Chosen Capital Chosen Capital The Jewish Encounter with American Capitalism Edited by R ebecca Kobr i n rutgers u niversity press new bru nswick, new jersey, and london Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Chosen capital : the Jewish encounter with American capitalism / edited by Rebecca Kobrin p cm Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN –––– (hardcover : alk paper) — ISBN –––– (pbk : alk paper) — ISBN –––– (e-book) Jews—United States—Economic conditions—Congresses Capitalism—United States—History—Congresses Capitalism—Religious aspects—Congresses Free enterprise—Religious aspects—Judaism—Congresses Economics— Religious aspects—Judaism—Congresses I Kobrin, Rebecca E..EC .'—dc A British Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © by Rutgers, The State University Individual chapters copyright © in the names of their authors All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher Please contact Rutgers University Press, Somerset Street, New Brunswick, NJ The only exception to this prohibition is “fair use” as defined by U.S copyright law Visit our website: http://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu Manufactured in the United States of America Contents Acknowledgments vii Note on Orthography and Transliteration ix PA R T I Reframing the Jewish Encounter with American Capitalism Introduction The Chosen People in the Chosen Land: The Jewish Encounter with American Capitalism Rebecca Kobrin Two Exceptionalisms: Points of Departure for Studies of Capitalism and Jews in the United States Ira Katznelson PA R T I I Jewish Niches in the American Economy The Evolution of the Jewish Garment Industry, – Phyllis Dillon and Andrew Godley From the Rag Trade to Riches: Abraham E Lefcourt and the Development of New York’s Garment District Andrew S Dolkart Success from Scrap and Secondhand Goods: Jewish Businessmen in the Midwest, – Jonathan Z S Pollack v vi contents Despised Merchandise: American Jewish Liquor Entrepreneurs and Their Critics Marni Davis Blacks, Jews, and the Business of Race Music, – Jonathan Karp Jews, American Indian Curios, and the Westward Expansion of Capitalism David S Koffman PA R T I I I Jews and the Politics of American Capitalism The Multicultural Front: A Yiddish Socialist Response to Sweatshop Capitalism Daniel Katz Making Peace with Capitalism? Jewish Socialism Enters the Mainstream, – Daniel Soyer A Jewish “Third Way” to American Capitalism: Isaac Rivkind and the Conservative-Communitarian Ideal Eli Lederhendler PA R T I V Selling Judaism: Capitalism and Reshaping of Jewish Religious Culture Sanctification of the Brand Name: The Marketing of Cantor Yossele Rosenblatt Jeffrey Shandler How Matzah Became Square: Manischewitz and the Development of Machine-Made Matzah in the United States Jonathan D Sarna Contributors Index Acknowledgments The idea of a conference to explore the ways in which Jews shaped and were shaped by American capitalism was born on a long subway ride I shared with Tony Michels The subway—whose rumblings shape New York City in countless ways—served as an apt midwife to such an important and, at times, explosive topic While it may be rarely discussed in the annals of American Jewish life, few would deny that Jews have long served as both American capitalism’s greatest innovators as well as its harshest critics Jews’ encounter with this country and its economy has fundamentally altered both the United States and the practice of Judaism over the course of the twentieth century Tony Michels and I both enjoyed a wonderful year at New York University—he as a Goren-Goldstein fellow and I as an American Association for Jewish Research fellow There, we encountered many thoughtful colleagues, many of whom participated in the conference I want to thank particularly Hasia Diner, who was a staunch supporter of the conference from the outset Without the financial support of New York University’s Goren-Goldstein Center for American Jewish History and Columbia University’s Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies, the international conference Tony and I organized could have never taken place The logistics of travel and food for the conference were aptly taken care of by Shayne Figueroa, Malka Gold, Kiley Lambert, and Tamara Mann The conversations that took place at the conference were provocative and engrossing All who participated agreed that our debates marked the beginning of a larger conversation and that our insights and reflections could spark further critical research and must be made available to the larger world That task of rethinking Jews’ relationship to America’s economic development became more pressing, and more difficult, following the fall of Lehman Brothers and the financial crisis of I thank Marlie Wasserman and Allyson Fields for their appreciation of the importance of this vii viii ack now l e d gm e n ts volume and for patiently seeing it through the process, particularly after the unexpected early arrival of my son For me, the completion of this volume represents the culmination of a long journey, during which I have been fortunate to have the support of a number of individuals and institutions Columbia University provided me with both a stimulating environment and the time to transform these proceedings into a book Conversations with Ira Katznelson, Ken Jackson, and Betsy Blackmar on American capitalism as well as the encouragement of Michael Stanislawski and Jeremy Dauber, directors of the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies, provided the support to make the proceedings available to a wider public A book subvention grant from the Harriman Institute helped move this book through the final stages of production I thank each author for working with me to hone his or her individual piece so that the larger message of the volume would be a cohesive one Jerry Muller’s thoughtful comments and incisive questions transformed each of the essays in this volume Eric Wakin, Columbia’s curator for American history, provided speedy and instrumental help in procuring an image for the cover of this volume Finally, I would like to thank my family My parents, Ruth and Lawrence Kobrin, continue to inspire me with their dedication to both their family and the life of the mind The countless hours of babysitting they provided for my editing made this volume possible I am profoundly indebted to my husband, Kevin Feinblum, whose unflagging support and patience helped me through the ups and downs of such an editorial project Indeed, his expertise in finance helped me sort through many of the more technical descriptions and charts in the volume My daughters, Ariela and Simone, and my son, Eitan, whose early arrival forced all the contributors to follow my strict deadlines, were always understanding of my need to work on weekends It is to them that I dedicate this book, as their giggles and smiles enrich my life every day Note on Orthography and Transliteration In transliterating Russian and Hebrew words, the authors in this volume have generally followed the systems used by the Library of Congress, with the exception of certain well-known names for which other transliterations are commonly used In general, Yiddish words, phrases, titles, and names of organizations, places, and persons have been rendered according to the transliteration scheme of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, except that no attempt has been made to standardize nonstandard orthography All translations have been made by the authors unless otherwise indicated ix Eichberg and Friedman, dry goods suppliers, Eldridge Street synagogue (Kahal Adath Jeshurun), Lower East Side, , electric lighting, and the clothing industry, “Elegie” (Massenet), ; sheet music cover, Elektra Records, Elhart, Michael, Ellison, Ralph, “El Male Rachamim” (song), employment and value-added figures, for men’s and women’s wear, T employment figures, in clothing industry, –, T entrepreneurship: allegedly promoted by Judaism, ; bricolage, scrap business as, ; immigrant, , ; and piety, Rosenblatt’s conjoining of, EPIC (End Poverty in California) campaign, Epstein, Melech, , n. Epstein, Mordechai, Ernst, Robert, erotic art, in saloons and liquor bottling, Ertegun, Ahmet, , , Ertegun, Nesuhi, Essex House apartment building, New York, ethnic chains of recruitment, ethnography and the curio trade, eugenicists, and anti-Semitism, Eugenie, empress of France, exceptionalism: economic, ; Jewish, , , ; of United States, , , exclusion, of Jews from key institutions in U.S., – See also color line; discrimination; segregation Exclusive (record label), – expansion: cultural and territorial, in the American West, –, ; economic, and capitalism, “Eyli, Eyli” (song), eyn gelt vs fremd gelt/yenems gelt, Farmer-Labor Party (MN), Farmers’ Alliances, n. fashion: dominance of women’s wear by, ; fashion journalism, –; high fashion, ; New York City as gateway to, ; Paris, Feingold, Lipa, index Feist, Leo, Felson, Jacob, fermentation, and matzah making, n. Field Museum, Chicago, acquires Indian artifacts, Fifth Avenue lofts, New York, – Filene’s department store, finance: black banks, and the Depression, ; Christian suspicion of, n.; European, Jews active in, See also banking; money Finkelstein, Rabbi Louis, Finkensieper, Benjamin, Finkenstein, Rabbi Simon (“Rashi”), Fire (record label), n. First Hungarian Congregation Ohab Zedek (Harlem), , Fischel, Harry, n. Fischman, William, Fisher, Louis, – Fitzgerald, Ella, Fogelman, Lazar, Ford, Henry, Forrest, Jimmy, Fortune “Jews in America” article (McLeish), , , – Forward Association, Frank, Leo, Frank, Rabbi Zvi Pesach, Frankel, Abraham, n. Franks, David, n. Fraser, Steven, n. fraternalism, mutual-assistance, See also free loan societies Freedley, Edwin T., free-loan societies, –, Freeman, Joshua, free silver, n. Freiberg, Julius, Freiberg & Workum, whiskey rectifiers, Freitag and Vogel, cloak and suit manufacturers, fremd gelt, French, Fred F., Freudenthal family, Friedland, Louis, Friedman, Cincinnati dry goods merchant, Friedman, Jules, n. Fulson, Lowell, furniture, used, , fur trade, , , index Fury (record label), n. Gabler, Milt, , , , , , , , –, n. gambling, and saloons, , Gaon of Salant (R Israel Salanter), Gardner, Hy, Garment Center Capitol, –, , , Garment District, New York City, , –, See also Madison Square Garment District garment industry, , , –; boys’ clothing, ; and the Civil War, ; clothing jobber wholesalers, ; “furnishing goods,” n.; industrialized, first period of, –; mechanical innovations, ; men’s wear (see men’s wear); and New York’s Garment District, –; western expansion of, –; women’s wear (see women’s wear industry); workers in, and the Fifth Avenue shopping district, , – (see also “Shall We Save New York” campaign) See also clothing, used garment workers’ unions, ; and the NRA, ; Old Guard allies itself with, See also Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America; International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union Gaston, Arthur G., Geddins, Bob, , Geertz, Clifford, Gems of the Synagogue (song), General Jewish Workers’ Union in Lithuania, Poland, and Russia (the Bund), general strikes: garment workers’, of , –; in Toledo, San Francisco, and Minneapolis (), n. Gennett (record label), gentiles, indigent, Jewish Purim gifts to, German American breweries, n. German-American Bund (Amerikadeutscher Volksbund), German Jews: vs east European Jews, gender difference in clothing industry employment, n.; immigration patterns, ; in men’s wear industry, ; patchy integration of, in U.S., German reparations, as khurbn-gelt, Germany, Nazi-era extrusion of Jews from, Gerrer Rebbe, Gerschenkron, Alexander, Gerstel, Gary, – Gibson, Thomas, Gilbert, Joseph E., Gilbert Building, Ginsbern, Horace, Girard (AL), Jewish liquor trade in, Glover, Henry, , Glover Records, gloves, n. Godley, Andrew, , Gold, Jake, , , –, Gold, Louis, – Gold, Stephen, Goldberg, Art, see Rupe, Art Goldberg, Isaac, Goldberg, Louis, gold dust, traffic in, Goldman Brothers, cloak and suit manufacturers, Goldscheider, Calvin, Gold’s Free Museum and Old Curiosity Shop, , Goldstein, Hyman, Goldstone, Lewis, n. Goodman, matzah manufacturers, Gordy, Berry, Goren, Arthur, government surplus, Graham, Martha, grain supply contracts, U.S Army, Grangers, n. Grant, Ulysses S., Granz, Norman, , Great Depression: and black-owned businesses, –; seen as failure of class system, Great Migration, Green, Al, , , , Green, Irving, Green, Miriam, Greenhut, Joseph B., Gronenberg & Leuchtag, architects, Gross, Arthur, Der groyser kundes (satirical weekly), Rosenblatt cartoon in, , Guggenheim family, banking house, Gusfield, Joseph, n. Haas, Louis, Hadassah, Haggadah, on “bread of affliction,” Halakha, see Hebrew Enlightenment Haley, Bill, Hall, Peter, Halperin, C H., n. Hammerslough, Julius, Hammerslough Brothers, wholesale clothiers, Hampton, Lionel, Hancock, Hunter, handkerchiefs, n. Handy, W C., Harari, Nettie, haredi, Harper’s Weekly: on Atlanta’s Decatur Street saloon district, ; on the readyto-wear industry, Harris, Bloom, Harris, Charles K., Hart, David, Hart, Harry, – Hart, John J., , , – Hart, Schaffner & Marx, garment manufacturers, –, , Harvey, William “Coin,” Hasidim, and machine-made matzah, “Hayntike khazonim” (song), – Heap, Chad, “Hebrew Architecture” (Murchison), –, Hebrew Enlightenment, Hebrew Free Loan Society (Madison, WI), Heifetz, Morris, – Heit, Joseph, Henderson, Fletcher, Herald Records, , , n. Herberg, Will, , Hershmann, Mordechai, Heschel, Abraham Joshua, Hickock, “Wild Bill,” hides and skins, animal, , , , Higham, John, Hildesheimer, Rabbi Meier, Hillkowitz, Rabbi Elias, , Hillman, Sidney, , , Hillquit, Morris, Hirsch, Joseph, Hirsch, Simon, n. Hirschman, Charles, The History of Matzah: The Story of the Jews (Rivers), Hitler-Stalin Pact of , Hochman, Julius, Hochstein, Rabbi Mendel M., Hoffman Press, index Hofstadter, Richard, , n. Holliger, David, Hollywood (record label), See also Record-in-Hollywood Holzman, Jac, , – honky tonk, honor roll, communal, and Jewish wealth, hoopskirts, Hoover, Herbert, Horowitz-Margareten, matzah manufacturers, Horwich, Arthur, – Horwich, Bernard, , Horwich family scrap business, –, hosiery, n. hotels, and frontier enterprise, “Hound Dog” (song), “human capital” argument, Hunter, Alberta, , Ilfeld family, immigrants: and entrepreneurship, , ; and ethnic chains of recruitment, ; flows cut off by World War I, ; and the garment industry, ; mastery of black music by, ; and speculative development, Imperial (record label), Independent Western Star Order, mutualaid society, – “Indian Jews,” Hopi traders as, Indianness, commodification of, , –, – “The Indian Store” (Victoria, B.C.), n. individualism, capitalist; and undermining of Jewish communal life, Industrial Removal Office (IRO), instrumental music, on cantorial recordings, integration, commercial, offsetting residential segregation, intentionality (kavannah), in matzah baking, International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU), , ; and black workers, , n.; cultivation of activists by, ; Jewish majority in, ; May Day march (), –; multicultural collage, ; and NRA’s section (a), ; promotes worker education and cultural autonomy, –; “Protocol of Peace,” ; retreat from index multiculturalism, –; support for black workers, – Irish: builders, ; debased immigrant drunkard stereotype, , iron and steel scrap, , Irwin, Will, – Isaac, Jacob, , Isaacson, Isaac, Israel, Jonathan, Israel, land of (Eretz Israel), ; and the Manischewitz Company, – IWW (International Workers of the World), Jacobs brothers, liquor wholesalers, – Jaffa family, Jaffee, Lynne, James, Etta, Jaures, Jean, The Jazz Singer (film), – Jefferson, “Blind Lemon,” Jewfro (hair style), Jewish Central Committee (Madison, WI), n. Jewish civil law, Jewish Daily Forward, , , , ; backs ALP’s pro-Roosevelt campaign, –; on convergence of socialist and liberal thought, ; distinguishes between Roosevelt and Democratic Party, ; on the Liberal Party, – ; on the NRA, –, Jewish Ministers Cantor Association of America and Canada, Jewishness: and capitalism, ; and critique of capitalist individualism, ; of scrap business, , –, – Jewish-owned record labels, – “The Jewish Question in the Nineteenth Century” (Baron), Jewish socialism, Jewish Socialist Verband, Jewish Studies, Jews: active in European finance, ; and agency, –; alleged causal affinity with capitalism, –; American ambivalence and apprehensiveness toward, in s, –; in automobile trade, n.; in banking, , ; “becoming white folks,” ; and the black music industry, –; as bridge between manorial and town economies, ; and charitable works, (see also philanthropy; individual charitable institutions); in the clothing industry, –; commercial networks, Midwest, ; communal life undermined by capitalist individualism, ; dominate Tin Pan Alley, , ; east European (see east European Jews); English, in clothing industry, ; estrangement from land, and frontier knowledge claims, ; exceptionalism of, , , ; expelled from military district by Grant, ; family-group emigration, –; frontier narrative, n.; German (see German Jews); in the hide business, ; hiring of multiracial workforce by, –; history of, and American capitalism, , ; “human capital” argument, ; Indians as cultural foils for, n.; in Irish clothing industry, ; to junk, metonymic slide, , ; in the liquor trade, –; and the Masonic movement, ; and money (see money); money lending, and the scrap materials business, ; political activity and ideology, –, , n., – (see also American Labor Party; Liberal Party; Yiddish socialism); and religious conservatism, (see also Orthodoxy, Jewish religious); Russian (see Russian Jews); as saloon keepers, –; in scrap materials business, and Rust Belt community formation, –; seen as anticapitalist, n.; settle Lower East Side, ; and spread of capitalism in American West, –; in urban real estate development, , , , –, – (see also Lefcourt, Abraham E.); and wealth, , n., ; “white Negro,” –; Zionism vs the exilic sensibility, See also anti-Semitism The Jews: Social Patterns of an American Group (Sklare), The Jews and Modern Capitalism (Sombart), –, ; critics of, – “Jews in America” (McLeish’s Fortune essay), , – Johnson, John H., Johnson, Syl, Joint Dress Board, Jolson, Al, –, Jonasson, Meyer & Company, cloak and suit manufacturers, Jordan, Louis, , , , , , Jordan Marsh department store, Judaism as a Civilization (Kaplan), Die Juden und das Wirtschaftsleben (Sombart), –, ; critics of, – jukebox distribution, , –, n. jump blues, junk dealers, “Junk Dealing and Juvenile Delinquency,” pamphlet, Justice (ILGWU periodical), , JVB Records, n. Kahal Adath Jeshurun synagogue, Lower East Side, , Kahan, Arcadius, , n., , Kahn, Alexander, , , , , , n. Kahn, Ely Jacques, Kailin family soap works, Kalisher, Wolf, Kallen, Horace, n. Der Kamf kegn azartshpiln bay yidn (Rivkind), Kanner, Mack, , , Kaplan, Mordecai, , , n. Kapp, Jack, Karachoon, Alexander, Karp, Jonathan, , , kashrut: high standard of, claimed for Manischewitz matzah, –, , ; income from trade as trayf, ; and long-distance peddlers, ; of matzah, –; and ritual use of wine, –, n.; and the shohet, – Kashrut at Manischewitz, pamphlet, Katz, Daniel, Katz, Marcus, Katznelson, Ira, kavannah, in matzah baking, Kavy & Kavovitt, architects, Kay, Monte, Kazin, Michael, Keepnews, Orrin, , Kehilath Bnai Eretz Yisrael, Brooklyn, Kephart, William, Kessner, Thomas, Keystone (WV), Jewish saloon keepers in, khanike gelt, index khazntes, khazones, ; in Rosenblatt films, ; and secular marking of recordings, See also cantors khurbn-gelt, Kiddush Hashem, Rosenblatt’s, on vaudeville circuit, – King, B B., King David Lodge, B’nai B’rith (Madison, WI), King Records, , , , King Solomon Lodge (Masons) New York City, Kirschenberg, Samuel, Klehr, Harvey E., n. Klein, Louis, n. Klezmorim: Perek betoledot ha’omanut ha’amamit (Rivkind), Kluger, Rabbi Solomon, , Knights of Labor, n. “Knock Me a Kiss” (song), Koch, Ed, Koenig, Lester, Koffman, David S., Kollel Amerika, ; Tifereth Yerushalayim, “Kol Nidre” (song), , Kook, Rabbi Abraham I., , Koranic prohibition on wine, Kosover, Mordechai, Kraemer, David, n. Kuhn family, banking house, Kursky, Franz, Kushner, Ethel, Kuznets, Simon, , n., Labor’s Non-Partisan League, CIO, Labour Party, Britain, Ladies’ Home Journal, publishes clothing patterns, LaFollette, Philip, LaFollette, Robert, La Guardia, Fiorello, , , , land: commodification and monetizing of, –; estrangement from, vs knowledge claims about West, ; speculation, frontier, Landon, Alf, Landsberg, Frederick, , , ; curio collection, landsmanhaften, Langler, Sylvia, Laski, Harold, index “The Last Rose of Summer” (song), , Lauderdale, Jack, Laupheimer, Elias and Henry, law, Jewish civil, Leadville (CO), Jewish saloon keepers in, Lear, Margaret, Lederhendler, Eli, , , n. Leeds, England, men’s wear dominant in, , Lefcourt, Abraham E., , , ; on appearance of lobbies, –; builds first lofts (–), ; final years and death, –; Lefcourt-Alan Building, , , n.; Lefcourt Building (– West th), , , , ; Lefcourt-Central Building (– West th), , , ; Lefcourt Clothing Center, , , , ; Lefcourt-Colonial Building, , ; Lefcourt-Empire Building, , ; Lefcourt-ITT Building, , ; Lefcourt-Manhattan Building, , ; Lefcourt-Marlboro Building, , , , ; Lefcourt-National Building, , , ; Lefcourt-Newark Building, ; Lefcourt-Normandie Building, , , , ; Lefcourt-State Building, , , , ; loft at – West th, , , ; loft at West th, , , , ; loft at – West th, , , ; loft at – West th, , , ; and Murchison’s “Hebrew Architecture” article, –; and Normandie National Securities Corp., ; as “pioneer” of the new Garment District, –, , –; Seville Towers apartment building, ; and speculative construction movement, –; youth and early career, “Lefcourt City,” ; illustration, , n. Lefcourt National Bank & Trust Company, Lefcourt Realty Corporation, Lefkowitz, Abraham E., , See also Lefcourt, Abraham E Lehman, Herbert, , , , Lehman family, banking house, Le’ot ulezikaron (Rivkind), Leo XIII, pope, Letcher family, Levi, Herman, Levi, Leopold, Levi, Reuben, n. Levi, Solomon, Levi & Brothers, distillers, Levi Strauss Company, – Levy, Aaron, n. Levy, Al, Levy, Heyman, n. Levy, Lee, – Levy, Levy Andrew, n. Levy, Lewis, n. Levy, Morris “Moishe,” , , , Levy brothers, curio traders, Lewis and Hanford, clothiers, – liberalism: in Jewish politics, –; New York, postwar, Liberal Party, , –, – Liberles, Robert, Lichter, Michael, Light, Ivan, Lincoln, Abraham, Lion, Alfred, , , liquor trade, ; and the antialcohol movement, –; bootlegging, , ; illegal sales to Indians, ; Jewish networking in, –; and the record business, ; retailer numbers and volume consumed, s, n.; saloons, Jewish, – lobbies, in Lefcourt buildings, , , – Local , ILGWU, see Dressmakers’ Local Local , ILGWU, creates Jewish and Italian branches, Local , ILGWU, Italian cloak makers’, Local , ILGWU, Italian dressmakers’, , Loeb family, banking house, London, Nochum, , n. London (UK), East End women’s wear industry, London Terrace apartment complex, New York, Lord and Taylor, catalogue, – Lorman, Barbara, n. Lorman, Milton, n. Lotwin, Charles, , – Lotwin, Louis, – Louisville: Jews in liquor trade in, , ; National Association of Clothiers branch in, n. Lovestone faction, expelled from CPUSA, Lowenstein, Steven M., Lower East Side, New York City: home workers in men’s wear, ; Jewish settlement in, ; Jews in liquor trade, , –; Kahal Adath Jeshurun synagogue, , ; number of tailors, in s, ; relocations from, by IRO, ; tenements built by German immigrants, ; underground economy, and Jewish saloons, – Lubinsky, Herman, , , , , Lumbrozo, Jacob, n. Lutsky, Moshe, Madison (WI), scrap materials and the Jewish community in, – Madison Square Garment Association, Madison Square Garment District, New York City, , Madison Square rally, New York City (), Magid, Lee, , Malowanski, Meyer, mamonam shel yisrael, See also money Mandel, Harvey, Manischewitz, Behr, –; early years in Europe, –; innovations introduced by, – Manischewitz, Hirsch, , , , Manischewitz, Jacob Uriah, Manischewitz, Max, , Manischewitz, Nesha Rose, Manischewitz, Yechiel Michael, Manischewitz Company, matzah manufacturers, , ; fermentation prevention, n.; Internal Revenue challenges yeshiva donation, –; marketing strategies, ; rabbinic endorsements, –; ties to Israel, – Manischewitz Yeshiva, –, – Marcus, Irving, Marks, Isaac, Marks and Stern, music publishers, Marshall, Louis, Martin, Abraham, n. Martin and Israel—Indian Traders, n. Marx, Chicago garment manufacturer, Marx, Karl, maskilim, index Mason, Lee, Mason, Walter M., Masonic movement, Jewish activity in, mattress manufacture, matzah, –; machine-made, controversy over, –, n.; shmurah matzah, , , ; square, ; traditional methods and the rolling machine, – May Day marches, New York City (), –, May Decrees, Czarist Russia, Mayfield, Percy, Mazursky, Rubin, n. McCracklin, Jimmy, McGhee, Stick, McLeish, Archibald, melokhe-gelt, Mendelsohn, Fred, , , n. men’s wear, , , ; business dress, ; concentration of German Jews in, ; dominant in Leeds, England, ; and economies of scale, ; Lower East Side home workers, Mercury Records, , , metonymic slide, from “junk” to Jews,” , Meyer, Julius, –, , Meyerowitz, Isadore, Mezzrow, Milton “Mezz,” Michels, Tony, , migration: of family and community, –; step-by-step, mikveh, and sguleh-gelt, Militants, in Socialist Party, See also left socialists Milwaukee: Milwaukee Museum acquires Indian artifacts, ; National Association of Clothiers branch in, n. mining, Minkowski, Pinkhas, –, – Minneapolis General Strike (), n. minstrelsy, blackface, – minyen-gelt, mipnei darkei shalom, miskher-gelt, “missionary spirit,” in American Indian relations, n. Mizrachi Zionist movement, mobility, social, Moda’ah le-Beit Yisrael (Kluger), Modern (record label), , , “Modern Capitalism and Jewish Fate” (Baron), –, – index Der moderne Kapitalismus (Sombart), , Modern Jazz Quartet, Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of , money, Jewish terms for, , ; eyn gelt vs fremd gelt/yenems gelt, ; khanike gelt, ; melokhe-gelt, ; minyengelt, ; miskher-gelt, ; purim-gelt, ; sguleh-gelt, ; shiveh-gelt, money lending, and the scrap materials business, Montague, Magnificent, Montreal, men’s wear predominant in, , Morawska, Eva, Mordecai, Abraham, , n. Moscow, Jews in finance and liberal professions in, Moss, Frank, Moss, Morris, Mosse, George, – Mosse, Werner, , Motown (record label), Muller, Jerry, , , n. multiculturalism, ; and ILGWU education programs, –; ILGWU’s retreat from, –; and Local float in May Day march of , – , , ; and radical resistance to capitalism, ; of union, promoted in ILGWU collage, multiracial workforce, and Jewish business owners, – Murchison, Kenneth, –, museums: proliferation of, and the collection of Native American artifacts, ; sale of curios to, Muslims, and wine, , n. Mussar movement, , Mussolini government, and Jewish scrap dealers’ sales to Italian mills, mutual aid societies, Myers, Samuel, n. “My Yiddishe Momme” (song), name changes, in Pins and Needles cast, narodnik tradition, See also populism Nast, Condé, Nathan, Henry, n. Nathan, Syd, , , , , Nathanson, Joseph Saul, , National (record label), , , National Association of Clothiers (National Clothiers Association), , n. National Council of Jewish Women, national cultural autonomy, , , , National Industrial Recovery Act, , –n. National Industrial Relations Act, , , n. National Recovery Administration (NRA), , National Women’s Trade Union League, n. Native Americans: cultural and economic agency of, n.; and the curio trade, (see also curios); drawn into market economy, , ; ILGWU attempts to recruit, ; popularly associated with nature, ; and reservation provisioners, Negro Labor Committee, neoconservatism, Jewish, New Deal, , ; coalition, ; takes left turn (), See also National Recovery Administration; Wagner Act New School, New York City, newspapers, American Jewish, – See also Jewish Daily Forward New York City: central to garment industry, ; clothing industry and neighborhood economy in, ; dominant in women’s wear, , ; Garment District (see Garment District); Jewish cloak and suit manufacturers, –; King Solomon Lodge (Masons), ; mayoral election returns, ; as men’s wear center, ; National Association of Clothiers branch, n.; zoning regulations, , New York Clothiers Association, New York Museum of the American Indian, acquires Indian artifacts, New York Women’s Trade Union League, Niger, Shmuel, , n. NLRA (National Labor Relations Act), see Wagner Act Normandie National Securities Corp., nose jobs, requested for Pins and Needles actresses, Novak, Michael, Noyes, Charles, Nusbaum, Aaron, Oberstein, Eli, Office of Indian Trade, U.S., Ohab Zedek Congregation (Harlem), , oil speculation, Okeh (record label), , Oland, Warner, Oldenberg, Aaron, n. Old Guard (socialist Right), , , , ; and the NRA, ; splits from ALP, Old Time (record label), Old Town Records, Omaha Platform, People’s Party, Oppenheim Brothers, cloak and suit manufacturers, Oppenheimer, Jacob, n. Oppenheimer & Company, cloak and suit manufacturers, Orthodoxy, Jewish religious, ; cantorial strictures in, ; and capitalism, Rosenblatt’s interrelation of, ; sectarian (haredi), See also Hasidim Otis, Johnny, , , Ottowa Field Museum, acquires Indian artifacts, Paducah (KY), Dreyfus and Weil liquor wholesalers in, Pale of Settlement, ; alcohol production and purveyance in, ; Jews from, and racial status, ; mass immigration from, ; May Decrees confine Jews to, Paley, Nathan, n. paper and rags, scrap, , – Paramount (record label), , Paris fashion, Parish, William, Parrot (record label), passing, and name changes, Patrick, Al, pawnbrokers, payola, for jukebox and radio play, , Peacock (record label), Pearman, Olive, , Pearsall, Leigh Morgan, peddling: in the American West, ; by Levi Strauss, ; long-distance, ; midwestern, ; to Native Americans, , , n.; as preferred occupation for German Jews, ; and scrap material collection, index People’s Party, , n. Perlmann, Joel, personae, alternate, of curio dealers, Philadelphia: clothing industry and neighborhood economy in, ; Jewish clothing entrepreneurs in, ; as men’s wear center, ; National Association of Clothiers branch, n. philanthropy: capitalist, ; organized, Phillips, Sam, pinkasim, , Pinkney, Floria, Pins and Needles, Broadway revue, –, Pius XI, pope, Plotzki, Rabbi Meir Dan, “El Polaco” (Joseph Hirsch), Polish Jews, and the liquor trade, politics, Jewish, see Jews: political activity and ideology Pollack, Jonathan Z S., Popular Front, populism, n., n., n., populist movement, post–Civil War, –; and prohibitionist ideology, – post-capitalism, post trading, as interethnic interface, n. poverty: “culture” of, east European, ; peasant, blamed on Jewish taverners, Powell, Israel W., pressing machines, introduced in clothing industry, Prestige Records, productivity, in clothing industry, T, Progressive Party (WI), , prohibition, , n.; ideological divide over, –; national, ; and the populist movement, –; state laws, , , – prostitution, ; and saloons, , The Protestant Ethic (Weber), “Protocol of Peace” (ILGWU-manufacturers), Provisional Jewish National Council, Poland, provisioning, ; to Indian reservations, Prysock, Red, purim-gelt, index Quadrigesimo Anno (Pius XI), Quality Amusement Corporation, Queen Esther Society (Madison, WI), Rabbi Behr Manischewitz Yeshiva, – rabbinic endorsements for Manischewitz matzah, –, rabbinic supervision, in matzah making, – “race music” and Jewish entrepreneurship, – racial mimicry, , rag, paper, and rubber recycling, Randolph, A Phillip, Rand School of Social Science, , rape, black on white, liquor said to incite, , Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki of Troyes), RCA-Victor (record label), , ready-made garments: men’s, , ; women’s, –, real estate development, urban, , , , –, – Really the Blues (Mezzrow), Rebel Arts Group, –, recordings, audio: of black music (see “race music”); of Jewish sacred music, – Record-in-Hollywood (record label), See also Hollywood (record label) recruitment, ethnic chains of, recycling: in metalworking, ; scrap business as, – Red Robin (record label), , n. “Red Roses for a Blue Lady” (song), n. reform, populist, Regent (record label), Reig, Teddy, Reiner, Paul, reissue business, for black records, relics: from ancient defunct empires, trade in, n.; Indian curios as, religion, corrective function of, religious conservatism, Jewish, See also Orthodoxy Remick, Jerome, René, Leon, René, Otis, , Renner, Karl, , Rerum Novarum (Leo XIII), , n. reservations, American Indian, responsa, rabbinical, Retail Research Association, rhinoplasty, see nose jobs rhythm and blues, , ; birth of, – ; popularization among white listeners, See also “race music” Rieser, C A., right-wing radicalism, and social reform, Ringer, Fritz, – risk/reward tradeoffs in women’s wear, – Rivers, Larry, Rivkind, Isaac, , – Rivkind, Yehudit, Robey, Don, , Robinson, Bobby, , n. Rochester (NY): and the Jewish garment industry, ; as men’s wear center, , ; National Association of Clothiers branch, n. “Rock-a-Bye Your Baby” (song), n. “Rock around the Clock” (song), Roebuck, Alvah C., rolling machine, matzah, – Rome, Harold, Roosevelt, Eleanor, Roosevelt, Franklin D., , –, , , , , ; as convergence of liberal and socialist thought, ; New York State election results, , ; supported by ALP, ; supported by Forward, –; on wage and hour reform, –n. Rosa, Carmen, Rose, Albert, Rose, Alex, , Rose brothers, fur traders, Rosenberg, Mark, Rosenblatt, Joseph (Yossele), ; concert advertisement, ; death of, ; in The Jazz Singer, –; leads ensemble at Minkowski memorial service, ; posthumously evoked in Yuban coffee ad, ; recordings, –; rejects Chicago Opera offer, ; and sheet music publishing, , ; star text, , , –; in vaudeville, ; at the Wailing Wall, ; youth and early career, – Rosenblatt, Samuel, , , Rosenfeld, Monroe, Rosenfeld, Rabbi Zechariah Joseph, n. Rosenwald, Julius, Rosenwald, Samuel, Rothe, Emery, Rothman, Hal, Rothschild and Brother, cloak and suit manufacturers, Roulette Records, , Royal Ontario Museum, acquires Indian artifacts, Rubin, Hyman D., Rubinstein, Ruth, Rupe, Art, , , –, Russian Jews, n.; clustering of, in U.S class structure, ; and the liquor trade, See also east European Jews rust belt, scrap business in, and Jewish community formation, , – Ryan, Daniel Edward, Ryan, William, Sahleins, William, Saint Jacob’s Oil, n. St Louis: Jewish liquor trade in, ; National Association of Clothiers branch, n. St Petersburg, Jews in finance and liberal professions in, Salanter, Rabbi Israel, , saloons, Jewish, – Samuels brothers, San Francisco: general strike (), n.; as men’s wear center, Sarna, Jonathan D., , “Saturday Night Fish Fry” (song), Savage, Archie, Save New York Committee, Savoy (record label), , , , Sawyer, Randolph, Schafer, R Murray, Schaffer, Louis, –, , Schaffner, Joseph, Scheiderman, Rose, Schein, Samuel B., – Schipper, Ignacy, schizophonic phenomena, Schlesinger, Benjamin, Schwartz, Sam, Schwartz, Simon, Schwartz & Gross, architects, , , scrap materials business, –, –; ancillary enterprises, ; decline of, –; as “dirty work,” , ; evolution of, –; genealogies in, – ; and government regulation, ; index “Jewishness” of, –; metal, , ; Sinaiko family (Madison, WI), – Sears, Richard, Sears and Roebuck, , secondhand goods trade, dominated by Jews in Italy and France, Sefer Yosef Tikvah (Rosenfeld), n. segregation: economic, of east European Jews, ; residential, offset by commercial integration, See also discrimination; exclusion Seitz, Julius, n. Seligman & Company, cloak and suit manufacturers, Seligman family, banking house, “semi-Left” campaigns, Sensation Records, sewing machines, , , , , sexual depravity, black, liquor-fueled, sguleh-gelt, “Shall We Save New York” campaign, Shama (record label), Shampan & Shampan, architects, , Shandler, Jeffrey, Shapiro, Rabbi Meir, Shapiro-Bernstein, music publishers, Shapiro family, mattress makers, Sharfman, Harvey, n. Shaw, Arnold, shehitah, Shepper, Abraham, Sherman, Samuels and Company, ladies’ garment and dry goods store, shift from men’s to women’s wear, – Shirpser brothers, curio traders, shirts, n. shirtwaist workers, shiveh-gelt, shmurah matzah, , , Shub, David, Silver, Al, , n. silver, free coinage of, n. Silver Shirts, Simmel, Georg, , n. Simon, Joseph, n. Simonson & Weiss, cloak and suit manufacturers, Sinaiko, Albert, Sinaiko, Isaac, , Sinaiko, Samuel, , Sinaiko, Sarah, Sinaiko, Solomon, Sinaiko family (Madison, WI), Sinatra, Frank, index Sinclair, Upton, Singer, Isaac, Singer, Saul, , , “Sing Me a Song of Social Significance” (song), Sippel, Johnny, Sklare, Marshall, slaughterhouses, , Smith, Bessie, Smith, Gerald L K., Smith, Hoke, Snow, Samuel, Snyder, Waterhouse, and Berlin, music publishers, soapmaking, social capital, Jewish, through extending market to Indians, Social Democratic Federation, Social Democrats: of ALP, ; European, , socialism, Yiddish, see Yiddish socialism Socialist Labor Party, Socialist Party, , , , , , , –, ; and black workers, ; called “Militant-Trotskyist” by Old Guard, ; collapse of, ; seeks ALP affiliation, socialist Right, see “Old Guard” social reform, populist, Solomon, Charles, Solomon, Manny, , Solomon, Nathan, n. Solomon, Seymour, Solomons, Levy, n. Sombart, Werner, , , n., –; antiSemitism of, , ; critics of, –, ; echoed in Fortune “Jews in America” article, Sondheimer, Joseph, “Song of the Volga Boatmen,” soul music, South Africa, Jews dominate hide trade in, Soyer, Daniel, , Specialty Records, , , , , speculative building, –; apartment houses, , – Spiegelberg family, Spiekermann, Uwe, n. Springsteen & Goldhammer, architects, Squibb Building, Stansell, Christine, Starr, Mark, star texts: Bloch’s, ; Rosenblatt’s, , , – “State and Nation” (Renner), , steelmaking, and scrap, , Stern, David, Stone, Jess, Straus, Emil, Strauss, Jonas and Louis, Strauss, Levi, , Strauss, Samuel, Strauss family, banking house, Streits, matzah manufacturers, Sugarmen & Berger, architects, Suisman, David, n. Sullivan, Ellen, Sun Records, Sunshine Kosher Cookies, Rosenblatt’s testimonial for, – Supreme Court: rules NRA unconstitutional, ; strikes down National Industrial Relations Act, Supreme Records, surplus, government, Suydam, E H., n. sweatshops, tenement, Sweet brothers, Swing Time (record label), Syracuse, National Association of Clothiers branch at, n. takanot, Tamla/Motown (record label), See also Motown Tammany Hall Democratic machine, Tammen, H H., , –n. Tammen Curio Co., taverns, Jewish-managed, in Russian Poland, tax-farming, Polish (arenda), Taylor, Frederick Winslow, television, and radio’s shift to local market, Temin, Peter, n. temperance reformers, see antialcohol movement Temple Emanu-El, New York, tenements: as factories, ; Lower East Side, built by German immigrants, Theater Owners’ Booking Agency, theatrical performances, ILGWUsponsored, Thiele, Bob, Thomas, Norman, , , “Three Coins in the Fountain” (song), n. “tied-house” saloon system, Tifereth Yerushalayim, Kollel Amerika, Times Square Station, U.S Post Office, Tin Pan Alley, Jewish domination of, , Tishman, Alexander, Tobenkin and Kailin families, broom makers, Toll, William, Torin, Symphony Sid, Toronto, women’s wear dominant in, tourism, n.; and the American West, The Transformation of the Jews (Goldscheider and Zuckerman), Trevor-Roper, Hugh, – Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire, , tsniyes, Tucker, Dorothy, Turner, Ike, “Two Years of Torture” (song), Tyler, Gus, , Tympany Five, UDC (Union Defenders Committees), , unions: garment workers’, , , (see also Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America; International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union); multiracial, Union Square May Day rally, New York City (), United Dress Manufacturers Association, United Hat, Cap, and Millinery Workers’ International Union, United Hebrew Trades, –, United States: economic and professional exclusion of Jews in, ; exceptionalism of, , ; Jewish history and capitalism in, ; lack of institutionalized antiSemitism in, ; spread of capitalism in the emerging American West, – Unity House, , University of Pennsylvania, acquires Indian artifacts, value added, in clothing industry, T, , T Varsity (record label), Vee-Jay (record label), , , index Vincent, Ted, Vladeck, Baruch Charney, Vocalion (record label), Vogue, transformed into fashion magazine, Volksgeist, and ethnolinguistics, Volstead Act, von Battle, Joe, n. Von Tilzer, Harry, Wagner Act, , , Waldinger, Roger, Walker, Juliet E K., Walker, Madame C J., Wallich, Glen, Walz, W G., Warburg, Felix M., n. Warsaw, Jews in finance and liberal professions in, Warum gibt as in den Vereinigten Staaten keinen Sozialismus? (Sombart), Wasson, Rezin B., – waste: management of, (see also scrap materials industry); social construction of, “watched” flour, Waters, Ethel, wealth, Jewish, n.; and communal honor roll, ; honestly acquired (eyn gelt), See also money Weber, Max, , , Wechsler, Abraham & Collins, cloak and suit manufacturers, , Weinberger, Rabbi Moses, Weiner, Deborah, Weinreich, Max, Weinstock, Bob, , , Weiss, Hy, Wenger, Beth, Westheimer, Ferdinand, Wexler, Jerry, –, , whiskey trade, American, – “Whiskey Trust,” See also Distillers’ and Cattle Feeders’ Trust “white Negro,” Jewish, – Wiener, Lazar, Wilentz, Sean, William Morris Agency, Williams, Clarence, Williams, J Mayo, –, , Williams, Walter “Dootsie,” , , n. Willkie, Wendell, “Willkie Republicans,” index wine: Jewish ritual use of, and kashrut, –, n.; and Muslims, , n. Witmark, Julius, Witmark and Sons, music publishers, Wolf, Bernard, Wolfe, Sarah, Wolfenson, Louis B., n. women: employed in clothing industry, east European vs German Jewish, n.; not active in scrap business, ; white, and specter of black liquorfueled rapists, , Women’s Wear Daily, –; ads offering hotel delivery, n.; Lefcourt obituary, women’s wear industry, , –; dominant in New York City, ; in London’s East End, ; overstock and risk, –; predominance of east European Jews in, , , , –; rising prices in, – Woodward, James, Woolner, Adolph, worker education, –, ; and rebirth of ILGWU, – Workers’ School, New York City, workforce, multiracial, and Jewish business owners, – Workmen’s Circle, , ; New York City, , ; Madison (WI) chapter, ; orchestra and chorus, World War I: cuts off immigrant flows, ; and German American breweries, ; new construction delayed by, Yehoash (Solomon Blumgarten), yenems gelt, Yeshivat Etz Chaim, Yeshivat Meah Shearim, Yeshivat Torath Chaim, Yiddish culture: labor’s appeal to, – ; in the music business, , Yiddishism, see Yiddish socialism Yiddish socialism (Yiddishism), , n.; in New York, –; in Russia, – yidishe gelt, See also money, Jewish terms for Yidishe gelt in lebensshyteger, kulturgeshikhte un folklor: A leksikolishe shtudye (Rivkin), , –, –n. YIVO Institute, , “Yohrzeit” (song), “Yosele khapt dem makhzer un loyft in shul arayn” (cartoon), , Young Circle League, Young Pioneer camps, U.S., Youphes, David (Jacob Davis), – Yuban coffee, Rosenblatt used in advertisement for, Zakin, Michael, Zeckendorf family, Zhitlowsky, Chaim, , Zimmerman, Charles “Sasha,” , , , , , Zimring, Carl, Zionism: and the exilic sensibility, ; Mizrachi Zionist movement, zoning regulations: and Madison (WI) scrapyards, n.; New York City, , Zuckerman, Alan, ... constitute a history of the encounter of Jews with American capitalism Rather, they highlight the “selective involvement” of Jews in the ambit of American capitalism through niches they created in specific... been made by the authors unless otherwise indicated ix PA R T I Reframing the Jewish Encounter with American Capitalism introduction The Chosen People in the Chosen Land t h e j e w i s h e... Chosen People in the Chosen Land: The Jewish Encounter with American Capitalism Rebecca Kobrin Two Exceptionalisms: Points of Departure for Studies of Capitalism and Jews in the United States