Broida Family (Click for Family Tree)

For millennia, fire has been a terrifying prospect for those living or working in wooden buildings. Even stone or brick buildings are not exempt, since the interior utilizes wood in walls, floors, furniture. Add in the other contents of the building being highly combustible, and there is potential for big losses of property and even life.

A cigar factory definitely fits the category as high risk for fire. Full of tobacco and in the case of the Broida Bros. Cigar factory of Oil City, Pennsylvania, cases of matches too, and the smallest spark can set off a conflagration.

In 1914, a fire in the factory caused an estimated $100 worth of damage, which is equivalent to about $2,500 today. This number probably only includes the physical losses- one needs to add in the cost of lost work time while waiting for repairs to be completed, stock to be replenished, etc. It definitely would have had an impact on the Broida families that owned the factory, and their workers, many probably related.

Another fire in 1931 caused significantly more damage. A fire started in cartons of matches, but the cause was unknown at the time this was published. The article goes on to say that the fire quickly spread to merchandise on shelves nearby. If the firefighters had not responded so quickly, the losses would have been even greater. When they arrived, the whole second floor of the building was in flames, and the smoke was so dense that it was challenging for them to get the blaze under control. Two hose companies and a hook and ladder truck had responded, and finally were able to get one hose spraying down the second story, putting out the fire.

Sadly, the large amount of water required to put out the fire seeped through the floorboards and walls down to the first floor, where much merchandise was ruined. Watery cigars in soggy wooden or cardboard cigar boxes (cigars and cigar boxes were not sealed in plastic back in the day) would not be easy to sell, especially once they got moldy, and candy that was a bit smoky would not have been popular back then. (Today, smoked chocolate etc. would command twice the price for sweet-toothed foodies!) So the smoke and then water damage caused by putting out the fire was the reason for their greatest loss in this fire.  Since it occurred in January in Pennsylvania, work probably stopped, as the building would need to be aired out and cleaned- not easy to leave the windows open in northern winter weather! As in 1914, employees may have been out of work, new stock would need to be acquired from vendors, etc., so the Broida Bros. would also have had a loss of profit while recovering from the fire. Hopefully they had insurance, which was not the huge industry back then like it is today, but it was available.

Thankfully, no one was hurt in the fire.

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. United States Tobacco Journal, Vol. 81– https://books.google.com/books?id=G5JBAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA8-PA29&lpg=RA8-PA29&dq=broida+brothers+cigar+factory&source=bl&ots=-Q8Vg07Dw7&sig=p-UG9ybtsc62-9RM0hMrIglcsjI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjQjcuxxrzYAhVE7yYKHZOuDAoQ6AEIQjAE#v=onepage&q&f=false
2. Inflation calculator– https://www.dollartimes.com/inflation/inflation.php?amount=100&year=1914
3. “Fire at Oil City Cigar & Candy Co.,” Jan 29, 1931, via News-Herald (Franklin PA), page 15.

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Original content copyright 2013-2017 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

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Broida Family (Click for Family Tree)

It’s actually a mystery each time one puts a search term into Google or other search engine- you never know what you will find! The latest Broida surprise was a search hit from “The American Contractor” magazine. I did not know of any Broidas in the construction industry, except those who were architects, so thought it might be a mistake. But I clicked the link, and there were 4 hits within the magazine that were listed as “Stein Broida Co.” Another mystery- I had not seen that partnership before.

Apparently “The American Contractor” lists bids for construction jobs to be done throughout a region. The above notice was listed under “Burgettstown” as well in that same issue. This search led to another, as many Broidas were in Pittsburgh, but I had not heard of them in Burgettstown. A map search showed that Burgettstown is a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania suburb. So one mystery solved.

The notices in this magazine tell us a bit about the construction project planned. It is a two-story building with basement, and a footprint of 50×92 feet. The face of the building was to be brick, with stone trim. It even tells us the name of the architect.

Contractors had already bid on the project when this notice was published, and the decision as to which contractor was best for the project was to be made soon.

Just over a month later, a similar notice was published in “The Contractor,” but it noted the project was “in abeyance,” or on temporary hold. There is no indication of why the work was suspended, so that is another mystery for us to solve.

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. “The Contractor” citations are included in the above captions.

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Broida Family, Green Family (Click for Family Tree)

Bess (Green) Broida (1891-1978) was the daughter of Abraham M. Green and Rose (Brave) Green. She was a good cook and a number of her recipes are still enjoyed regularly by her descendants.

Bess Dorothy (Green) Broida in Westinghouse Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 18 March 1923. Family photo.

The above recipe was published during the summer of 1990 in the first edition of the Broida Family News (BFN). This newsletter was edited by myself, so we will be bringing back some of the BFN articles for our younger generation to enjoy.

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. Broida Family News, Volume 1, Number 1, Page 2, Summer 1990, self-published.
2. Photo from family treasure chest.

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Broida Family (Click for Family Tree)

It was exciting to find this picture of Leonard L. Broida with Golda Meir in my inbox!

Golda Meir (1898-1978) was the fourth Prime Minister of Israel, and had been an active Zionist, moving to Palestine in 1921. She also served as a Foreign Minister and Minister of Labor.

The Leonard L. Broida descendant who shared this image said it was thought to be one of Mrs. Meir’s trips to the US for fundraising, and the gentlemen may have been one of the boards/committees at Suburban Temple, in Beachwood outside of Cleveland, Ohio.

It was somewhat challenging initially to find dated images of Golda Meir for comparison, to determine the approximate year this was taken. The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, however, has an extensive collection of images online, as Golda attended that University to be trained as a teacher.

Since we do not have a date for this image, how can we come up with an estimated year it was taken? The photo gives us some clues.

Leonard L. Broida was born 26 February 1901, making him not quite three years younger than Golda Meir, who was born 3 May 1898. Leonard died on 9 October 1977, Golda on 8 December 1978. Using those dates alone and adding 30 years to the earliest, since they at least appear to be in their 30s, we can narrow the time range to probably be between 1931-1977.

Looking at photos on the U. of Wisconsin website, it appears that Mrs. Meir’s hair began to go gray by 1955, but it had very little gray in 1950. So we can narrow the timeline of the photo a bit more, to about 1931- 1955.

In a 1930 picture, Golda Meir met with the British Labour Party and H. N. Brailsford. She looks younger in those newspaper stories than in the above picture. She spent two years in the United States (1932-1934) as an emissary from the Israeli Working Women’s Council- could the photo have been taken then? In 1932 she would have been 34, Leonard 31. Wide lapels like those in the picture above were in fashion, so this could have been the time period in which the photo was taken.

Eighteen years later, in 1948, Life Magazine  published a picture of Golda on a kibbutz, and she looks very similar to the above photo.

While in Jerusalem in 1956, Golda was photographed at a United Nations Event; she does look similar to the above photo. She would have been 58 years old, Leonard 55, that year.

Trying to find newspaper accounts of Mrs. Meir’s travels to the Cleveland area was challenging, but more research might turn up a good lead. A reverse-image Google search did not produce another copy of this photo. A query to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee archivist or the historian at Suburban Temple may also provide answers. The best news would be that someone out there has the same image, but with names on it! (Lightly written in pencil, of course, and on the back.)

So what do you think (or know)? Was this picture taken during the 1930s, 40s, or 50s?

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. Golda Meir biography: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/golda-meir
2. This article includes a number of images of Mrs. Meir–https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golda_Meir
3. “Picturing Golda Meir”– http://collections.lib.uwm.edu/cdm/search/collection/pgm/searchterm/Meir,%20Golda,%201898-1978/mode/exact/page/1
4. 1930 image of Golda Meir– http://collections.lib.uwm.edu/cdm/ref/collection/pgm/id/86
5. 1949– http://collections.lib.uwm.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/pgm/id/35/rec/17
6. 1956- Golda Meir in Jerusalem-https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/03/02/photographer-david-rubinger-visual-record-keeper-of-israeli-history-dies
7. Here is a Pinterest board with many pictures of Golda Meir: https://www.pinterest.com/rosadeviterbo/people-golda-meir/

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Original content copyright 2013-2017 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Broida Family (Click for Family Tree)

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. Posted with kind permission of current owner.

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Original content copyright 2013-2017 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.