Sarah Goldberg
Sarah Goldberg was born in 1903 on the Lower East Side of New York City, where she grew up in a Yiddish-speaking home and studied Hebrew in a small neighborhood cheder. She became a bookkeeper for a cousin who was in the millinery business, and it was there that she met her husband, Max Goldberg, who was born in Russia. Max came from a family steeped in millinery; his mother was a hat designer who traveled with a crew of women to make hats, and his family's tradition spanned several generations. Their two children were born in New York.
The couple first moved from New York to Cincinnati to help open a business for a friend, where Max ran a factory. When the arrangement did not work out, they came to Dallas, where Max's brother Joe Goldberg had a millinery factory. After difficulties working with his brother, they returned to Cincinnati for about five years, but once Max had a taste of Dallas and its outdoor life, he was determined to return. They moved to Dallas for good on October 1, 1940, and went into business for themselves, operating on Commerce Street and later Young Street. Their son eventually joined the business, continuing a long family line of milliners until changing fashions and the decline of the hat trade brought it to an end.
In Dallas, Sarah worked in the business office, gathering orders and packing hats, while remaining deeply involved in community service. A member of Pioneer Women, she served on and off for decades as JNF chairman, opening the first local business office and earning the nickname the Pushka Lady for collecting the blue charity boxes across the city. She volunteered at the old age home, at Golden Acres, at the Veterans Hospital dispatching helpers for patients, and for thirteen years at a cancer office acknowledging donations and assisting patients. She spoke Yiddish to residents who did not understand English and received honors including the Theodore Herzl Award and the Golda Meir Award. A member of Shearith Israel, she attended services regularly and remained active volunteering in the center's gift shop.
Continuation placeholder.
Full Transcript
This is Rose Biederman at the Dallas Jewish Archives. The date is June the 8th, 1987. I'm going to be speaking with my friend Sarah Goldberg. All right, Sarah, where were you born? I was born in New York City. In New York City. On the Lower East Side. Oh, that's a famous... What year were you born? Oh. Oh, okay. Well, I'll tell you, 1903. Okay, very good. Yes. I'm old. I'm old. Nobody knows how old I am. Were you married in New York? Yes. Okay. Was your husband born in New York City? No, he was born in Russia. In Russia? Uh-huh. Okay. Now, did he come from a family of milliners?
Yes. His mother used to, was a millinery designer, and she had a crew of women working with her, and she used to travel to all around the country with her to make hats, you know, and Rosie used to, everybody wore hats, for royalty. And she would go with her staff and they'd I fix up her hats for the year, and so my husband is, well my son is the fourth generation of millinery. Oh, oh. Yes. Well, then he learned from his mother, is that what you're saying? Yes. And my family were all in the millinery business too. Oh. Not my father, or anything I'd say.
of mine and my husband started working for them. So that's how I met. What was your husband's first name? Max. Max Goldberg. Yeah. Okay. And so you met in New York because of the same type of business? Yeah. Yeah. I was a bookkeeper for a cousin of mine and he worked there. I see. and uh millinery all around us When did you move to Dallas What do you remember what year Well, my last move was October the 1st, 1940. In 1940. But I had been here before because we moved to Cincinnati from New York to open up a business for a friend of ours. And my husband ran the factory.
And this man didn't live up to his promises, so my husband's brother was here in Dallas. He had a millinery factory. What was his name? His name was Joe Goldberg. Joe Goldberg. Everybody knew him. Well, what brought him to Dallas? I don't know. He came from Chicago. So he moved here to Chicago and opened up with a wife and opened up a millinery business. But he was also... And... So my... we weren't satisfied with the... In San Diego. So we came to Dallas to work for my brother-in-law. So I worked in the office, and my husband and his brother did not get along. Well, everybody in Dallas that knew him, he was a terrible, he was really a terrible person.
A woman crazy, the women were, he had about six wives, and they didn't get along. uh-huh so we went back to Cincinnati this man uh we asked we wrote to him asking if we can come back he said yes he can come back but he's not going to pay you so we had left so we stuck it out about five years and my husband wasn't happy once he got a taste of Dallas he said I'm going back to Dallas So we came back and went in for our souls. And that was in 1940? We came back in 1940. To stay. To stay. Okay. I'm going to backtrack a minute.
What was it do you know what was it about Dallas that your husband wanted to come back Well he was a during the war he was a farmer and he loved the outdoors Wait, wait, just a minute. During the war you mean? Yes, during the, I don't know. The First World War? It must have been. He was a farmer in New York State? He was a farmer. He came from a farming family. He loved the farm. He loved the farm. So, uh. Was his father, what business was his father in? His father? No, he had a stepfather. His father died when he was about two years old.
I see. But you said, I'm trying to, your mother-in-law did millinery work. Did millinery, yes. But you said he loved farming. He loved the outdoors. Okay. He does love the outdoors. And in fact, his, on the other side of the family, they made men's hats. So I don't know the exact story, but his mother was a big, big, very, well she wrote poetry, she was a brilliant woman. Yeah, I had some poetry. Is that right? But he liked the outdoors. And when he came to Dallas, he remembered his days in the subways in New York. He said, I can't take those subways hanging on the straps all the time.
And he said, it's a nicer life here. And he loved it here. And I wasn't too happy. Oh, after 18 years, I said, I can't stand it here. It was too quiet for me. Too quiet for you. He says, you want to go back to New York? Go ahead. I'm staying here. So he loved it here. And we stuck it out. We went in for ourselves, you know, and then my son came into the business. What year did you go into business for yourself? How long were you in Dallas? Well, we came back from Cincinnati. Oh, when you came back in 1940, you went into business for yourself.
Yeah. I see And where was your business in 1940 Oh let see We were on Commerce here in the of course 912 Commerce Then we were on Yonge Street No, then we were on the... where is that the government building? Is it Maine? The government building. Yeah, it's on Commerce. On Commerce, yeah, we were on... Yeah, then we moved over there, and then we moved to Yonge Street from there. And that was our last. And then my husband retired in 65, 66. And my son struggled with the veterinary business. And what year was that? Oh, Lordy. Let's see. About 30, about 34, 35 years ago.
So that was in the late 50s? Well that was when military started getting bad. Started going out of style. Well you know who started it, President Kennedy's wife, the first one that had the big hairdos and stopped wearing hats. That's not it. So my son stuck it out to about five years ago. So that was the end of the millinery. He was fifth generation. Fifth generation. So no more in your family is in the millinery business. Well that's too bad in a way. We barely could make a living the last few years. But I understand at one time Dallas had quite a number of... I think we had about 30 manufacturers.
I think so. Someone told me that Dallas was third in the nation. They were, Mill and I was good here, and then the unions came in, and I started something. I don't know, just the women stopped wearing hats. Uh-huh, uh-huh. That was the biggest blow. The hairdos and stopped wearing... Yeah, and then I stayed with my son for about 13 years in New York. Uh-huh. So you only worked in the office. You had nothing to do with the production. No, I used to play. I used to get orders together. I used to pack hats. For a while it was pretty good. Where did you get the raw material, the material that you used to make hats?
Did it come from Dallas or? No, we had to get it out of New York mostly. Oh, from New York? Oh, yeah. Did anything come from Europe or Japan or China? Yes, but we bought it from the people that bought it from the people. And my husband used to sit at the machine and sew the straw. He was a terrific miller himself. You know, you see this big straw hat? Yeah. In the little, you can see the little stitches, the little, well, it was a braid about this thing. And he would sit at the machine and sew, you know, make a big hat. He was a good operator.
Oh. Was it a special machine or could you use any kind of machine? No, I think it was just a regular factory machine. A regular factory machine. We used to block our hats there, we made blockers. So your supplies you bought elsewhere, but the whole operation was at the factory. We used to buy our blocks, you know, and all the materials. And then we had salesmen going different territories, you know. But it was going down and down and down. When did you get involved in organizational activities? Oh, the first. After you retired? In Cincinnati. In Cincinnati? Yeah. Oh, that's interesting. interesting. No, the first, I got interested in politics and a friend of mine, a lawyer, needed help on election day.
So I saw a chance to make a few dollars then. That was not, that was paid work. So I would help during the election, but I was never involved with He was too much in Cincinnati. By the way, was he elected? Did he get elected in Cincinnati? No, I don't remember. Don't remember. Who was that big of a man in Cincinnati Well the Taft family was Taft yeah See we were working to elect Taft Oh okay Well I know the Taft family was Taft yeah See we were working to elect Taft Oh okay okay Well I know the Taft family was influential in Yeah, Taft.
It was Taft. But this friend of mine, the lawyer, was involved in it. Okay, okay. Well that's very interesting. Yes, I liked it. I loved being out in the public. Well, Cincinnati of course has a very large Jewish population. But the climate. The climate is bad. I had to move the doctor to get my daughter out of there. Were your children born in New York or Cincinnati? In New York. Did you have a Jewish education when you lived in New York? Yes, I went to Cheyde. Was that the usual thing? Yeah, in the little store on the corner where the rapper used to hit you over the hand with a ruler.
Oh really? Yeah, I can read Hebrew in that school. But I went to , I'm glad I did. It doesn't matter when you get a real Jewish education, real Hebrew education. So was it mainly how to read and to read the Sidor? That's all. Not too much history. Did you give your children a Jewish education in Dallas? Yeah, my son was from Israel in Cincinnati, and my daughter was confirmed here, but she didn't get, you know, they didn't go any further. Yeah. She was confirmed as the sheriff of Israel. Uh huh. At that time I belonged to the sheriff of Israel, but I don't think they had any confirmation for that.
I don't remember. Uh huh. Well Sarah, it's well known that you were very, very active in many organizations. I particularly know you were active in the J&M. How did you become active in that, or what sparked your interest? Well I joined the Pioneer Women when I came here When you came to Dallas In 1904 yeah Is that right and I was working helping my husband in his office And at one of the meetings, they needed a JNF chairperson, somebody to open the first business office. So I volunteered. I said I'll do the best I can or I have to help in the business. So on and off I had that office.
But actually for the last, oh about the last 30-35 years I was really in it. In fact I worked for JNF for about 7 years. In the office? In the office. Were you paid or was this volunteer? I was paid. I didn't ask for too much. But I enjoyed it and I met a lot of people, you know. And I used to run around and open up the blue boxes all over. They called me the Pushka Lady. Oh, you know, the little Jewish one would call me the Pushka Lady. And then I got involved with, when they had the old age home, Park Avenue was it?
South Boulevard, Appalachian. The original. Yeah. What I did there is I spoke Yiddish to the... They needed somebody to speak Yiddish to the middle-level ladies that didn't understand English. So, and then I did other work, Golden Acres, was a bingo. And as the years progressed, that was all in between my working and the business. And I got involved with the Veterans Hospital and the neighbors, we all drove out there. What did you do out there? Out there, we used to take the patients if somebody had to go to the dentist, somebody needed a haircut. So we had one of the women with the wheeled in the wheelchair, and we also had the stretcher cases.
And I did that for a while and walking was not my very good deal So I sat at the desk dispatching people who had brought our own uniforms You mean you would spend a whole day? Yes. Or more than one? Would it be like one day a week? Well, I went with these women for a few years, I believe. And then they somehow they stopped coming. I don't know why. And I came down there myself. Because I had learned how to drive. And I enjoyed doing it. And then it got too much, you know, all the way out to Oak Ridge. Yes, it's a long distance.
But it was nice working with the old men that had been old, old whore, you know. That was one of my babies. And then I got busy with cancer. I really enjoyed the work there. What type of work did you do? I was there about 13. The boys, you know, you would help wheel them to... Wheel them wherever they had to go. They had to go down to the dispensary or they had to go to the dentist, wherever they had to go. And then I did dispatch work. And exactly what was that? I had two telephones on the desk. Okay. And, well, wherever they were, in whichever room they were, the nurses would call.
and then so and so had to be taken. Oh, okay. So I would dispatch the women. Oh, I see. Okay, okay. So after several years you said that the neighbor had stopped that project? Well, I believe they stopped because little by little it just dwindled out. Uh-huh, uh-huh. And I went there by myself for a little while, but then it was too far to go. Yeah. Very far. But then you became involved in another... I got involved with the cancer office through, yeah, I was with Pioneer Women and you remember Dora Gooden? Yes. She died. Yes. You know, she had cancer and so she was a driver.
She would take cancer patients to the doctors or... And I said, I would like to do something there. So she said, well, come with me and we'll see where they can use it. Where did you have to go? Where was this located? Where was this located? This was the first, oh, the very first cancer office on... Well, we can come back. Yeah, then we moved to, what is that? Stemming. Oh, I forget. I used to go with the... Regal Road. Then they opened an office there. Then they took over the building where Mary Kay was, a carpenter. Yeah, and now they're in their own building.
But you had quite a ways to go. Yes, but I didn't know. I used to, the orders that came in, the donations that came in, the girls would check that opening and check the money and everything, give me the badge and the directions, what the, you know, memories of somebody who they want to make the donation of. So that's what I did. I see. So you acknowledged the donations? Yeah, and sent them another letter with an envelope or something. Yeah. I did that for 13 years. I got a beautiful, you know, they always had the potty so they were following things. And in fact the last time I went was about a few years ago.
I went out there and I used to collect old hoes and the... You mean pantyhose? They used to shred the hosiery and make little pillows. If a cancer patient had cancer, so they'd keep this little pillow on the arm of the chair and rest their hand on it. They took this hose and they shredded it in a machine. And made a pillow using that as... And some church women made the little cases And that what the hose was for In fact the other day somebody asked me if I still collecting hose And people had that old white sheets they wanted to get rid of. So we used to make, and men's shirts, they used to take the men's shirts and make eggnings out of them.
Oh really? I went out there 13 years old and I got a new role with all the young men. There were no Jewish women coming out. That I really loved. But still helping out in business, I just had to do it in between. And then as a pioneer woman I became JNF chairman on and off and then actually since 1950 and I took it over steady. And you know, Manya Stattman used to go with me to South Dallas. Oh really? And we'd open up for Shkiss and... And till now, till I got sick. And while I was working, I still had to take care of my chairmanship, you know.
When I was working for JNF, what was his name? sent a man down here to open up an office. And we had a meeting at our Wernick's house. Sarah Stein was there. Now what was the purpose of this meeting? To open up an office in Dallas. See, Dallas didn't have their own JNF office. Well why did they want an office here? What was the purpose? Well they needed people to work to get donations. So they felt they could get more that way. Yes, yeah. They went out to small towns and big towns. And I was still running open pushkas, you know, even though I was working there, I brought in muddle.
And that's it. That's the end of my J&F. That was really a long long chairmanship Yes it was I liked it I know you did but you certainly were dedicated to that I liked everything I did Uh Well I noticed you haven slowed down Well I You slowed down a little bit I can I can But you're still volunteering your services in the gift shop and other ways here at the center. I was proud of that Theodore Herzl Award. My award was full of awards. That one and this last one was really the best. The Golda Meier Award. Well that's very nice. Sarah, you said you came to Dallas in the last time.
In 1940. In 1940, actually. So technically you've lived in Dallas since 1940. Has Jewish life changed in Dallas through the years that you've been here? Well, in what way? Well I don't know, do you feel that people go to synagogue more, that there's more education or there's less? There's more people. There's more people, right. And the Jewish education for children is just terrific here. Okay. those years it was really nothing. I belonged to Shatherah of Israel then. And they had probably a small school. Yeah, my aunts remember them. And then we changed to Shatherah of Israel. I enjoy it. I go there every Saturday. We used to go Friday night when my husband was there.
I tried to go every time. Do you find that people speak Yiddish now or they don't? Yes, they do. They speak Yiddish. You were raised in a Yiddish home? Oh I was in Yiddish You know in New York Did everyone speak Yiddish in your neighborhood We spoke Yiddish at home When you moved to Dallas what was it like in your neighborhood Did you live in South Dallas? Yes. Did your neighbors speak Yiddish? Yes. They did. We spoke Yiddish. The old Mrs. Satson lives in my building. Remember her? No. Do you feel that people still speak Yiddish? I do, yes. But it's not as common. Not like New York.
Not like New York. And the big mistake we made is not speaking Yiddish at home, my husband and I. Why didn't you speak it at home? Why? That was a very foolish thing to do. You know, it never dawned on me that they're going to learn English anyway. And we just didn't speak, and my husband was mostly, you know, he was European, so naturally we tried to speak a little English, but we didn't speak in front of the children. Did he speak Russian? I think he spoke Russian Polish or something. But you didn't? No. Okay. I was born in New York. But you didn't continue the Yiddish at home.
Did you feel that it was an American, something like that? No, I thought just a habit. Just a habit. That's all. But it's a big mistake. If I had to do it over again, we would be talking Yiddish, and my children would understand. They're like Gordon, they don't understand. They can pick up a word or so, you know. and then my son will say I know what to say but you feel that it's dying out because of that that's the only way that children are going to learn right my daughter doesn't speak to Judaism my son-in-law surely doesn't know anything he's from Marshall yeah I don't think I've ever heard any of the Vaisley Jewish and Marshall.
Well they may have, but... No, I went to the Mopsy Crabble. Nobody left there. No more Jews left there. In Marshall. I think there are a few.