Shulof & Co., Furs, 109 W. 27th St. (2006)

This sign dates in the narrow range 1914 to 1916. Herman H. Shulof (1862-1929) (born Germany, May, 1862, immigrated 1894, naturalized 1899, died New York, 12 May 1929) founded the company around 1895. The business survived until around 1921. Shulof appears in the 1900 U. S. Census living with his mother-in-law, Sarah Kahn, her family, his wife of two years, Jennie, and their daughter, Florence, age 1. Sarah and Jennie Kahn were born in Indiana.
In 1914 it was reported that William J. Kahn, Shulof's brother-in-law, had jumped bail in a case in which he had been sentenced to "two years in the Atlanta Penitentiary for having made a false oath in bankruptcy proceedings" (New York Times, 20 June 1914, p. 18). A bail of $10,000 had been given by Herman Shulof, whose address is cited as 109 W. 27th St.
In 1930 an appraisal of Herman Shulof's estate determined gross assets at $493,972 and net assets at $465,478. The chief asset was $446,783 in securities (New York Times, 29 Oct. 1930, p. 34).

Above Shulof on this wall are several faded signs, including:

A Walzer / Mfg Furrier (Click for image) A Walzer was Anna Walzer (1869-1957) (born Poland/Austria July 1869, died Brooklyn 3 Dec. 1957). Anna Walzer appears in the U. S. Census of 1900, age 30, the mother of five children, living at 49-51 Stanton St. downtown on the East Side (between Forsyth and Eldridge Sts.). With her and her children are her husband Samuel Walzer (1868-1953) (born Poland/Austria April 1868, died Brooklyn 4 Dec. 1953), age 32, and Ida, age 18, a sister of Samuel Walzer. The Walzers were immigrants around 1888-1890 and married after arriving in New York. Samuel Walzer was a furrier with a business (Walzer & Brosow) on East 10th St. as early as 1900. His partnership with Simon Brosow (1860-192?) lasted from around 1900 to 1913. The firm A. Walzer first appears in 1914 - i.e., at about the same time the Walzer-Brosow partnership ended. Why Walzer's wife assumed at least nominal head of the fur business is not clear. Possibly Samuel Walzer was incapacitated for some reason, and Anna Walzer simply took over and ran the business on her own. Or there may have been some legal reason (creditors?) Samuel did not want his name attached to the new business. For whatever reason, Samuel's name disappeared from the company officers, and Anna's A. Walzer went through annual name changes (Walzer & Margolis in 1915, Walzer & Milstein in 1916) until it became A. Walzer & Son in 1917. The son was Charles Walzer (1896-1985) (born New York Sept. 1896, died Great Neck, Nassau county, NY June 1985), who was 3 years old at the time of the 1900 census but now had grown to the ripe old age of 20 or 21. The sign reads only A Walzer, so probably dates from the company's founding, 1914. A. Walzer & Son went on for many years: at 109 W. 27th St. until 1925, and then at 330 7th Ave. until finally closing in 1972. Eventually two of Charles' younger brothers also joined the firm: Maxwell M. Walzer (1901-1996) and Harry Walzer (1906-1993).

H. Zimmerman Muff Bed Co (Click for image) Just above Kramer & Dupler is this sign for Hyman Zimmerman's muff bed company (for more on muff beds see the explanation with Pollack & Feldman on 29th Street). Hyman Zimmerman (1872-1956) immigrated to the U. S. in 1888. He was originally from Galicia/Poland/Austria. His petition for naturalization in 1897 states that he was born 1 Jan. 1872 and that he arrived via the port of New York 10 July 1888. He is found in the New York telephone directory for 1907 as "Zimmerman H, Fur Liner" at 6 E. 12th St. In 1910 this is listed as Manhattan Furriers Supply Co.. Zimmerman used both names for his business throughout his life. Manhattan Furriers Supply stayed in business until 1954. The business was located at 109 W. 27th Street from 1914 to 1920. Also involved in the business was Hyman Zimmerman's son, Louis Zimmerman (1897-1967). Louis Zimmerman registered for the World War I draft in 1918 while working at the Post Office in New York City.
Another prominent figure at Manhattan Furriers Supply was Louis Sutta (1847?-1933). Louis Sutta was born in Russia and immigrated in 1892. He appears in the U. S. Census of 1900 living on East 13th St. His birth date is recorded as Oct. 1847, but later documents indicate a date more like 1851/52/53. His age is 74 on the ship manifest of the SS Majestic sailing from Cherbourg to New York July/August 1927. Sutta was connected with Hyman Zimmerman at Manhattan Furriers Supply around 1915 to 1917. Louis Sutta's son, Simon Sutta (1880-1932), had his own company, Sutta & Fuchs, one of the largest importers of furs in New York. On his death Sept. 1932, notices were submitted to the New York Times by a impressive number of furriers' organizations. His obituary in the New York Times (16 Sep. 1932, p. 21) reads in part: "Born in Russia fifty-two years ago, Mr. Sutta came to this country as a boy. He had been in the fur business in this city for about thirty years ... Mr. Sutta was one of the leaders among his business associates. He was president of the International Fur Merchants, Inc., a director of the American Fur Merchants Association and first vice president of the Chest and Foundation of the Fur Industry."

Kramer & Dupler (Click for image) Osher Kramer (1880-1969) and Jacob Dupler (1877or1880-?) were in business together as furriers for over 20 years (from 1921 to 1943). Both men were immigrants from Austria/Poland/Galicia and both have uncertain birth years. Kramer wrote 15 July 1877 on his draft registration in 1918, changed this to 15 July 1879 on his WWII draft registration in 1942, and then his Social Security Death Index record specifies 15 July 1878. An email (July 2007) from Kramer's great grandson, Michael Lederman, included a photo of the Kramer gravesite in Mt. Hebron Cemetery, Flushing, NY (click for image), which gives the dates 1880 to 1969. Family history records that Kramer's name was changed from Krampf to Kramer on his arrival at Ellis Island. The ship's manifest for the SS Statendam sailing Rotterdam to New York 29 Aug. 1901 includes the name Freide Krampf (last residence Zaleszesyki), one of Osher's sisters. Osher Kramer married Jacob Dupler's sister, Rose Dupler (1882-1962), ca.1902.

Jacob Dupler gave his birth date as 19 March 1877 on his World War I draft registration, but changed this to 20 March 1880 when he registered for the World War II draft. Dupler was 20 years old when he immigrated to the U. S. He is listed on the passenger list of the SS Rotterdam sailing from Rotterdam 7 July 1898 and arriving in New York 15 July 1898. He stated that his passage had been paid by his father (L. G. Dupler, 177 Norfolk St. NY) and that he was in possession of no money. He is single, a "furs maker," and his place of most recent residence was "Horodenka." Horodenka is a city in western Ukraine. It was under Austrian rule in the 19th century. Dupler spelled it "Horodenker" on his WWII draft registration. Osher Kramer wrote on his WWII registration that he was born in "Zaleszczyker, Austria." A more modern transliteration would be Zalischyky and it, like Horodenka, is in western Ukraine. This area of the Ukraine was in the southeastern part of the region known as Galicia (at one time an independent kingdom, annexed by Austria as part of the partition of Poland in 1772).

Before his lengthy partnership with Jacob Dupler, Osher Kramer had a number of partners in the period 1903 to 1920. These included Kramer & Goldschmid (1903-1908), Kramer & Weitzner (1909-1913 & 1914-1916), Kramer & Meshekow (1913-1914), Kramer & Kasarsky (1917-1918), and Kramer & Wollin (1920). It seems to have been common for furriers to go in and out of partnerships this way, some changing almost annually. For more on the Kasarsky brothers see their write-up at Kasarsky Bros. & Fink, 134-140 W. 29th St.

Kramer & Dupler were located here at 109-111 W. 27th St. from 1922 to 1927. They moved from here to 352 7th Ave. (near 30th St.), where they stayed in business until 1943.

J. H. Friedman / ... / and trimmings (Click for image) AND TRIMMINGS at the bottom is clear but the rest of this sign is overpainted with white and hard to make out. The H after the J, for instance, has white paint on top that makes it look like a W. The middle line I haven't been able to make out, but it should be something like "Dress Makers Supplies", for this was the business of Joseph Herman Friedman (1882?-1939). When Joseph H. Friedman of 31 Norfolk St. applied for naturalization in 1904, he gave his birth date as 6 May 1882. But when he registered for the World War I draft in 1918 his birth date was 12 July 1879. It would seem, then, that these were two different people. Yet a number of additional documents such as census reports seem to identify him as the same person and to indicate that the 1882 date is correct. Friedman appears in 3 successive U. S. Census reports (1910, 1920 & 1930) giving ages that accord with 1882 as his birth date. Generally, I give greater credence to the draft registrations than other documents since they are hand written by the registrant himself. But in this case it seems the draft registration is the odd man out... Friedman immigrated from Russia / Poland in 1890, and the business began in 1904 at 41 University Place. He moved to 109 W. 27th St. in 1914 and remained at this address until 1921. The founder died in 1939, but the business survived for another forty-six years (until 1985).

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