S. Goldin & Co. Plush Coats / Mandel & Weinblatt Furs, 144-152 W. 27th St. (2002)

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S. Goldin / & Co. / Plush Coats was located here from 1920 to 1924. There were actually 2 S. Goldins: Solomon Goldin (1881-1964) and Samuel Goldin (1887-?). The 2 Goldins were presumably brothers (both immigrants from Russia), and directory listings always credit Solomon Goldin with being president of the firm while Samuel is secretary or v-p. They were first in business together as S. Goldin & Co. around 1916/17 at 52 W. 17th St., moved to 135 W. 26th St. in 1918, then here in 1920. The building at 135 W. 26th St. is where I rented darkroom space at the now-defunct Latent Image Workshop approx. 17 years from 1987 to 2004. From their 4th-story back windows you could look out on the prominent S. Goldin sign... S. Goldin moved from 27th St. in 1924 and went out of business shortly thereafter.

Above S. Goldin, 2 signs up:

Mandel & Weinblatt / Furs: At the time of the 1900 U S Census Milton Simon Mandel, age 16, lived with his father, Simon Mandel, in Merrill, Wisconsin. (Located about 160 miles north of Madison, Wisconsin and about 200 miles east of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Merrill had a population of around 10,000 in 2000. For more about Merrill, visit their web site.) Simon Mandel's occupation is listed as "clothing merchant." By 1910 the family had moved to Milwaukee where Simon Mandel sold insurance. Milton Mandel (born 27 Nov. 1883), now 26, worked as a traveling salesman, selling furs. Eight years later Milton Mandel registered for the World War I draft while living on W. 98th St. in New York. He listed his occupation as "traveling salesman Jalkoff Bros., 28 W. 27th St.," and his nearest relative as Carrie Mandel, his mother. Apparently by this time Simon Mandel had died. In 1920 Carrie Mandel appears in the U S Census as a widow, living with her 2 sons, Milton and Monroe, on Fort Washington Ave., Manhattan. Milton at this time lists his occupation as "Proprietor Fur Shop." 10 years later, he is married (he married late: age 41) and living with his wife, Helen, on W. 79th St. He is now "Merchant Wholesale Furs."

Abraham Isadore Weinblatt (1895-?) was a younger man. When Milton Mandel was 16 and living in Wisconsin, Weinblatt was a 4-year-old living on Broome St. with his father, a cigar maker who had immigrated from Russia in 1888. The family consisted of 5 children all born in New York through the years 1888 to 1899. In 1917/18 when Weinblatt registered for the World War I draft, he was working as a traveling salesman for the firm Kruskal & Kruskal, Furriers. By 1920 he was married, had a 2-year-old daughter and lived on Nagle Ave. near Dyckman St. in Manhattan. 10 years later he had added 3 sons to his family and now lived in the Bronx. He listed his occupation as "Merchant Furs."

The firm, Mandel & Weinblatt, was formed in 1919 and was located here at 144 W. 27th St. from 1919 to 1923. The partnership lasted until the beginning of the Great Depression, 1929.

Between Mandel & Weinblatt and S. Goldin dimly one can make out: Manes & / Oppenheimer / Infants Wear / and / Bath Robes (click for image). (A slightly clearer Manes & Oppenheimer sign can be found on the west wall of this building. Click for image.) In 1918 Philip Reginald Manes (1880-1963) registered for the World War I draft while employed as a traveling salesman for B. F. Drakenford & Co., Colors, at 50 Murray St. in downtown New York. In 1917 Sydney Oppenheimer (1888-1976) registered for the draft while a commercial traveler for Frankenthaler & Frankenthaler, a ribbon manufacturer. These two got together in 1920 to form Manes & Oppenheimer Inc., Infants Wear. The company moved to 144 W. 27th St. in 1923. They were located here for four years, moving out in 1926. The partnership had dissolved by 1931. Oppenheimer continued for several years as Sydney Oppenheimer Inc., Infants Wear. By the early 1930s Philip Manes' occupation appears as "auctioneer."

Just above Mandel & Weinblatt another dim sign: Shapiro & Katz / Furriers. (Click for image.) These were Max Shapiro and Louis Katz, and they stayed at 144 W. 27th St. from 1925 to 1928. The business evolved from an earlier Shapiro, Schneider & Katz on W. 26th St. that included Charles Schneider as a partner. Shapiro & Katz began around 1923 and stayed in business until 1934.

Higher still on this wall (now unreadable): H. Haimowicz / Furs & Skins. Herman Haimowicz (born Austria Jan. 1866, immigrated 1888/90) started his fur business at 144 W. 27th St. in 1917. Around 1928 the name changed to H. Haimowicz & Sons when Herman's sons, Samuel A. Haimowicz (1898-1975) and Sidney J. Haimowicz (1905-1972), joined the business. They stayed at 144 W. 27th St. until 1933, then closed the New York business around 1941.

These signs are fuzzy but still clearly readable in an image from the "Tax Photos" at the New York City Municipal Archives (approx. 1940/41) . (Click for image.) (Photo courtesy NYC Dept. of Records / Municipal Archives)

At the top of the stack in the 1940/41 photo is Bloom & Gerber. These were Harry Bloom (1893/94-?) and Benjamin Gerber (1889/90-?), furriers. Their partnership lasted from 1922 to 1930. They were located here at 144 W. 27th St. from 1925 to 1930. Harry Bloom was a native New Yorker. Benjamin Gerber was an immigrant from Russia around 1911. He was still an alien at the time of the 1920 U. S. Census.

Beneath Bloom & Gerber is a sign reading Right something Garment?. This might be Right Made Cloak, which was located here from 1924 to 1926. Proprietors of Right Made Cloak listed in Polk's New York City Directory for 1925 were Zachary Bers, Aaron Edelson, and Abraham Gordon. Zachary Bers (1887-1962) registered for the World War I draft in 1917 when living at 1461 Seabury Place, Bronx, and working as a cloak cutter at Shapiro & Son, 54 W. 21st St. He stated that he was born Feb. 1887 at "Hordok, Russia." "Hordok" was probably either of two places currently in Ukraine and called Horodok (Городоцький in Ukrainian). The more prominent of these two is the town called Griding, Ukraine (Grodek in Polish) in eastern Galicia near Lvov (now called L'viv on Google maps). Bers is very possibly the Zachary J. Bersowitz found in the 1910 U. S. Census, age 23, "Newsdealer, Own Stand," living downtown on the east side on Madison St. Aaron Edelson (1893-1964) registered for the World War I draft in 1917 when living at 962 E. 179th St., Bronx, and working as a cloak cutter at Louis Adler, Manhattan. Edelson was a native New Yorker, and is found in the U. S. Census of 1930, age 35, Dress Manufacturer, living in Spring Valley, Rockland County, NY. Abraham Gordon has proven difficult to identify with any degree of certainty (name is too common). Right Made Cloak survived until 1934. In April, 1934, the New York Times reported that Right Made Cloak Company, Inc., 575 Eighth Avenue was one among nine firms "expelled from membership in the Industrial Council of Coat, Suit and Skirt Manufacturers Inc., following complaints by the Coat and Suit Code Authority and the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union." They seem to have gone out of business the same year. Zachary Bers stayed in garment manufacture with his own company until his death in 1962. Aaron Edelson, at the time of his death in 1964, was cited by the Spring Valley Credit Union, Spring Valley, N. Y., as an honorary director of the New York State Credit Union League, Inc., "who served the credit union movement for over 40 years" (New York Times, 28 Nov. 1964, p. 21).

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