Florence Greenberg Weisblatt, Paterson Memories

My name is Florence Greenberg Weisblatt and I was born in Paterson in 1933 at 393 Madison Ave. I was born at home and delivered by Dr. Winters since my parents felt they couldn't "trust" the local hospital!  My grandmother, Bella Lefkowitz, must have settled in Paterson around 1900 with her four children who were born in Kiev, Ukraine.  Widowed at a very early age my grandmother spoke only Russian and was able to support her family by buying, upgrading and then selling property....all this decades before Social Security!    Her four children remained in Paterson for many years.  Clara, the eldest, married Max Lifshitz and had two sons, Boris and Leon, and remained in Paterson all of her life.   Boris died an early death but Leon survived, eventually becoming a public school teacher in the Paterson area.  Charles used to work in one of the dyeing factories and during the depression was forced out of Paterson into a small store in Bloomfield.   My mother attended PS4 and I have her graduation pin from 1912.   Upon graduating high school my mother worked as a secretary/bookkeeper for Jewish silk mill owners and at that point learned to speak Yiddish from her interactions with those owners.  Since the family had emigrated from a Russian city and not a shtetl they spoke Russian at home, regarding Yiddish as "déclassé"!  There was a tremendous drive to integrate and being a "greenhorn" was for them to be avoided at all cost!  The other child, Barney, left Paterson and went into business in Long Island. Barney changed his name from Lefkowitz to Lee.    His son, became a lawyer,  and settled in Teaneck.  My mother and father were gravely affected by the Depression and the close of many of the silk mills.   My understanding was that with the introduction of polyester many of the mills became unprofitable but I'm unsure of the complete history of their economic demise.

My father essentially lost his business which was connected to the silk mills and they moved to Montclair where they had a small store for many years.  My brother, Jack, became quite successful after moving to Seattle and entering the real estate business.  He had attended Williams College and I have a master’s degree from the University of Chicago.  In one generation since settling in Paterson life has become easier.....essentially middle class or upper middle class....educated.....mobile, etc., etc.  As one of my friends said, "From Pinsk to polo in one generation."  Funny, but amazingly true.
 
I have many memories of driving from Montclair to Paterson when I was a small child in order for my mother to buy kosher meat at Barney's store on River St.  The street was packed with Jewish shops....a bakery....a shop selling chickens where one selected the chicken one wanted and then the "shohet" killed the chicken while one waited....a terrifying sight for a young child and one that turned several kids into vegetarians!! Also on one of the corners, near one of the bridges, I think, there was a Jewish delicatessen and frequently the local gypsies would come to buy there.   I was strenuously warned to stay away from the gypsy women due to the unfounded but prevalent fear of kidnapping!  The women were dressed in long, full length, very colorful skirts.  Occasionally when I visited my Aunt Clara she would take me to her knitting yarn shop for "instruction."    There a group of women sat around in a circle and knit, chatted together and had a pleasant time.  A few years ago I saw a similar group of women gathered in a yarn shop here and broke into tears of utter nostalgia.

 My uncle Max was a painter by trade but on the weekends he and his sons had a trio and they played at local bars.   I was taken along and during the evening two chairs were put together and I would fall asleep on them until the trio and my aunt carried me out!  There weren’t babysitting funds available.....and possibly having a babysitter was not the general practice anyway!
 
After we moved to Montclair we were sometimes visited by a woman who had been the wife of one of the Paterson rabbis.   She had had an affair with their chauffeur and was in the process of divorce amidst great scandal!  I have no idea about all the facts but it apparently stirred a lot of people up!!  I must have been around 7 or so when this happened and it must have been a very traumatic event since at my advanced age I still remember hearing about it!!
 
While living in Paterson my parents bought a dining room set from the estate of United State Vice-President Garrett Hobart's estate.  My parents were extremely proud of owning those horsehair covered chairs and table. I loaned it to Lambert Castle several years ago when they had an exhibit regarding the life of Mrs. Hobart, Alice Tuttle.    I learned about the exhibit through my contact with Leonard Zax who was a University of Chicago alum, as was I.   He put me in touch with Alison Faubert, a Board member of the JHSNJ, who flew to Chicago, picked up the furniture in my car, drove my car back to Paterson for the exhibit and then I flew to Paterson to retrieve my car!  It was an amazing, wonderful experience and now I believe the furniture is at William Paterson University.....all due to Alison's generous and gracious efforts!  My parents would be so proud of the furniture being so well placed.
 
My beloved Aunt Clara died around 1946.....all her siblings have passed away.   My parents are gone.  My brother died last year at 94. I've lost touch with any remaining Paterson cousins but many happy memories of Paterson remain for me.
 
Florence Greenberg Weisblatt, fan of The Jewish Historical Society of North Jersey