his brother's widow and ran the pawn shop on his own from 1948 to 1978, stopping only when phlebitis kept him from standing on his feet. He recalled the Jewish merchants of Deep Ellum as competitive but supportive of one another, the founding of a Hebrew Free Loan society, and the way parents worked hard so their children could become doctors, lawyers, and professionals. He spoke of never facing anti-Semitism in Texas and of his faith in the future of Dallas and the Southwest.
Full Transcript
This is Wednesday, July the 9th, 1985. This is Rose Biderman and I'm talking to Mr. and is Sam Barshop. And Mr. Barshop is going to talk about his grandfather. Your grandfather came, you said, through Galveston. That's correct. Do you know what year? Remember what year? I don't know exactly what year, but it was back, I'd say, somewhere around in the 1870s or 1880s. Do you know why he came to Texas rather than New York? He came to Texas, I think, because he offered more advantage to a peddler. Years ago, many old Jewish men had horses and wagons, And they would trade peace goods and ribbon for things like eggs and butter.
And, of course, he made many good trades, but he also got some bad trades. I remember my grandfather saying one time he traded for a one-legged chicken, not knowing. and he got on down the road he said a horse is a horse a cow is a cow and the chickens are a chicken he threw it in the coop oh my goodness did he have were there any of his relatives who had already come here before he came I really don't know for sure I think he either came from Poland or Russia did he come by himself He came by himself. He lived in Galveston and when he first came, I think all in the world he had was 12 canes.
Canes? Walking canes. Oh. And from that he built up until he pedaled by horse and wagon. Yeah. And in later years he opened a driving store And where was this that he finally opened the store It was around the 1800 block of L In Dallas Yes ma So he settled in Dallas He settled in Dallas Was he married when he opened the store? Do you know? I think so. I think he met my grandmother peddling. She was a German Jewish people. Somewhere in the country he met her and he was peddling. And I understand he was attracted to her and give her a ribbon for her hair.
That's how their romance first started up. Oh, that's really interesting. And later on he lived on Caroline Street. Oh, that was, I know a lot of people lived in that area. Years ago, and then in latter years, he lived on Lynnway and Holmes, on Earth Lynnway and Holmes. and my father was born in Dallas in 1892 and there was some older than my father that was probably born in the 1880s. And what was your father's name? My father's name was Max and he had brothers by the name of Sam and Louis and Simon and and Felix and then he had sisters by the name of Miriam and Blanche and Bertha and Fanny.
I think in all there were about eleven children but some of them died young. Now you showed this picture of your grandfather's store. That's around, I'd say around 1912. That was before World War I. And I imagine my father was around 20 years old in that picture. And this, you called it a general practice? General Dragos, in 1800 block of L. Okay You read and your father helped in the store My father and his father to start with ran the store And then there were two of the boys who went off to service. My father served in the U.S. Navy in World War I, and his brother Sam served in the infantry, the engineers in France.
And after the war, my father came back and some of the younger boys were helping my grandfather in the store. So he went to the country, Kemp. And that's where his brother Lewis had a general merchandise store. He had the groceries and drive goods. And in those days they had to trade with farmers when they didn't have money for eggs and butter and things like that. Then they had to carry the rest of them on credit until they made their cotton harvest in the fall. Why Kemp? Was there a reason for going to that particular? That's where his brother had the store. And his brother offered to sell him a half-partner store.
Where is Kemp exactly? I think it's 60 miles east of Dallas. Okay. Okay. So it wasn't too far away. Not far away. And on Sundays, as a boy, I was born here in Dallas, but my family lived and kept. When mother was about ready to have me, she came to live with her mother that lived on Akron and Gaynor Street. So I was born on Akron and Gaynor Street here in Dallas. But after I was born, Mother went back to camp where her and Daddy had lived and where Daddy had his store. And I think it was 1926 by the best of my memory when he came to town because he wanted me to have a good school to go to that he thought was better And then also there weren many Jewish people you know lived out from the country of country I was going to ask if there were any other Jewish people in camp I don't know for sure.
I won't say yes or no. Most of the people out there were farmers and Gentile people. I would guess it's rather a small camp. It is a small town. It was a town that was mostly, most of the people out there made their living from farming. And cotton was the bigger problem. Do you recall any stories about the business life at the time that your grandfather had his store on Elm Street? No, ma'am, I hadn't heard father talk a great deal about it, except that his father prospered all the way from an immigrant that had nothing to a horse and wagon and then to a store.
Do you know if he had, if he rented the store or if he owned it, do you know what the conditions were? I don't know that fact at all, but I know my father is a boy. He saved money and then in those days real estate was cheap and he bought several pieces of real estate. Of course, as Dallas grew, the value of the land. That land would be worth quite a bit now. This is the orange. Now that newspaper clipping is original clippings, you know, when it came to Dallas in 1926. And this picture is 1927. This is a 1927 picture. A year after.
And I was born in 20, and I was 7 years old. In 27, my dad was 35 in that picture. Alright, now this is the store that your father had at 2542 Elms. He had that store built. He bought the land. Now, I was going to say that I noticed on In the news article, his name on the top of the... He had it put on there. So he had the store built. Was that unusual? Well, being that he was raised, you know, and came from immigrant parents, I guess it was his ambition to own the land. Most of the Jewish people that came over were poor, and it was their ambition to own land.
So naturally it was my father's ambition to save and buy land and go in business. But was that the usual of the merchants on Deep Elm? Did they usually own their own store or do you think they rented? Quite a, I'd say half and half. I'd say half of them bought land because it was cheaper and they figured that the rent they paid would pay for a store. So for that reason I think my father then came to Dallas and opened his store and he had good days and bad days during the Depression. Do you know, do you remember or do you know what kind of life the people lived at that time?
I know it was during the Depression. Do you feel that the people on Deep Elm made a good living or barely got by or again would that be an individual type Well, there wasn't a great deal of money in those days, and most of the people, if they made a living, were happy. Because during the Depression, a dollar bought two dollars. I remember when I was a boy, I'd go with my mother on Saturday, and I'd carry a wagon full of groceries for two dollars. Oh my goodness! Where did you get the groceries? Mama when she lived in South Dallas she used to buy them at A Grocery Store a year ago And I carry the groceries home in the wagon Everything was real cheap and a dollar was real big in those days Okay Now the store that your father had was you described that as again a general General merchandise.
General merchandise. Uh, dried goods. He was in the dried goods and ready to wear business, originally. And he sold piece goods and uh... He sold piece goods and suitcases and shoes and uh ladies hats and ladies dresses and... Where did he get the merchandise? He bought it from wholesale houses like Butler Brothers and Hickenbotham, Bailey. Here in Dallas. Here in Dallas. Okay. And he buys some of the shoes from out of town. They had drummers that would make stores, you know, and sell. What are drummers? drummers are people that have merchandise for sale and they might sell for shoe companies like Endicott Johnson. Traveling sales.
Traveling sales. Well why were they called drummers instead of traveling sales? Well I guess because they tried to drum up their merchandise and sell it to the merchants. Okay that sounds like a good reason. You don't hear that term today. That's right. But basically it's the same thing I guess. It's nearly the same thing as a tout. A tout's a fellow that tries to press whatever he's got to sell. And the salesman would try to sell whatever they have and talk good about it. That's where they got the name wrong. Um, now you said your father passed away when he was about fifty? Three. Fifty-three.
And did you take over the business? Uh, yes ma'am, I took over the business after he passed. Mother gave it to a brother of mine by the name of F.A. or Cine. or Simmy his name was Simmy And my brother died in 48 And I carried the business on until 1978 when I had problems with my legs and couldn stand on my feet But you didn't have to be the hospital. When did you change from, um, uh... Well, about 1944. Dad changed from a dry goods store to a railroad salvage business. They used to buy unclaimed freight that had been damaged in shipments and at auction.
And he sold everything then from dishes to furniture. And he had a big store at one time at 255052 Elm, which he also owned, two floors. and on the lower floor he had uh uh he had dry goods and in nineteen hundred and forty uh forty-five I was interested in the pond business. Why is that? Well it just fascinated me the the pawn business. I liked guns and musical instruments and jewelry and Dad had none of it and I threatened to go into business and open my own store. I was 25 at the time. And Dad told me he'd go and partners with me. He had that big store at 255052L and he said that if I would stay there and look after his business, kind of oversee it where he could get out and buy, he would take half interest in my pawn shop and I'd have no and it was a good opportunity for me to go into the farm.
But he died two, three years later in 1946, he died. Then I went in partners with my brother after mother gave us a business after Dad death My brother died in 48 and I bought out my brother widow and went ahead and ran the store as a pawn shop from 1948 to 1978 on my own And that's when I had the fleabitis and couldn't stand as good on my feet as I had in the earlier years. How was the pond business different from just a retail store selling jewelry and musical instruments? Well, I liked the pond business because it gave me a chance to buy merchandise at a lower price that I could sell and make a greater profit on.
And I was also interested in dealing with people and buying merchandise from people rather than buying it from regular wholesale dealers. That's interesting. And I had many experiences in the farm business. Any particularly interesting experience that you can think of that might be exceptional? I'm sure there were many interesting experiences. Well, being a young man, I was actually taught the pond business by a neighbor of my father's that was in the pond business, Dave Goldstein. Oh, okay. Well, now he was in the business a long time, I believe. He was. He was my next-door neighbor. You mean at business or restless? In business. In business, uh-huh.
And I always did like Dave and I was more interested in the farm business than I was the driver. Okay. Well you had evidently a good teacher. I mean he was in it a long time. He was and he was almost like a father. I always thought a lot of Dave Goldstein and he treated me as though I'd be his son. And he told me when I went into business right over there next to him, he had a big business at the time, and he said, Sammy, if you get my runoff business, you'll make a good living. He says, I usually have people come in at lunch time, I can't wait on all of them.
And he says, you'll get the overflow. He wasn't afraid of competition. No, he wasn't. And the Jewish merchants down there were in business door to door. What do you mean door to door? I mean next door to one another. And they never talked bad about the other merchants. And we all lived in a friendly atmosphere and all of us made a living. Oh, see that's interesting. So everyone was not really, they were competitive, but It was competitive, but it was a different kind of competition than you have now. Would you explain that a little bit more? Do you think that people looked after each other maybe?
Well, they didn't mind seeing their neighbor make a dollar. Now some people these days are not that way. And it was in a friendly atmosphere and we all lived. Some of us made more, some of us made less. It was in a friendly atmosphere. They founded back in those days a Hebrew free loan that loans money to Jewish people in need, free of interest and all that. It was some very good things came from the early Jewish people, friends to each other and willing to help one another. That's interesting. Was it difficult to get credit in the early days to do business? Did you have to mainly depend on Jewish people to help with loans or credit, or did you not find that a problem?
What helped me more than anything else was a main bar shop that my folks had always paid their obligation And I had banks tell me people that I loaned money to your father and your grandfather and your father and your grandfather always paid me and we're willing to trust you. And in those days if you had a good name you could get merchandise. I don't know about other people, but I... That was your experience. That was my experience. Someone else had mentioned that you had to have good credit, you know, to... You had to pay your bills. Right, to establish good credit. I'm sure that's true today too.
If you don't pay your bills, people get so they don't want to sell your merchandise. And I've enjoyed living in Dallas. I've lived here all my life, and I think it's going in time to be one of the bigger cities in the United States. It looks that way. I'm a firm believer in Texas and the Southwest, and I think the American people have always been very nice to most Jewish people. I've never had any problems due to anti-Semitic activities here in Texas. Do you recall, and I'm going to go back to the early days, if any of the people might have had to live behind their store on Elm Street?
There were several families that I know of that did live in back of their stores. to say, well, poor people struggling to make it and didn't have much, and I won't call names. No, but was that... I know them. Yeah. But I've known of people that lived up above their business. I know of people that lived in back of their business. And that wasn't unusual. That wasn't unusual. Anything else that you might recall along that line about the way people might have had to live at that time period in order to make a living Well as I said before most of the Jewish people settled on Deep Ellum or Ellum Street in business And they struggled they struggled and the children as a rule helped in the business And Papa would learn son what he knew about the business, and it went like that.
And then it finally got after the Jewish families prospered that the children didn't want to be in that kind of business. They wanted to be doctors and lawyers and professional people. And the parents worked hard and struggled to give their children the opportunity and education to have better careers than they have. I always went to help my daddy, but my younger brother for instance, after dad died my younger brother wasn't for about 10 years old. My mother always wanted to have him be a professional man and he turned out to be a doctor. She had a good head on him to learn and made good In fact, he got a scholarship to SMU.
It was that way the parents, most of the Jewish people I know, always wanted their children to have better than they did. Even though they had struggled, they didn't want the kids to have that kind of life. They wanted to have a better life. I was preparing my homework. I had to stay in. And there was a newspaper boy that was the bully of school in that later section. And he got mad because staying in from school would make him late delivering his papers. And so the teacher had to dismiss herself to go to the restroom. It was on the second floor at the Loyola Hill School And we used to have them desks and chairs all in one The chair and the desk was built on it And he got mad.
Those days they didn't have screens on the windows. He got mad because he was going to be late throwing his paper. And he proceeded to throw seven chairs from the second story window at Colonial Hill School out the window. So when the teacher came back, she thought the chairs didn't look like there was as many of them there. And everybody that stood in, I was one of them, started laughing about it. And so the teacher went and looked out the window, and there was seven chairs broken to smithereens out there on the pavement below. Teacher says, who threw the chairs out the window? Well, none of us would talk because we knew we'd get a whipping, you know, from that other boy who said who did it.
So the teacher went to get the principal, was Mr. Glasgow. I don't know if you remember him or not. Mr. Glasgow. He come in, he says, who threw the chairs out the window? Nobody's talking. He says, well, I will punish the one that threw the chairs out the window. He said, every one of you boys come down to the basement. He said, I paddle every one of you. He proceeded to paddle every one of you. So I went home and I told my mother. I said, I got paddled at school. So mother, she said, well, what did you do that brought on the paddle? And I told her about the boy throwing the chairs out the window and nobody talked.
And my mother was highly insulted because I got paddled at school. She went up to the principal's office and she told the principal she wanted him to apologize for whooping her son when he hadn't, you know naturally the principal's not going to apologize, you know. And mother said, well I'll tell you what, she says I won't have my son come back to your school until you apologize for spanking. And so then they went out and they bought the property in East Dallas over here close to Lipscomb School on Ridgeway between Junius and Gaskell. That's where dad bought a house. And I went to Lipscomb School and I went to J.L.
Long over there and Woodrow Wilson. And that's why we moved from South Dallas. From South Dallas. Were there other Jewish people in the neighborhood? Oh, in East Dallas? Yeah. There weren't as many as there were in South Dallas. I know. I know the majority was in South Dallas. And years ago most Jewish people stood around a kosher butcher and a kosher baker. Most of them were very from. My parents were Jewish but they weren't as from as some others. When you live out in the country it's hard to get kosher meat and kosher chicken. But were there any other Jewish children in the world? There were a few but not as many as there were in South Douth.
And what about at Woodrow? Were there many? There was a few, but not as many as Barreste Avenue in places like that. Most of the time the Jewish people are very clannish and they stick together. Just like now I think most of the Jewish people live out off Preston. There's not as many over here where we live. That's the way it was. Thank you.