Friday, July 29, 2005

Podcast XII: Sam and Greenfield The Pickle Man

I'm sad to say that this concludes the Sam Podcast. (I'm also sad to say that Yanks just lost to the Angels) I may have heard Sam's jokes a 100 times, but I never cease to learn something new when I talk to Sam about LES history. Like DV, the image of the pickle juice clogged drain stuck in my mind. In my google search the best I could match it up with is the dumping of prohibition liquor. No Mr. Greenfield, but Sol Kaplan of the old Guss' Pickles on Essex Street. Actually, I remember the original Guss when he was on Hester Street across from Gertel's Bakery. I spent some time trying to find the unlucky Mr. Greenfield in the 1930 census. Sifting through a lot of Greenfields I found him to be named Jack and he lived right near his store at 176 Rivington, a next door neighbor of Sam's! Jack's 8 year old son Bernard in 1930 must have been the Bernard who later died in World War II. Ethel must have been the daughter who would later have children with birth defects. Anyway here's the concluding segment.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I was very surprised to see my grandfather identified in your post. My dad Sidney was one of Jacks sons. My uncle Bernard died over the pacific in a bombing run. His plane and body were never recovered. He was awarded the purple heart and the silver star. I have been looking for information and pictures from the old pickle stand. Would love to know if you have any.

Blanche Greenfield

David Ballela said...

sorry Blanche, I don't