Looking Back May 26, 2006
100 YEARS AGO IN THE FORWARD
New York City’s East Side Pushcart Peddlers Association held meetings this week to protest the unjust way in which Jewish pushcart peddlers are being treated. They say that Jewish peddlers who request licenses are frequently turned away, whereas Christian peddlers get their licenses without a fuss. In addition, there are certain local politicians who have been buying licenses for the normal price of $4 per year and then “renting” them to poor pushcart peddlers for $2 a month. The Jewish peddlers demanded action from the mayor and from the city’s Board of Aldermen, but have received no response. They say that if they do not hear from the administration in a week’s time, they will march on City Hall along with their wives and children.
75 YEARS AGO IN THE FORWARD
The U.S. District Attorney has uncovered a large-scale fraud operation that swindled hundreds of poor Jewish laborers and small businessmen out of their hard-earned money. Samuel Rosenfeld and Jacob Nachman, both of the Bronx, were indicted on charges of mail fraud and were scheduled to go before a federal grand jury, but the hearing had to be rescheduled because of the Sukkot holiday. According to the indictment, Rosenfeld and Nachman opened a business called the “Bankontrol Finance Corporation” and advertised for Yiddish speakers to come and work for them. Hundreds of people were hired and told to sell stock in the company in order to make their money. The new “salespeople” were told that the best prospects could be found among poor Jews and that these prospects should be told that they will make 8% interest on their investments. The salespeople went out and convinced their friends and family to invest in the company, and many of them invested their own money in the bogus stock. It is alleged that the company sold more than a quarter of a million dollars in fake stock and returned none of the money to the investors.
50 YEARS AGO IN THE FORWARD
American Jews have adopted and Judaized a lot of American foodways, things that our bubbes and zaydes wouldn’t have touched in a million years. Jewish restaurants serve such items as “lobsters,” “shrimps,” “oysters” and even “bacon.” You can even get kosher bacon. What more do you need? But don’t think that the goyim are letting this pass. They’ve moved in on our territory, too. Gentiles are now eating true-blue Jewish foods like bagels and lox, gefilte fish, corned beef and pastrami. They’ve even discovered things like matzo balls — and kishke, which they’re calling “stuffed derma.”
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