at Joan & Arnold's wedding

Arnold's memories

When he came to America he was 13, and instead of going to school he worked with his father, so i don't know when or how he learned to read and write and do math, but he always made his own signs and price tags and did the math at the register on his own.
He didn't keep kosher and the meats at the store were not Jewish deli type meats, so when grandma came over she would make him wash his hands whenever he came into the house from the store.
The walk-in refrigerator at the store was also our home refrigerator and we also had a freezer, one of the first there were, that was built by uncle Harry Altman. In the freezer Jack was the first in Philly to carry 'Birds Eye' frozen foods.
We had a black cat named Niggy. she used to pee on the coal in the basement and made it stink.
One time Mort went to the basement with a torch and ran into a cotton ball and set fire to the entire basement.
Dad was kind to all his customers and was very slow to anger. He had very good relations with the tavern next door and used to go there for fried oysters with mom often.

Jay's memories

There was a gum-ball machine on the counter of the store. Besides the standard gum-balls, there were a few silver balls in the glass container. When you put in your penny and turned the dial, 3-5 gum-balls would drop down the chute. If one of these was a silver colored ball, you could exchange it for a prize (I think a Hershey bar). Whenever we visited the store, we would get at least one try at the gum-ball machine. Somehow, I think Zeyde Jack managed to arrange it so that I won an unreasonable number of silver balls. My memory is that I ALWAYS got one -- but never more than one for any visit. Somehow I'm pretty sure that's not how it really was!

Marsha's memories

I remember the store more than Grandpop but the fact that I looked forward so much to going with my dad to pick up "the order" on Sundays,had to mean he was a kind and gentle person. I always felt like I could have anything I wanted and felt so lucky that we could get our food there. I used to get the sugar dots, some kind of ice cream or sherbet "squeegee",and even Easter candy (mmm, chocolate coconut bunnies...)
Grandpop's death was the first I'd experienced. I had never seen my mother cry before and I remember thinking that I didn't know adults cried or would still need their parents. Guess I had a lot of growing up to do....

Sylvia's memories

he was a kind and caring person and a good family man. I remember I was walking to school holding his hand,afraid I would fall, and he assured me that he wouldn't let that happen. He woke up every morning and made oatmeal and coffee before they went off to school.
He used to stay open till 11 pm, partly because of the tavern next door. He had to carry all the "goyisha" meats like (and as she lists them, you can see the "yuck" expression on her face) pimento load,veal loaf,liverwurst,etc. We didn't have a fridge in the house because we had the big walk in freezer

Eddie's memories

I remember learning the lesson of not talking out of turn, because I once angered Grandpop, who was in the midst of putting a large watermelon chunk on the scale for a customer, by just observing "Wow, that's heavy!" Jack thought my comment might make the customer think the scale was heavy or weighted against his favor, and he told me to never say anything like that again!
I also remember taking the bus to their house on Friday nights to watch the Friday night fights. Grandmom and I would play cards and smoke Pall Malls

Marc's memories

All I remember of Jack is a certain stoic and sometimes gruff exterior, but he was usually patient and slow to anger. When I worked in his store I remember being thrilled by the huge walk-in freezer--which also served as the family's refrigerator, Mom says, since there was no normal fridge--none needed--in the kitchen. I was also fascinated by the huge red Coke icebox which held delights like frigid, bottled chocolate YooHoo, and the deli counter's bounty of exotic meats like spiced beef, tongue and other goodies which I loved to put in fresh Kaiser rolls.
I also remember how the basement with its coal chute and coal piles (I think I recall them?) was a scary kind of wasteland, and scary too for a time was the very hyper, pent-up watchdog of sorts our grandparents only briefly abided in the tiny yard out back. It frightened every passer-by and deliveryman, too!

Jayne's memory

Sadly, I don't have many memories of Poppop Jack, although I do remember the day/night he died. I clearly remember being in my living room on Malvern Avenue playing, and Mom coming down the steps crying. The fact is, my best recollection is of the store itself -- I can still see the tastykake piles...although it's hard to know if my memory is really that good or if I simply "remember" because of the wonderful photo of him standing in the store in front of the counter in his apron.

I actually remember spending time more with Pop Dickler and thought he was my grandpop too...which in a way he was.

The Bio

Jacob Berman was (probably) born Yankele Belzczik in “Kricthilik,” near Rovno, Russia (now Rivne, Ukraine) in 1892. He came to the U.S. with his father Pinchas Yosef in 1905(?), with his mother and his sisters, Jenny, Bella and Sarah following in 1912, by which time his father had changed his surname to Berman His father was a butter-and-egg man in Philadelphia, and Jack helped him in his store until he married Rose Brodsky in 1915, at which point the young couple moved into the Brodsky family home.

Jack set up his first grocery store at 19^th and Dauphin. He and Rose moved above the store and Sylvia and Mort were born while they still lived there. Then they moved to an apartment above a dry-goods store on Girard Av. where Arnold was born. They stayed there until 1929, when they lost their store with the market crash.

From here they moved to a grocery store on Susquehanna Ave. which also failed in 1931. At this point they moved back in with Rose's mother and two sisters, Freda and Berthe (her father Yehiel had died in 1927), just a few doors down on Columbia St. in West Philly from the Zeitlins.

Jack opened another grocery store at 62^nd and Malvern, which Mort named "Teach Your Dollars More Cents," painting the sign himself. This sign nearly put Jack into court for copyright infringement, as, unbeknownst to Jack and Mort, this was the trademark of a Baltimore chain of stores. The sign was quickly removed and no damage was done. The family was getting ready to move above the store when it, too, closed.

In 1935 they moved to 60^th and Allman where Jack opened another grocery store. This proved to be more of a success. Rose helped out in the store, as did the boys whenever they could. Jack, however, ordered the goods, made the signs, set the prices and, in short, ran the operation. He also made his own cole slaw and potato salad, which he sold in the store.

By this time, Sylvia was married and Jack was a short, round, bald and jovial model grandfather. To his customers he was Mr. Berman, but to his family and friends, he was Jack. He almost never smoked or played cards (typical pastimes for Brodsky family get-togethers). He had a driver's license for a while, but then lost it when he lost the car and never renewed it when he got a new one. This, however, did not stop him from driving like a cowboy. Though stopped occasionally for his driving habits, he always managed to talk the police out of ticketing him before they had time to ask for his license!

On New Years Day, 1956, Jack and Rose celebrated their 40^th wedding anniversary. One year later, Jack was working in the store as usual when he felt ill. At the hospital it was discovered that he had a heart condition. He was left in the hospital for the night, though he said he felt fine and told the staff he wanted to go home. That night, he passed away.