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| Family gathering 1912: 3. Bess's mother. 4. Houdini's mother. 5. Houdini. 6. Bess. 7. Simon Newman |
Last week we wrote of the feud between the Newmans and the Fleischmanns: Harry Houdini’s maternal uncle, Simon Newman, defended a series of lawsuits filed by his arch-rivals Charles and Max Fleischmann.
The Fleischmanns were the Hungarian-Jewish-American entrepreneurs who parlayed their Yeast and Gin labels into the Fortune 500 company eventually known as Standard Brands. The bane of their existence was their strongest competitor, Simon Newman, whose yeast was marketed, in similar foil packets, under the name Atlantic Yeast.
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| Simon Newman |
The Fleischmanns were the Hungarian-Jewish-American entrepreneurs who parlayed their Yeast and Gin labels into the Fortune 500 company eventually known as Standard Brands. The bane of their existence was their strongest competitor, Simon Newman, whose yeast was marketed, in similar foil packets, under the name Atlantic Yeast.
According to sworn testimony, Fleischmann told Newman if he did not exit the yeast and gin business, he, Fleischmann, would force him out by destroying him with lawsuits.
The lawsuits went on for at least eight years, up to the highest court in New York State. Newman won them all. Then - he retaliated.
Back then, in the 1890s, yeast was a very important product. It was a key ingredient in both bread and alcoholic beverages, the two mainstays of any proper diet. Both the Fleischmanns and the Newmans operated bakeries in New York City to showcase their European-style fine bread, and both operated distilleries to manufacture their American-style cheap gin.
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| Newman was President of Old Colony Distillers, Atlantic Distillers, et al. |
At that time, bakeries were a key part of the urban economy - the McDonalds of the day - with more outlets than virtually any other business. German-style bakers like the Fleischmanns and the Newmans were in great demand because of their superior skills at making yeasted bread. Thus New York City’s baker’s union was strong and consisted largely of left-wing German-speaking immigrants who had fled Bismarck’s anti-socialist laws of the 1880s.
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| Logo of the Bakers' & Culinary Workers Union |
Very much like today, the political issues of the era were the Second Amendment, immigration, and socialism - how much? Second Amendment rights were strongly supported by the labor unions, who wanted striking workers to carry guns to protect themselves from the private armies employed by factory owners.
Socialist candidates ran for President in five elections, for
Governor of New York State, for a host of local, county and state offices in Illinois and Wisconsin and for mayor of New York City.
Governor of New York State, for a host of local, county and state offices in Illinois and Wisconsin and for mayor of New York City.
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| The Socialist candidate for Mayor could also sell cigars. |
Against this background, Socialists gained control of the bakers’ union in New York City. Powerful bakery owners, including the Fleischmanns, fought hard to break the union.
Newman stepped in, with the backing of the Socialist Central Labor Federation, and organized a boycott of Fleischmann’s Yeast.
According to sworn testimony, Newman’s drivers - “teamsters” - targeted bakeries using Fleischmann’s yeast and made them an offer they couldn’t refuse: use Newman's Atlantic Yeast, or else. To sweeten the deal, they undercut Fleischmann’s price, offering Newman's yeast for a nickel an ounce less.
Fleischmann’s business suffered. They requested arbitration by New York State labor authorities. The arbitration fizzled out when Fleischmann finally made Newman a proper offer - to buy out his yeast business, at a handsome price. Newman used his Fleischmann blood money to start up a new business in a far less contentious field - ladies' hats.
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Coming up - Harry Houdini and his cousin, Simon Newman’s son, are bitten by the entrepreneuring bug - with disastrous results.
[Newman family images © Sharon Kurlansky. Others via Google.]
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Take a very close look at Simon in the family gathering pic I shared with you: It now appears to me that he may be drinking from an Old Colony Bottle ... maybe he needed to fortify himself after wrangling mightily with the Fleischmann clan:)
ReplyDeleteAnother side note: It looks to me that Dash may be the man with the child in the upper right??
Your blog entry today, and others, weaves a much richer family tapestry, (certainly for me personally), but surely for many others who are fascinated by Houdini and his magical world.
Sharon, thanks so much for sharing the pictures and info. It does indeed look like an Old Colony bottle, and like Dash. More to come in future posts!
ReplyDeleteWow! Great stuff here David! The photo above was Bess' 35th birthday party and was taken in 278. Another print of this photo was sold in last year's Potter & Potter Houdiniana auction.
ReplyDeleteThat's definitely Hardeen with a child in the upper right corner. Most likely his son.
Who are the two ladies we see as #1 and #2?
ReplyDelete#1 is really enjoying her drink. Kosher wine?
#1 is Fanny, Simon Newman's daughter. #2 is Mary Patterson, Simon's second wife. It seems that nearly everyone in the picture is drinking, or offering a toast, perhaps.
ReplyDelete