After reading The Jew Store: A Family Memoir by Stella Suberman,
I found the need to reflect back on my own family and their experiences. While my great grandfather Moe did not venture down South, he did leave the security of the Lower East Side and move to the unchartered territory of Easton, Pennsylvania. Like Aaron in The Jew Store, Moe went to his successful brother-in-law in Plainfield, NJ for help and advise. It was his brother-in-law Charlie that suggested that he find a thriving town for his new business.
When Moe traveled to Easton he was impressed with its possibilities. Like the Jew Store in Northwestern Tennessee, The Surprise Store that my great grandfather Moe Berman opened was a dry goods store. Concordia, Tennessee and Easton, PA were set among cornfields and farms. Really nothing much was going on besides agriculture and yet my great-grandfather saw opportunity in the town that the train brought him to.
Growing up on the Lower East Side, he hung around a group of guys that called themselves the All-Around Boys. It was the All-Around Boys that would come to Easton and work in the Surprise Store in the early days, supporting their childhood friend. At the beginning, life was tough for Fanny and Moe. My great-grandmother would slave over a stove cooking meals for all the employees. Her mother Chava was worried and wanted her daughter to return to New York, to a more familiar life, just as Aaron’s sister-in-law in The Jew Store was disapproving of her sister’s move down South. Yet Moe persevered and he and my great grandmother Fanny bought a home, and provided a wonderful life for their three daughters. This is where my grandmother Elaine grew up with my Aunt Carole and Aunt Brenda. My grandmother was a twirler in high school and she and her sisters grew up with very few Jews in their town.
The Surprise Store was on Northampton Street near the town circle and what is today the Crayola Factory. Unlike Concordia there was a Reform and a Conservative synagogue, a kosher deli and Greenwald’s, a kosher butcher. When my grandmother was young, she would go to Greenwald’s and watch them butcher live chickens. The Surprise Store was an old-fashioned dry goods store, selling men’s and women’s clothing, hosiery and shoes. Like the Jew Store in Concordia, Tennessee, the Surprise Store had a downstairs area for women and upstairs area for men’s goods. The time was the 1930’s and the depression was not really a good time for Moe to start a business, but he persevered regardless of the obstacles and Easton, PA became home.
I found the need to reflect back on my own family and their experiences. While my great grandfather Moe did not venture down South, he did leave the security of the Lower East Side and move to the unchartered territory of Easton, Pennsylvania. Like Aaron in The Jew Store, Moe went to his successful brother-in-law in Plainfield, NJ for help and advise. It was his brother-in-law Charlie that suggested that he find a thriving town for his new business.
When Moe traveled to Easton he was impressed with its possibilities. Like the Jew Store in Northwestern Tennessee, The Surprise Store that my great grandfather Moe Berman opened was a dry goods store. Concordia, Tennessee and Easton, PA were set among cornfields and farms. Really nothing much was going on besides agriculture and yet my great-grandfather saw opportunity in the town that the train brought him to.
Growing up on the Lower East Side, he hung around a group of guys that called themselves the All-Around Boys. It was the All-Around Boys that would come to Easton and work in the Surprise Store in the early days, supporting their childhood friend. At the beginning, life was tough for Fanny and Moe. My great-grandmother would slave over a stove cooking meals for all the employees. Her mother Chava was worried and wanted her daughter to return to New York, to a more familiar life, just as Aaron’s sister-in-law in The Jew Store was disapproving of her sister’s move down South. Yet Moe persevered and he and my great grandmother Fanny bought a home, and provided a wonderful life for their three daughters. This is where my grandmother Elaine grew up with my Aunt Carole and Aunt Brenda. My grandmother was a twirler in high school and she and her sisters grew up with very few Jews in their town.
The Surprise Store was on Northampton Street near the town circle and what is today the Crayola Factory. Unlike Concordia there was a Reform and a Conservative synagogue, a kosher deli and Greenwald’s, a kosher butcher. When my grandmother was young, she would go to Greenwald’s and watch them butcher live chickens. The Surprise Store was an old-fashioned dry goods store, selling men’s and women’s clothing, hosiery and shoes. Like the Jew Store in Concordia, Tennessee, the Surprise Store had a downstairs area for women and upstairs area for men’s goods. The time was the 1930’s and the depression was not really a good time for Moe to start a business, but he persevered regardless of the obstacles and Easton, PA became home.
My grandmother Elaine on the left, her grand-parents Fischel and Chava in the middle, and my great-aunt Carol on the far right.