Barclay Paper Compay, etc., 112 W. 24th St. (1986)
Barclay Paper Company
Fine Printing Paper
Entrance 112 West 24th Street
CHelsea 2-4600
Headquarters for
Riverside - Mohawk - Neemah Papers
I was not able to find much information about Barclay Paper Company other than what is on the sign. They date from 1947, were located in the Bronx first at 321 E. 149th St., then at 140th St. on the East River, then moved to 112 W. 24th St. in 1955. The New York Times noted this event with "After many years in the Bronx, the Barclay Paper Company has decided to move closer to its customers and has leased the store at 112 West Twenty-fourth Street in Manhattan for a long term at rentals aggregating $100,000. Williams & Co. negotiated the lease." (NYT, 6 June 1955, pg. 39)
They were located here at 112 W. 24th St. from 1955 to 1972. Then they were in business on West 50th St. through 1976. A classified ad in 1958 read, "Barclay Paper Co, Inc / Fine paper - mimeo bond / sulphide bond - rag bond / duplicator - offset - tag board / gum - ledger - manifold - cover / 112 W 24 St, NYC Chelsea 2-4600."
At his daughter's marriage in 1974 Paul N. Pellman of Oceanside, Long Island, was identified as "president of the Barclay Paper Company, a wholesale distributor." The Social Security Death Index lists a Paul N. Pellman who was born 15 April 1915 and died 23 December 2011. There was also a Bruce Pellman whose biography says he "worked in the wholesale paper distribution industry for 26 years. He was Vice President of sales at the Barclay Paper Company."
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The Greatest Name in
Children's Wear
Albert
Fifth Avenue
For over Half a Century
Albert Fifth Avenue was a manufacturer of childrens clothing located at 159 5th Ave. from 1947 to the early 1970s. 159 5th Ave. is the 5th Avenue address of the Albert Building located on the corner of 22nd street. The building extends through to Broadway and has a Broadway address, 935 Broadway, where the entrance carries "Albert Building" above the doorway (click for image). The AIA Guide to New York City, 2010, notes that the Albert Building was originally the Glenham Hotel, designed by Griffith Thomas, and constructed 1861-1862.
Albert Fifth Avenue was the successor to Nathan Albert, Caps which began in 1922 at 55 Great Jones St. Nathan Albert (1876-1962) was born in Russia, immigrated to the US around 1902, and died, age 87, in 1962. He registered for the World War I draft in 1918, when he lived at 415 Claremont Place West, the Bronx. On his registration he said he was born 10 January 1876, that he was a naturalized citizen, and his occupation was "Hats & Caps, Nathan Albert, 55 Great Jones St., New York, NY." In the 1920 US Census Nathan Albert lived at this same address with wife, Bella, three sons, Samuel H., Jacob, and Israel, and a daughter Ida. The children ranged in age from 19 to 9; the two elder were born in Russia, the two younger in New York. At the time of his death the New York Times, 10 June 1962, pg. 86, noted, "Nathan Albert of 213-08 Seventy-third Avenue, Bayside, Queens, founder of the predecessor concern of Eli. E. Albert, Inc., 935 Broadway, manufacturers of children's wear, died Friday in the College Nursing Home, Flushing, Queens. His age was 87. Mr. Albert was a part owner of the Albert Building at Broadway and Twenty-second Street. Surviving are three sons, Samuel H., Jack and Eli E.; a daughter, Mrs. Ida Netter; seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren."
Of Nathan Albert's three sons, Jack Albert (ca1907/08-?) and Eli E. Albert (1910-1971) seem to have been primary in continuing the family business after their father's death. In addition to Albert Fifth Avenue, the business was also known as Nathan Albert & Sons and Eli E. Albert, Inc. They changed from headwear to sportswear, then childrens wear, somewhere between 1937 and 1947. According to an immigration card dated 1959, Eli E. Albert was born in New York City 18 November 1910. His death notice in the New York Times, 23 Dec. 1971, pg. 28, read "Albert - Eli E. Beloved husband of Adele, devoted father of Stephen, Neil and Kathryn Diner. Grandfather of Cecilia, dear brother of Sam, Jack and Ida Netter. Services today, 10 A. M. at Hirsch & Sons Chapel, 1225 Jerome Ave. corner of 167 St., Bronx." Also, "Albert - Eli E. The employees of Eli E. Albert, Inc., record with sorrow the passing of their beloved employer and offer condolences to the bereaved family."
The eldest son, Samuel Harold Albert (1900-1975), apparently was not involved in clothing manufacture. He is listed in the 1940 US Census as a high school teacher living on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx.
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Universal Luggage Co. Inc.
Mfrs. of Men's "Skymaster" Luggage
836 Broadway N. Y. OREGON 4-3020
Universal Luggage was listed in the New York telephone directory at 836 Broadway with the telephone number ORchrd 4-3020 from 1944 into the 1950s, then until 1968 with the number as ORegn 4-3020. The company was founded in 1936 by Polish immigrant, Max Bialo (1892-1983), and located initially at 118 Spring St. In 1931 Max Bialo applied for naturalization when he said he was born 15 August 1892, that he emigrated from Hamburg under the name Schaje Bialoskormik, and that he arrived in New York on the vessel Pretoria 15 August 1913. He is found in Polk's 1925 New York City Directory as secretary-treasurer at Shapiro's Maidrite Bag Co. at 8 Greene St.
Early on Max Bialo took as his partner, his son, Walter Bialo (1917-2012). Walter Bialo was probably running the company by 1940 or so. Max Bialo registered for the World War II draft in 1942 when he said he was "Unemployed - ill health." An obituary for Max appeared in Women's Wear Daily, 26 Oct. 1983, pg. 10, reading, "Services for Max Bialo, 93, will be held Thursday at 12:30 P.M. at the Riverside Memorial Chapel, 76th Street and Amsterdam Avenue. He died Monday following a long illness in St. Francis Hospital, Miami. Bialo was a founder of Universal Luggage Co., parent company of Ventura Travel Wear, Inc., manufacturers of luggage, briefcases and attache cases. He is survived by his wife, Sabina, a son, two daughters and six grandchildren."
After 836 Broadway, Universal Luggage moved to 32-33 47th Avenue, Long Island City, in Queens. They were in business there until the early 1990s. Walter Bialo is quoted in Newsday, 29 August 1993, as follows, "In 1936 Bialo and his Polish-born father, Max, established the family luggage Company, Ventura Travel Ware. Bialo, whose grandfather was a luggage-maker in Warsaw, is proud of the loyalty and prestige his Long Island City company garnered in the American travel industry. But he is just as proud that his son, Kenneth, 46, is now a successful attorney instead of Ventura's heir apparent." Ventura Travelwear, like Skymaster, was a division of Universal Luggage.
A number of patents for luggage related items were obtained by Walter Bialo. Among them, were this one for a folding garment bag from 1970, and a hanger from 1968.
An ad for Universal Luggage, 836 Broadway, can be found in the magazine Flying, Dec.1962, on google books.
Another ad appeared in the New York Times, 17 May 1959.
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Another sign on this wall reads Manufacturers' Exchange.
Polk's New York City Copartnership Directory for 1938 lists Manufacturers' Exchange at 132 West 31st Street, Room 1506. Officers were Sylvester W. Altfeld, president, and Harry C. Wiener, secretary-treasurer. They were selling agents to the wholesale trade. Merriam-Webster defines a selling agent as "an agent who sells for a commission the entire output of his principals on a continuing contractual basis, provides them with market information, and often also furnishes financial assistance." Judging by Harry Wiener's 1940 U. S. Census, Manufacturers' Exchange was dealing in dry goods. I have not been able to identify specific clients.
Sylvester William Altfeld (1893-1977) was born 31 October 1893 in Cleveland, Ohio. He appears in the 1920 U. S. Census, age 26, living at 1140 Hopkins Ave., Cleveland. In 1922 he married Beatrice Kreiss in Cleveland. In a Cleveland city directory for 1922 he appears as a member of the firm of Altfeld & Asadow, wholesale dry goods. In the 1933-34 New York city directory he was an officer at Manufacturers' Exchange, 132 West 31st Street, New York. In 1964 the New York Times, 5 March 1964, pg. 13, reported "Two gunmen beat a woman with their pistols yesterday in her Greenwich Village apartment and escaped with more than $15,000 worth of jewelry. The victim was Mrs. Beatrice Altfeld, 63 years old, of 59 West 12th Street, the wife to Sylvester W. Altfeld, a handbag manufacturer." By 1964 Altfeld's business address in the New York telephone directory was no longer that of the Manufacturers' Exchange. He very well may have had his own handbag company by that time. Altfeld died in Miami, Florida, 1 November 1977, and he is buried in Mount Lebanon Cemetery, Glendale, Queens.
Harry C. Wiener (1903-1976) died in 1976, when two notices appeared in the New York Times, 25 August 1976, pg. 32, reading, "Wiener - Harry, beloved husband of Gladys, dear brother of Lelia Spanbock, Ida Sherman and Anna Fischer. Services Thursday, 10 A. M. at "The Riverside," 76th St. and Amsterdam Ave. In lieu of flowers, contributions to your favorite charity would be appreciated." and "Wiener - Harry. The partners and employees of Manufacturers Exchange express deep sorrow at the passing of our Senior Partner and Founder, Harry Wiener. Services will be held at The Riverside Chapel, 76th St. and Amsterdam Ave., Thursday, Aug. 26. Our offices will be closed Thursday in his memory." Harry Wiener appears in the 1910 U. S. Census and the 1920 U. S. Census as the son of Samuel and Rebecca Wiener, immigrants from Russia.
Manufacturers' Exchange first appears in the New York telephone directory in 1926. They were located at 132 West 31st Street. In 1954 the New York Times, 21 August 1954, pg. 25, reported "The Manufacturers Exchange, selling agent to the wholesale trade, will move from 128-132 West Thirty-first Street to 10 West Thirty-third Street on Sept. 1. Its new quarters offer 12,000 square feet of space, three times as large as its present offices." They stayed at 10 West 33rd St. until recent times, and as of August 2018 are still listed on the internet at that location. (See for instance, www.yelp.com.)
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