At a recent used book sale I picked up a copy of a small book of humor published in 1919 called “We Need the Business” by Joseph Austrian. I was charmed by the illustrations by Stuart Hay, several of which related to the food habits of the men in the garment trade as portrayed in the book.
The book is a series of letters written by Philip Citron, owner of a company in New York City called Citron, Gumbiner & Co. that, made women’s waists (as blouses were known then). Austrian had long worked in the clothing trade, suspenders being his specialty.
In his letters to his partner and salesmen in the field, Philip Citron mostly complains about competitors who are stealing their business. He gives the impression that most contracts the salesmen get are later cancelled when buyers find a cheaper deal elsewhere. At the same time, he is unhappy that his salesmen don’t get higher prices on the sales they make!
In the illustration shown at the top, Moe Gabriel, an eager salesman from a competing manufacturer, is successfully selling a bill of goods to Ike Weinberg that will result in a cancelled contract for Citron & Gumbiner. Ike actually seems far more interested in his lunch than in getting a cheap deal.
One of Citron’s salesmen is his son Abe. Philip sends him a birthday letter in which he congratulates his son on wise conduct with “the ladies.” Mingling with them, he writes, is fine if they are the “right kind of nice ladies.” The illustration suggests that Abe has other ideas. Later the reader finds out that Abe is also keeping late hours with the company’s secretary under the guise of working. Philip has no idea of what is going on.
In another letter Philip describes a trip he and his wife took to Atlantic City. He suffers from digestive problems and the little vacation is meant to get him to relax. They go to a restaurant popular with the garment trade that he refers to as the “Flyswatte” where the cooking was “high grade.” His wife asks the chef for the recipe for “a new style of cold fish” that he enjoyed there. Later, when they get back home, she prepares the dish. It makes him ill.
Philip goes to Boston to meet with a buyer from Holyoke MA named Cyprian Stoneman, from Neill, Pray & Co. He describes Stoneman [shown above] looking more like “the designer of a book like ‘The Antique Furniture of New England’” who eats pie for breakfast than an “up-to-date model shirt waist buyer.” But he is determined to find a customer in Holyoke so he settles on Stoneman, meeting him for lunch at the Café Georgette which is popular with garment salesmen and buyers – and where portions are big. Stoneman is so thin that Philip can’t imagine “where he stored all the linzen [lentil] soup, brust deckel [fatty brisket], kohlrabi, deep dish blackberry pie a la mode, watermelon and ice tea he put away.” He proves to be “one of those lemon buyers de luxe,” buying very little and wanting numerous alterations.
Citron, Gumbiner & Co. designer, Miss Kopyem, goes to Haines Falls in the Catskills on vacation, where she finds “the streets and porches . . . full of operators, contractors and salesmen of the ready-to-wear trade.” She does not enjoy the crowds and noise. Philip likens the scene there to “Fifth Avenue at lunch time” where, in fact, he is part of the crowds. He is shown bottom right in the drawing above.
At his partner’s recommendation Philip opens a lunch room for employees and adds a suggestion box. He removes it after it instantly becomes stuffed with 25 letters asking for additional benefits such as massages, a barber shop, soda fountain, and movies. Employees also want American chop suey, Gorgonzola cheese, marinierte herring [herring in cream sauce], strudel, gefülte fish, caviar sandwiches, welsh rarebit, and chicken a la King.
In the book’s final letter to his partner Sol, Philip reveals that the company has had its best year ever and “will show a clean net profit of about $52,000.” His stomach, he writes, “feels fine to-day.”
© Jan Whitaker, 2023
It's great to hear from readers and I take time to answer queries. I can't always find what you are looking for, but I do appreciate getting thank yous no matter what the outcome.
Restaurant-ing through history 
Jan,
This was very entertaining. I had just finished my last book from the library before I leave for Boston on Tuesday. You find the most fascinating material. I’ll get in touch when I get to Waltham. I’ll be in Ma until Oct.19th
It would be great to see you!
Jan, long time, no contact.
I’ve been moving (3 times in the last 5 years). I’m tired. Currently living in an Independent Living complex for the “over 55!” in Vancouver WA. YES, I know …
Anyway they provide 3 meals each day (included in rental fee). The Lunch meal is the main meal of the day. It commences at 12 noon.
No tolerance for latecomers.
(Bkfst & dinner are much more casual).
But NOON for, salad, pork roast w/mashed potatoes and green beans? Then there’s a desert of (if it’s a lucky day) blueberry cobbler.
My eyes are barely open at noon, so this whole deal takes a lot of adjusting.
They have a ‘Chef’ and a nutritionist. Oh well.
Don’t forget us oldsters who eat what they give us, and I HATE frozen vegetables!!!
And the complex I live in is consider lovely for this area. Not inexpensive by any calculus.
I really miss Noho.
But I want to be near my daughter & her 2 adorable, brilliant, obnoxious boys (ages 8 & 4). Oh yeah, there’s a husband too.
I’m just over the state border from OR into WA.
Portland is the big city near us. If you ever get out to the PNW (highly recommended) give me a buzz.
Toni Brandmill
Hi Toni, I can see how weird a noon meal like that would be! Great to hear from you. Maybe your daughter would like to move back here? Just joking, but it would be nice. Hope you can adjust to your new regime.
Great stuff. My paternal relatives worked in the garment district, mostly at lowly manufacturing jobs but a few in sales. One great-uncle was promoted to designer. He moved to Racine, WI, where he and his wife opened a dress shop. One of their sons, Ben Hecht, became a playwright and screenwriter (“The Front Page,” “Notorious”) but never lost touch with his New York garment-district-based relatives or their FOOD, which they used to take to his family in Wisconsin.
Ben Hecht, wow! And the attachment to certain food is interesting.
Very interesting, thanks. Reminded me of a snatch of Manhattan street talk Mick Jagger sang in “Shattered” (ca. 1975): “Schamattas, schmattas, schmattas [old clothes], I can’t give it away on 7th Avenue, this town’s in tatters”. The foods liked were an interesting amalgam of contemporary national and various ethnic dishes including Jewish. In the 1970s I worked in a downtown district that was one of the Montreal garment centres. The Jewish restaurant there was Balkan’s. I think the name was a family name and not connected to the region, although some dishes served could be from the Balkans, grills of various kinds and eggplants. Some were straight central European, eg. the gefilte fish (stuffed minced lake fish, which isn’t stuffed usually) also popular in the 1920s. The thing I recall best was a meal-based sausage, “kishka”, using matzah or flour or both, well-spiced, but this one had some meat in it too, maybe ground vegetables. In a derma casing. This was not a deli, but more the older home-style cooking plus the grill dishes. Balkan’s is long gone I’m sure.
You got a real taste. I love the lingo too.
Neill, Pray & Company? Good one.
Neill, Pray & Company.
very nice drawings, great find