Reading #3 Co-op History and Discussion Club August 12, 2009
Twenty Years of Community Activities by Herman Liebman
It was a toss-up in those early days: should it be a grocery first or
a library? Or, perhaps, a nursery altogether! The 303 hardy pioneering
families who barely unpacked their belongings here 20 years ago last
month, could not decide what to establish firsta commissary department to
satisfy the Marxian hunger, or a cultural center to feed the soul. For
even then there were intellectuals in our midst who would rather read than
eat (though the ratio has since been fairly equalized) and the usual
percentage of idealistic young mothers who would gladly sacrifice both for
the comfort and proper up-bringing of their little ones. These mothers,
most of them grandmothers now, naturally clamored for a nursery first of
all.
But it seems that the shopping difficulties forced the hand of all
concerned to concentrate first on a cooperative grocery, vegetable and
meat department. In those days, you will recall, there were no paved walks
through the park with benches at convenient intervals; no chain stores and
no shopping baskets on wheels to make shopping elsewhere so easyand
nowadays such a menace! So by sheer virtue of necessity it was a
commissary that came into being first. The Nursery, however, followed very
shortly and one year later, when Bldg. 6 was completed, a Community
Library too, was opened. Thus the basic first needs of our alert and
pulsating vanguard of Cooperators were happily satisfied.
Beginnings
In order to finance even the beginnings of such a Community program
and particularly the Library, the women organized themselves into the
A.C.A. (Amalg. Co-op. Aparts.) Women's Club and proceeded at once with a
grand bazaar in the as yet unfinished Auditorium which realized nearly
$3,000 or an average of $10.00 per family. It is always risky to mention
names in connection with our early activities for fear of overlooking some
devoted souls. But in this instance it is safe and proper to give credit
for the organization and success of that first bazaar to Mrs. R. Udell,
Pauline Heller, Mrs. R Lautman, as well as a number of husbands who shall
remain nameless. Mrs. Blumberg is the only one who no longer lives here
but is still very close in spirit.
The Library was furnished and equipped with the latest bookshelves,
tables and chairs. Many of these sturdy fixtures still serve faithfully in our
offices and community rooms. Our artists hung their best efforts on the
walls of this cultural center. The New York Public Library loaned hundreds
of children's books to us every three months. Many individuals and
fraternal organizations contributed dozens of Yiddish books while the bulk
of the classics and best current literature was purchased and the services
of a librarian financed from regular membership dues supplemented by
occasional affairs and special gifts. This Library of ours became the
center for lectures, group discussions and regular classes on consumers
cooperation and other subjects. With the able and devoted supervision of
our two librarians, first, the late Eva Ostrow, then Rhya Van Rosen, now a
successful dramatic coach, the Library functioned for nearly 10 years
until a regular branch of the Public Library was opened nearby.
The Nursery was a little more fortunate in that it was possible to
secure at least one free teacher from the Board of Education and later from the
New York Kindergarten Association with operating expenses being met by
nominal charges plus the affairs conducted by parents and the Women's
Club.
Almost immediately too, children's parties, trips to Museums, and outings
in the jungles of Van Cortlandt Park were conducted by volunteering
parents and older youth in the house.
Soon Forums and Lectures were organized and conducted in the only meeting
place then available in Bldg. 1. (Later converted into a Tea Room and
Club, and now used as a Nursery.) With outstanding speakers discussing the
issues of the day, that small meeting room soon proved inadequate to the
needs. Consequently when the auditorium, in Bldg. 6 was opened and
appropriately named the "Vladeck Auditorium" these Forums and Lectures
were moved to the larger quarters with concerts, socials, New Year parties
and masquerades becoming regular features of our Community life.
ORGANIZING FOR ACTION
It soon became evident, however, that volunteer help alone was inadequate
to the planning and maintenance of a continuous program of activity. So,
in spite of their financial exhaustion (after investing their life's
savings in new apartments and furnishings), the Cooperators voted to set
up a general Education Fund through regular contributions of $1 per family
per month. They then proceeded to elect an Education Committee whose
responsibility it became to engage a Director, publish a community paper
(occasional mimeographed bulletins having served as the only means of
communication during the first two years), finance and supervise all
community activities, and, together with the House Committee, to establish
policies relating to independent local groups who requested the use of
Community rooms for meetings, lectures, etc.each according to its particular
political, or religious persuasion, We will return to the story of independent
groups later.
Three different Education Directors, who did much spade work in laying the
foundation for a social and cultural program, served before January 1930,
at which time the present incumbent, an arrival with Bldg. 7, was invited
to take over.
CHILDREN FIRST...
As stated above, the welfare of our children was top priority at all
times. With hundreds of them 'on the loose' during July and August, and no
playgrounds or school yards available (P.S. 95 was not to be born until
1933), our "Founding Fathers" proceeded in two practical directions at the
same time: (A) the building and equipping of a playground of our own on a
vacant lot near Bldg. 7, where a wing of Bldg. 10 now stands; and, (B) the
organization of a summer day camp for children of school age.
Gifts of money were offered by hundreds of Cooperators to help finance the
playground. Our management found ways and means to match these gifts
dollar for dollar. Newcomers were asked to contribute $50 each for the
same purpose. For nearly 10 years we enjoyed a modern, well-equipped
playground the year round. But unable to finance a licensed playground
supervisor (the Depression was already upon us) and due to the growing
indifference on the part of parents and children alike, it ceased to be an
asset to the development and in 1941 was absorbed by the new project(Bldg.
10)with only a small sand-box enclosure remaining near Bldg. 7 for use by
children under 6.
BIRTH OF DAY CAMP .
The summer of 1929 saw the birth of our first day camp,an institution
which grew in popularity and usefulness, and is today, still one of our
most successful youth projects. As many as 150 and later, when more
buildings were added, 200 and 250 children attended our Twin Pines Camp
with swimming every morning and all indoor and outdoor camp activities
every afternoon, under trained and devoted supervision, (mostly our own
older youth), at fees ranging from $8 to $16 per season per child,
depending on the year and size of the Camp. In recent years, because of
the absence of a general education fund, and much higher costs, fees range
from $30 to $40 (last summer) per child,still a far cry from the $150.00
to $250.00 charged for exactly the same program by commercial Day Camps.
Twice the youth of the house organized themselves into "Youth
Leagues" with regular Youth Councils representing all organized clubs, a
game room and other activities; but the shortage of proper space and,
during the war years, the absence of club leaders, gradually undermined
these efforts. Today, all teen-age activity in the evenings and younger
children's program in the afternoons are conducted in the recently opened
P.S. 95 Community Center.
Also, for a number of years, until the Center was opened, many boy and
girl scout troops met in our Scout Room, Bldg. 9 under the devoted
guidance of Mr. Lottman, Mrs. Herman, Mrs. Raphael, Mrs. Anne Levine and
others.
TALENT GALORE ...
During 1928 and 1929 Jewish and English dramatic groups emerged vying with
each other for popular acclaim and in excellence of productions. In less
than a year after moving into their new homes the English group presented
in our Auditorium well known dramas by Schnitzler, Bernard Shaw and Eugene
O'Neill. Unfortunately no photographic records remain of this dynamic and
talented group, but the names of Israel and Paul Schuldenfrei, Marty
Marleib, Jean Cohen (Schuldenfrei), Louis "Whitey" Genin, Fannie Weinstein
formerly Scherl come to fading memory.
The Yiddish unit, no less ambitious, presented plays by Asch, Sholem
Aleichem, Pinsky, Raisen, and others. Vladeck Auditorium was always
crowded to the doors at all such dramatic presentations, some of them
doing two and three repeat performances. Since a photograph of the Yiddish
cast appears elsewhere in this issue we'll omit personal credits here.
A Youth String Ensemble was organized in 1929 by the writer, (who once
upon a time dabbled in music), with many regular concerts and broadcasts
to its credit.
A woodcarving class under the expert and fatherly guidance of the late
Abraham Trost, and a model airplane class conducted by Isidore Schneider
and, later, by Ben Kaufman were also organized about this time. Dance
classes under Klarna Pinska and children's dramatics conducted by Rhya Van
Rosen flourished.
Under the patient guidance of Mr. Louis Axelbank (7C) dozens of our boys
have been able to make a study of their own aptitudes and decide more
intelligently on what careers to choose in life.
In February 1930 a Community Jewish Chorus was organized under the
leadership of the late conductor Posner, which for many years appeared at
various house functions as well as giving concerts of their own. When Mr.
Posner died the Chorus ceased to exist for several seasons but was later
revived under the very able leadership of Leo Low, with appearances, until
recently, at Town Hall and Clinton High School, at the Veteran's Welcome
Home Party a year ago in March, etc., etc. It is to be hoped that this
fine organization will soon find its 'third wind' and will again resume
rehearsing and concertizing.
SOCIAL CLUB ...
At about this time, too (1930-31), the need for a club room began to be
felt, where tired pressers, tailors, operators and cutters could relax
over a game of chess or checkers and sip a cup of tea with friendly
arguments on politics and trade unionism for extra sweetening. So, in
1931, by voluntary contributions and with much help from Manager Kazan and
the House Committee the rear of our Tea Room in Bldg. 1 (now the Nursery)
was transformed into a beautifully furnished haven for repose and
relaxation.
However, after a number of years of trying to maintain a restaurant in the
front and a social club in the back the idea had to be abandoned. The
combination proved incompatible. And with the exception of a small but
well managed social club organized by a group of Cooperators in Bldg. 9
some two years ago, the Community at large will have to wait for the
completion of our additional buildings to furnish and equip a really
suitable clubroom worthy of our needs.
GROUPS ARE BORN...
True cooperation, like true love, never runs smoothly. In the happy yet
painful process of growth and groping for a pattern of community life, it
was only natural that we meet up with problems and considerable headaches
on occasion. It is important to recall some of these early tribulations
both as honest history and as a guide for the future.
Far from established meeting halls and downtown fraternal
headquarters, coop- erators began to form themselves into groups and
organizations such as a branch of the Workmen's Circle and its Yiddish
school; a branch of the Socialist Party (now the S.D.F.); a Synagogue and
its Hebrew school, an ICOR unit for Biro Bidjan in Soviet Siberia, and
later a Communist branch, too, all requesting the use of our community
rooms.
There was no opposition whatever to the establishment of a
Workmen's Circle Branch and a Yiddish semi-radical school (Shule) because
practically all of the original '303' were in sympathy with the program of
the Workmen's Circle. But when other groups demanded the same privileges,
opposition developed among the Co-operators in varying degrees and in
exact proportions to the shades of religious and political opinion held by
these newly formed groups.
And the reason for this attitude, at that time, is not hard to find. Most
of the pioneers came from the ranks of trade-union Socialists and
Anarchists, who in all sincerity clung to the traditions and dogmas of
their respective faiths. (There was not a single Communist in the entire
carload of original pioneers. They were busy with their own housing
project on Allerton Avenue.)
There developed, for example, considerable opposition to the granting of a
room for religious worship and even more so to a Hebrew School for
children. The fact that a Workmen's Circle Branch and its Yiddish school
for children had already been permitted to function and that in both cases
as in others to follow, these were not house activities but independent
groups willing to pay rent for the use of a room; the fact that, as a
cooperative enterprise, applicants of all shades of opinion were accepted;
that, consequently, no one group of cooperators should, in simple
fairness, have expected preferred treatment over others; and the further
fact that minority rights should at all times be protected in a democratic
organization, all these facts which today are accepted as 'standard' in
our com-munity required months of controversial debate and many heated
mass meetings to establish as our cooperative code of conduct.
POLICIES EMERGE
As was to be expected, even more violent opposition developed later on
when Bldgs. 7 and 9 were completed, to the granting of meeting space to
the left wing groups the ICOR and the Communist branch. But in spite of
the political fury that raged in those turbulent years from 1929 to 1933,
a policy of tolerance and equality of treatment of all local groups was
finally evolved and firmly established in our midst. It is to the credit
of the more level-headed cooperators led by Manager Kazan, and supported
by the Board of Directors as well as to the Don Quixotian efforts of the
Education Director, who stuck his neck out in print and in person, that
the Community did not take the road of other so-called cooperative
organizations, a road which inevitably led to disunity and disaster.
The three basic principles governing group activities in the house
as laid down by the Education Committee in July 1930, approved by the
Cooperators and published in the Amalgamated Cooperator August 1, 1930
were as follows:
1. The primary purpose of granting meeting space to groups in our
house is to give the Cooperators an opportunity for social and
intellectual expression (according to their own group persuasions)
provided these activities do not conflict with each other, do not
interfere with the general cultural work of the Education Department, and
above all, do not hinder the proper and successful administration of the
house.
2. When a group fails to live up to the principles agreed upon the
Education Committee has the right to revoke temporarily or permanently the
privilege of a public room in the house.
3. An appeal against a decision of the Education Committee may be
taken to the House Committee, whose verdict shall be final.
Tolerance and equality is now the rule. By mutual agreement and in the
crucible of bitter experience, all political campaigning is barred in the
Community. While the older people may join any group they choose from
right to left, no youth organization, however, with any political 'lining'
has ever been permitted in the House.
The lesson has been well learned by now. For some 18 years we've had a
Synagogue and Hebrew School until they moved only recently to the Van
Cortlandt Jewish Center across the street. The Socialist and Communist
branches meet in the same room on different nights. All House Committees
include Cooperators of various political and religious persuasion, serving
together the best interests of the Community. These policies are carefully
explained to new applicants who must subscribe to them before of all local
groups was finally evolved and firmly established in our midst. It is to
the credit of the more level-headed cooperators led by Manager Kazan, and
supported by the Board of Directors as well as to the Don Quixotian
efforts of the Education they can be accepted as members in our Community.
And, it is this cooperative, democratic way of living, no less than our
financial stability, that is praised wherever our development is
discussed, which is throughout the length and breadth of the United States
and in many lands abroad.
Let us now go back to the story of our House publicationthe "Community
News."
STORY OF HOUSE JOURNAL
On November 8, 1929, the first printed official House paper, then
called "Amalgamated Cooperator," made its-bow in the Community. Until
then, as mentioned in the beginning of the story, occasional mimeographed
bulletins were distributed from time to time. It was ably edited by the
then Education Director, David Friedman, with a regular Yiddish section
edited by Mr. M. Slavin (Y-ll) which was continued until 1934 and with
articles by Manager Kazan, Professor Leo Wolman, Dr. J. P. Warbasse,
President of the Co-op League of the U.S.A. and Joseph Schlossberg,
Sec.-Treas. of the Amalgamated Union and a staunch supporter of
cooperative housing. On January 1, 1930 the present editor took over and
continued uninterrupted publication, first bi-monthly then once a month in
larger format, until the end of 1934 when, due to personal misfortune, he
left the Community and moved out of town.
For nearly three years our little paper ceased to exist together with all
other organized activity, except for some concerts and art classes
conducted by the W.P.A. In April, 1937 Mr. Abraham Perlstein was engaged
as the next Education Director and Editor. However, because the years from
1936 to 1942 (the year in which the present Editor left the cultural
Department of the I.L.G.W.U. and resumed his old duties in the House) were
"lean years" the years of "secondary depression," unemployment and
vacancies, Mr. Perlstein was compelled for reasons of economy to revert to
mimeographing once again. In spite of this handicap, however, he managed
to make the renamed "A.H. Community News" both lively and informative. In
1942 we resumed the printed form again on a monthly basis of publication.
Its circulation today is over 1,500 copies: 715 distributed among our own
Cooperators, 700 to the applicants for new apartments and the rest to
organizations, interested individuals and former Cooperators who request
it.
Turning the pages of our "Community News" since 1929 one can read the
fever chart of our struggles and achievements registered in its columns
like on a sensitive barometer. Official reports, discussions, criticisms,
children's poems and skits; records of births, marriages and deaths,in
short, the life of a vibrant, dynamic Community is to be found inscribed
on every page. (Bound volumes containing all issues since 1929 will be
found and may be read in Mr. Liebman's office.)
During the war years some 200 copies of our C.N. (Community News) would go
forth each month in search of our fighting boys and girls to bring a
little bit of home to their lonely lives. Dozens of letters of
appreciation from these boys and girls filled its columns, and at the
suggestion of someone stationed in Italy (the name escapes us) 200 sets of
all the soldiers' addresses were mimeographed and mailed to each one of
them in a special supplement so they could keep in touch with each other.
A weakness in our Community organ is the absence of sufficient 'audience
participation' in the form of more frequent contributions by the residents
themselves. There are literally dozens and dozens of talented people in
the Community, as witness from this festival issue, able to express
themselves and contribute to the usefulness of such publication. It is to
be hoped that the newcomers in our midst, as well as the old timers, will
make more use of its columns in any manner that will contribute to the
welfare of our own development and to a wider understanding of the
cooperative movement generally.
It is impossible to enumerate in detail all phases of our Community life
during these twenty long years. Many great names come to mind as
participants in our Forums and Lectures John Dewey, Morris Hilquit,
Norman Thomas, Scott Nearing, B. C. Vladeck, Heywood Broun, and more
recently, Louis Waldman, Raymond Walsh and others. Among outstanding
musicians who performed in our Auditorium were Toscha Seidel and Louis
Persinger, violinists, and the late sweet-voiced cantor, Yosele
Rosenblatt.
Many were the devoted and tireless volunteer workers from our own ranks,
men, women and a number of young people, too, whose services on succeeding
Education Committees and as members and officers of many cultural groups
helped mold the character of our Community. The late George Gooze and
Morris Bein; the still young and charming Grace De Fries, dynamic Lena
Hillman, David Sparaga, Bessie Blumberg and many more gave endless time
and energy and real devotion to developing program and policy into a
cooperative 'design for living'. To these old-timers and to the more
recent 'activists', whether their names or photographs appear in this
issue or not, we owe a great debt of gratitude for unselfish services
rendered.
IN TOUCH WITH MOVEMENT
Nor were we isolated from the rest of the cooperative movement all these
years. Members of the Cooperative League and Wholesale since 1927, we, as
an organization, contributed to the development of the movement in every
way. Manager Kazan served as President and Board member of the Cooperative
Wholesale for many years. Ass't Manager Shallin and the writer
participated in numerous conferences and institutes since the days of
Brookwood College to the organization of the Metropolitan Cooperative
Federation two years ago. Members of our Committees always attend the
annual Cooperative Congresses as delegates, two of which were held in our
own Auditorium, one in 1930, the other in 1938. Every family in our
development receives, twice a month, the official publication of the
Eastern Cooperatives, Inc., "THE COOPER ATOR". Our own "Community News"
devotes much space to cooperative news everywhere.
RECENT ACTIVITIES
Among more recent activities victory gardening and canning which began on
our spacious lawns and in the Auditorium kitchen four years ago as a War
Emergency continue to interest dozens of our 'farmers' as a productive
hobby. Thousands of jars have been canned and tons of produce raised.
Our community Nursery, partly subsidized by the Workmen's Circle, caters
to 40 pre-school age children under supervision of an excellent staff of
trained teachers headed by our own Nora Linn. Credit for this fine
cooperative institution in recent years must go to the parents of these
children and their Executive Board headed, successively, by Chairladies
Sima Kitzes-, Rose Urkowitz and now Celia Wasserman.
Two well equipped workshops and an excellent Dark Room serve the needs of
amateur cabinet makers and camera fans. A Veteran's Social Club is the
rendezvous of the older boys and girls in the Community.
The Co-op Book Exchange was organized three years ago and some 35 book
lovers contribute $2.00 a year for the privilege of exchanging the latest
and best books plus monthly book reviews as well. Credit for this latest
co-op activity must go to Sonia Halpern, Louise Mattis, Gertrude Fields,
Jack Kant, Minnie Miller and several others.
However, a serious weakness in our Community program has always been the
shortage of satisfactory space especially for the youth. Every square yard
of good, available space was converted into much needed apartments or
essential stores and services. It is this 'housing shortage' that prompted
many of us to press for a Community Center in P.S. 95, at least until we
build our own Center some day. The School Center is open four evening
sessions a week, and three afternoons as well. Most active in this
connection have been Sidney Wyorst, Samuel B. Wasserman, Rose Kaplan,
Esther Smoke, Beatrice Simpson, Miriam Greenbaum, Ida Vozick, and others.
It is in recognition of the services rendered by the Center to our young
and old that a substantial contribution has been made to its budget by our
A. H. Consumers Society Board
CHARITIES AND CAUSES ...
The story of our 'family life' for the past 20 years would be incomplete
without telling something of the charities and numberless causes that
benefited from the generosity of our 700 families.
In the 'bad old days' of the early 1930's we organized a relief loan fund
to help our own unemployed cooperators. Many residents are here today
thanks to that emergency loan fund.
The Women's -Club at first raised funds only for various Community
needs,Nursery, Camp, Library, individual scholarships, and through its
Sunshine Committee helped local families in distress. But as the Community
program got fairly well established and the need for helping others
increased, these good ladies have been devoting all their energies in
recent years to the aid of Hitlerism's worst victimsespecially the
childrenand to all other causes from the Red Cross to Russian War Relief.
From the day this Community came into existence it participated in clothes
and food drives: for striking miners in 1928, locked-out textile workers
in 1929, the unemployed throughout the depression; aid to the Spanish
Republicans, and to the victims of Nazism; active participation in all war
work from buying hundreds of thousands of dollars in War Bonds to donating
blood by the gallon. Every summer, our Camp children gather hundreds of
cans of food for the displaced persons overseas. 1,100 cans were thus
collected this past summer.
A thousand dollars was raised through voluntary contributions three
years ago for "Freedom Fund"a special relief fund devoted to the aid of
European cooperatives. The Jewish Labor Committee collects thousands of
dollars annually.
In recent years, our greatest single relief cause has been the United
Jewish Appeal. The entire community organizes itself once a year for this
supreme effort on behalf of the remaining European Jews and their
numberless needs. Last winter we raised over $17,000.00. The year before
$11,000.00, etc.
The total donations by our residents for the past 20 years as
calculated by S. Lipshitz, Sec.-Treas. of the W.C. Branch and Agnes
Scholnick, the tireless treasurer of the Women's Club, runs into nearly
$75,000 -- and covers more than 20 different charities!
WAR EFFORT
As the war broke out we created, again through voluntary contributions, a
Servicemen's Fund to pay half the rent of drafted fathers. This fund was
over-subscribed and small refunds were even made to all donors after
aiding some families for nearly two years. Morris Mandel was the most
active in this patriotic task.
Who can measure the worry and anguish experienced by the whole Community
during the war years while some 200 of our sons were scattered on all the
battlefields of the world? The silent look of daily, hourly, apprehension
for their safety was written large on every face. When five of our lads
gave their lives in rapid succession Seymour Kahn, Morris Schectman,
Seymour Schinasi, Irving Wilson (Mr. Fuchsman's son-in-law) and, on the
very eve of victory, Murray Kushner, everyone of the 700 families mourned
as if each of them had lost a son of their own. And when the boys began
returning home they were greeted by neighbors no less ardently than by
their own families. The Women's Club was busy sending packages to all of
them while away and presented each with a bottle of wine upon their safe
and victorious return. The Community staged a grand Welcome Home Party and
Dance at P.S. 95 on March 9, 1946 attended by over six hundred neighbors.
SUMMING UP
Some of the most gratifying aspects of our development have been first,
the blasting of a widely held theory that New Yorkers, and particularly
Jews, can't sit still and must move from apartment to apartment every two
or three years. 70% of the original '303' are still with us! Second, we
rejoice over the number of marriages literally dozens of themthat
constantly take place among our young people who grew up in this
Communitywith many of them settling in our midst and now raising a
beautiful crop of third generation cooperators. And, finally, we have
quite a number of non-Jewish families living in our midst in perfect
social adjustment, some of them having come into the development with the
original group of 'pioneers'.
These facts often speak louder than rebates for the cooperative way of
life and we want the whole world to know them.
Such, then, is the spirit of our Community: a desire for better homes and
a willingness to assume the financial responsibilities in the cooperative
effort of building and maintaining such homes; the urge to create an
environment where children and parents may enjoy social and cultural
advantages unattainable in ordinary apartment houses; a generous, humane
response to the tragic needs of those in distress; and, finally, a
willingness to extend our project and offer hospitality to others
desperately in need of homesespecially young veteran families.
Does all this sound like boasting? Yes, it does. But this is our Twentieth
Anni-versary and we may be pardoned if we do boasta little.
Has it been easy to attain this standard of Community life? Heavens, No!
It took years of living and striving together; much heartache and
aggravation went into this cooperative formula; tons of words and a
million lines of print had to be expended,and some of us have not yet
learned the lesson to this day.
But we are learning faster now. All of usleaders as well as membershave
much to learn yet before attaining our goal of the 'perfect Cooperative
Community.' Given a little more time, however, good will and mutual
effort, our Cooperative way of life will yet prove itself to the world
about us, and to some skeptics among us.
The first twenty years were certainly the hardest, but also the most
creative and exciting.
THE STORY OF OUR COOPERATIVE SERVICES
By MICHAEL SHALLIN, Assistant Manager (1947)
While the house itself continues to be our primary concern, and rightly
so, the various cooperative services developed since 1927 have played an
important part in the life of our community and helped to round out the
project as a whole.
True, this phase of our development is neither as important or exciting as
the planning and financing of the buildings so ably told by Manager Kazan
in the opening chapter of our Journal; nor as romantic as the story of our
social and cultural activities recorded by our Mr. Liebman in the chapter
that follows. But in its own bread-and-butter way, the development of our
various services from the grocery to the generating plant can be quite a
story with many an important lesson for future guidance, if it were told
by someone more talented than myself.
However, since in one way or another it was my lot to care for that phase
of our development, and since I have been 'assigned' the task of reporting
on it by our irrepressible Editor, I shall do my best and hope to be
forgiven if I fail to do full justice to history or to my readers.
The establishment of cooperative services was due to two factors:
First, the distance to the shopping center on Jerome Avenue; second, and
more important; our determination to do things in accordance with
cooperative plans and principles. The successful completion of our first
group of buildings was proof that the same principles could be applied as
effectively in rendering our other services. There seemed to be no reason
why we could not pool our resources and put up our own stores and serve
our members with as many necessities of life as possible.
FIRST STEPS
When our first members moved in they were supplied, after a few dark
nights, with electricity, that was purchased wholesale from the Edison
Company, and resold to our cooperators at the prevailing rates. At the
same time such miscellaneous items as electricbulbs, curtain rods, vacuum
cleaners and window screens were also sold at a savings to our members.
The sale of milk, ice and laundry service was successful from the very
beginning (that was our 'ice-age,' remember:).
The response and enthusiasm for this cooperative buying was very
encouraging and out of it was born the A.C.W. Services.
A fruit, vegetable and grocery department soon followed. Also a tearoom
where our members could gather, sip a cup of tea and pass part of the
evening chatting with friends.
Not being rich we had to be content with simple fixtures and equipment.
In our grocery department we had the old oaken dairy box that was cooled
by cakes of ice. Dry cereals of all kinds could be had from sacks which
were lined up around the store. The late Mr. Beck was its first manager
with his ever faithful wife acting as his private sergeant-at-arms. Milk
could be had loose at 8 a quart and sour cream at 11 a measure doled out
into your container with the old-fashioned dipper. Sweet cream was poured
from the quart bottle at 10 the half pint. Business in all departments was
going ahead at a fairly rapid pace and a meeting of cooperators was held
in the old tearoom. A commissary committee was elected and a little over
$2,000 in shares was bought by our members.
Store hours were from 6:30 to 7 P.M., Saturday until 11 P.M. Our grocery,
by demand, was open Sundays for a few hours so that people could get their
fresh rolls and bagels and sneak in a few other purchases. After a few
years of this 'Sunday nuisance' it was discontinued by mutual agreement.
As far as is known, ours, aside from the chain store, was the only one
within a wide radius that remained closed on Sunday. In contrast, closing
hours of the average competitor on the Avenue would mean any time between
11 and 12 P.M. or after the last movie goer left the theater. Our stores
have always been operated under union conditions. In fact, we were among
the very few that did and our wage scale was admittedly the highest in the
city.
At about this time, and by popular demand, we opened a kosher meat and
poultry market which was fitted out with the latest type fixtures that
could be purchased. This venture started in the depression and showed a
loss of over $2,000 in two year's operation, so we gave that up.
OUR 'BUS PERIOD
In addition to the aforementioned activities we operated a school bus
which proved to be a financial drain. For example, after the first 11
months of general service operations we did a gross business of $141,439.
Losses in three departments amounted to $3,500 of which $2,150 was
sustained by the operation of the bus. The net profit shown was $271.53
which was due primarily to the substantial margin on electric current and
milk distribution. In spite of the small net gain, we considered our first
year as successful.
By the end of the second year Bldg. No. 7 was completed and not long
thereafter Bldg. No. 9 was started. At about that time a few cooperators
headed by Manager Kazan, were hellbent on a new cooperative venture. Many
thousands of dollars were invested by a few of us in purchasing a three
hundred acre farm situated about 70 miles from New York City. The idea
behind this venture was to eliminate the middle man and to bring the
producer and consumer closer together. Part of the general plan centered
about the production of eggs, the raising of poultry and the growing of
vegetables, which could be brought fresh to our stores several times a
week. Many women will remember the time they placed their orders for
broilers and called for them at our store on Thursday mornings. For over
10 years this experiment continued until the pre-war depression years and
the war problems combined to make the farm no longer practical and it was
finally sold.
P.S. 95, which was opened in 1933, obviated the further need for the
school bus, which after four years of operation had shown a loss of
$8,500. Those of us who sent our children to school by bus had profited
from this operation, which did not seem fair to many of our cooperators
who felt that they were subsidizing a service for a group of children some
of whose parents didn't even patronize our other services. Several years
later, or to be exact, in 1935, we again resumed bus operations but this
time to take workers to and from the subway. After seven year's operation
we lost almost $13,000 and in 1942, when the war broke out and we were
unable to obtain gas, tires and replacement parts, we discontinued
services 'for good' and sold the bus.
In 1930 we succeeded in paying our first patronage rebate in the sum of
several thousand dollars which equalled 4% of purchases. In 1932 a stock
rebate amounting to about $4,000 was paid to purchasers on a pro-rata
basis. This rebate increased our share capital to about $7,000. While this
amount was not enough to carry on an annual business of over $200,000 it
was a great help, nevertheless in carrying the heavy burden of credit that
was thrust upon us by the unemployment problem.
DEPRESSION YEARS
A good number of families were compelled to seek credit from us for the
purchase of milk, vegetables, groceries, meat, ice, electricity and
laundry service. Our accounts receivable during most of the depression
years amounted to more than $15,000. Our largest creditor as a rule was
our Cooperative Wholesale from whom we purchased all of our milk and most
of our groceries, and who could not extend to us an unlimited credit
because it was not financially strong itself. On several occasions the
management had to obtain personal loans from outside sources in order to
help pay the bills.
During 1934, when the 'house completed the installation of electric
refrigerators, the ice business was automatically dropped. Needless to
add, the housewife was made very happy! For there was no longer any
necessity for her to keep cleaning the old fashioned ice box nor to watch
for the iceman or to pull the heavy chunks of ice from the dumbwaiter. All
she had to do was to set the dial and prestothere was the desired
temperature at any time she wished.
MILK SUCCESS STORY
The distribution of milk, purchased from the wholesale, had, since 1927,
been a major activity in our program of cooperative services. Over 95% of
our people receive our cooperative milk, amounting to over 250,000 quarts
a year at a net saving of $4,000 a year. As to the quality of the milk one
need only look at two generations of cooperators brought up on it.
As time went on we found that what was modern yesterday is old fashioned
today. Tomorrow none of us may be content unless we have the benefits of a
deep freezer. With that in mind, a study will soon be made as to the
possibilities of furnishing such deep freezers for our community.
The purchase and resale of electricity has been very profitable to us. In
fact, it was our chief business mainstay. Were it not for the profit from
this department, our business operations would have been less successful.
HOME-MADE ELECTRICITY
In 1936 the public utility had petitioned the Public Service Commission to
permit it to discontinue the sale of electricity to customers under
conjunctional billing. The granting of such a petition would practically
have eliminated our profit from this source. A study of different electric
generating plants was made, and it was found practical and profitable to
install a Diesel Electric Generating Plant. Our members approved the
recommendation of the Board of Directors of our project and on the last
day of 1936 the plant was in operation. A fitting slogan was inscribed on
its wall and is still there: "COOPERATION GENERATES POWER." The utility
company eventually withdrew its petition, due evidently to the threat of
many other wholesale consumers following our example. Our generating plant
kept humming along until the end of November 1943 when the government
insisted that we obtain our current from the public utility in order to
conserve Diesel Oil as well as manpower which were very essential to our
war effort. As good citizens we were glad to comply with this request even
though it cut our savings considerably. At present we are again under
contract with the Consolidated Edison Company.
However, this company has before the Public Service Commission a request
to change our form of contract. They wish to give us an alternate contract
which would restrict us from the resale of current through our meters, but
which would permit us to include the charge in the rent. This we refuse to
do because upon investigation made by us, it was proven that where a
tenant can use an unlimited amount of electricity there has been a 50%
wastage. Under the circumstances a new study is being made to determine
the possibility and advisability of reverting to the use of our own plant
again in addition to the electric energy which we will obtain from our new
central heating plant.
WE CHANGE NAMES
Until 1937 we had been operating all our services under the original
corporate name of A.C.W. Services, Inc. Later, we realized that the name
A.C.W. Services was ambiguous and misleading to people who did not know
us. Since this name did not indicate sufficiently the cooperative nature
of our organization, we reorganized under our present corporate name, A.
H. Consumers Society, Inc. Every cooperator regardless of the amount of
his purchases was given one share of Class 'A' Common Stock out of the
1935-36 profits, the par value of which is $10.00thus making him a member
of the society. Each member can own no more than one share, thus limiting
him to one vote, and assuring democratic control of the organization.
Our society took over the functions of the Housing Fund which was
established by our cooperators, with contributions made from their rent
and other rebates. This income which is reflected in our financial
statement as donated surplus together with our earned surplus at this time
amounts to about a quarter of a million dollars. From the very beginning
this fund has been used to repurchase housing stock from cooperators who
had moved from our community. This stock was repurchased at par value.
In addition, a large sum of money has been used to purchase land upon
which future cooperative houses will be built for the Amalgamated. Some of
the money was used to help the temporary financing in the construction of
buildings No. 10 and 11.
PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE
More recently with the realization that shopping facilities would have to
be increased to accommodate our growing membership, we purchased the
familiar corner on Sedgwick Avenue consisting of 21 stores. These stores
will be completely remodeled and at least half of the space will be
occupied by our own supermarket. To plan and manage this phase of our
program we have engaged Mr. Waldemar Niemela, who has had many years of
cooperative store and wholesaling experience and who is at present working
on the details. In addition to our own supermarket there will be several
private stores rendering services considered most essential for the
neighborhood.
A part of our community activities program, including the house
publication as well as a major portion of the Director's salary, are
financed by the A. H. Consumers Society whose Board of Directors supervise
that program.
The past history of our successful undertakings has proven that what we
have done could not be accomplished without the loyalty on the part of our
membership and the devoted services of our Consumers Board and staff. And
where such understanding and loyalty was absent the services suffered to
that extent. The success of our future achievements will depend primarily
on the whole-hearted support of the entire membership. The benefits of the
past, substantial as they were on many fronts, as enumerated above, point
the way to even greater possibilities and services in the future.
There is no doubt that the depression years back and the war period
more recently have retarded our growth and that the first twenty years
were certainly the hardest. Now, with a good deal of experience to guide
us and a 100% increase in our population on the waythe green light is on
and we can jointly plan to go full speed ahead.