Newspaper Page Text
Friday, March 27. 1964
THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
Fife Hr*
j-^aAAouer
(jreetinyA
ATLANTA’S
FACTORY OUTLET
STORES
28 CAIN ST., N.E.
JA. 5-0077
Off Peachtree St
65 FORSYTH N.W.
524-2313
Across Old Post Office
31 FORSYTH, S.W.
• 523-4275
3 Doors Past Alabama St
3230 PEACHTREE RD., N.E.
BUCKHEAD
Out of the Past
Mr. Loewinsohn s articles have appeared often in The Southern Israelite
columns through the years, though it has been many mouths since he
took pen in hand. Here he comes up with a nostalgic vignette erf the
“Atlanta Jewish Community That Was.”—THE EDITOR
Ry JOE LOEWINSOHN
This piece is dedicated to the old-
timers of Atlanta in whose memory
still lingers the tranquil life before
the exodus to the northeast pars of
the city.
It was the time when most of
our good folks were content to live
on the South Side end of Atlanta.
They were quite happy on Washing
ton street, Capitol Avenue, Atlanta
\venue and even on Pulliam street.
They did not even dream of swanky
split-level homes, wall-to-wall car
pets and built-in baby sitters. Once
; n a while my own grateful memory
returns to those nostalgic days.
Infrequently, usually on Sundays,
my wife would get a yen for a
humble kosher meal not of her own
making. 1 can’t blame any woman
for her desire to escape the mon
otony of day-in and day-out cook
ing
Since there was only one restau
rant in Atlanta that my very kosher
spouse recognized as being strictly
kosher, we would journey all the
way from Noble Drive down to
Siegel's on Capitol Avenue. Siegel’s
was a poor man’s Gluckstem or
Poliakoff of New York fame.
The place had a money air about
it and it was housed in an old and
badly out-of-date wooden structure.
The two large dining rooms were
usually crowded and from the ad
jacent kitchen with a huge and
ancient iron cooking range eman
ated pungent odors of kosher food.
There was no pretense for ‘ ’atmos
phere” or swank appointments and
there was no Wedgwood china, nor
Gorham silverware, nor damask
linen to grace the wooden tables
The chairs were of assorted shapes
and heights and the only uniform
thing about them was their ant-
■quity.
Mr. and Mrs. Siegel, may their
souls rest in peace, did their own
cooking and they alternated in
waiting on tallies and hovering over
.’he hot stove. Tliey had colored
waitresses and one of them had lieen
with the Siegels so long that she
.spoke Yiddish quite fluently. It was
/cry amusing to hear a plump Negro
woman chat in Yiddish with heavy
Litvak accent.
But the food they served at a
/ery reasonable price was excellent
and wholesome. No frills, no fancy-
shmeney tidbits, just real, down-to-
earth stuff, kishkes and all.
Siegel’s place was located right
across the street from the Jewish
Educational Alliance, and every
time I saw the old red-brick build
ing, I grew a little melancholy. Old
memories would begin to crowd my
mind and with a tinge of futile regret
I realized the implacable flight of
years.
Happy memories of my youth
reached back to the time when the
Jewish Educational Alliance was the
center of all worthwhile activities of
the Jewish community. It was long
before the existence of the Pro
gressive and Mayfair clubs. It was
he time when our well-to-do folk
had fine homes on Washington and
Pryor Streets and even on Central
hvenue.
To have lived on these streets
was a sure mark of afluenee and
.social distinction. It was jost before
World War I, and I had come to
Atlanta and it was at the Jewish
Educational Alliance where I went
to right school to learn English.
We had fine and sympathetic
.eachers—Mrs. Sophie Foote, a dim-
mutive lady of quiet dignity, Mar
jorie Bleich—she was very young
and strikingly beautiful. Melanie
Feibelman, Dr. Ixwis Holtz and Jos
eph Heyman.
HAPPY PASSOVER GREETINGS
CARMICHAEL TILE CO.
578 Armour Circle
Phone 873-2866
HAPPY HOLIDAY
PICKETT TRANSMISSION &
MOTOR SERVICE
920 MARIETTA STREET, N. W.
We overhaul, rebuild, or replace
$35.00 plus parts. All ivork guaranteed.
m mm ' sks:
piffiMlIMIIIIIBIH
iuiHiiiiHiiiiwiniHiiiiiHnni«flWH<i»)iii
GRACIOUS HOLIDAY GREETINGS
Furniture City
• 1344 Stewart Avenue, S.W.
Phone 758-6791
PASSOVER GREETINGS
to the Atlanta
Jewish Community
American Credit Control
For Collections of New and Old Amounts
912 TITLE BLDG. MU- wlu
ATLANTA 3, GEORGIA
Our pleasures were simple in those
unhurried and serene days. A buggy
ride on Sunday to Grant Park or
Lakewood, a movie at the Strand
or Vaudette on Whitehall Street (ad
mission was 5 and 10 cents) and one
could thrill to the silent emoting of
Clara Kimball Young. Lou Tellegan,
Francis X. Bushman. Margaret
Snow, Bessie Love, Norma Tal-
madge, Theda Bara, Pola Negri and
others of early days of the cinema.
After the show you would treat
your date to ice cream or sundae or
cherry smash and, of course, the
old reliable Coca-Cola. Brown and
Allen and Nunnally’s were the mast
frequented soda founts. Tom Pitts
at Five Points served the most de
licious chocolate milk with a hunk
QoJ
WuLs
for
y
DL
Mot-Jay S,
eaAon
CLEANERS
• no LAUNDRY.
2425 Piedmont Rd.. N.E.
CE. 7-2518
2611 Piedmont Rd., N.E.
CE. S-87SZ
of ice cream and whipped cream on
top for a nickel. After the treat you
would walk your girl home, and, if
she happened to live too far, a street
car was quite all right
The most popular dances were the
two-step and turkey trot and, of
course, the old-fashioned waltz. De
cent women did not smoke in public
and the word “hell" was considered
the height of vulgarity
One never saw a woman’s knee in
public and the feminine neat and
modest apparel was the accepted
fashion of the day
Yes, we had our share of troubles
and disappointments, but as I look
back across the span of years, I
realize that remembered sorrows
sweeten present joys.
Y'ALL COME!
BE SURE
OF SAFETY
FREE INSPECTIONS
THE
SOUTHS FINEST!
WHILE YOU WAIT
“Red” Ivey's
21-1 Ith St., N.E.
873-6901
R I
A S
3460 Empire Blvd. f S.W.
Atlanta, Ga.
“Fine Meats Since 1883”
Cordial
Passover
Greetings
Mitchell Motors, Inc.
350 W. Peachtree St.
JA 2-5255
Your Old s mo bile Dealer