See you at Dubrow’s!

This was written by Deborah Dash Moore, who wrote one of the articles in Nosh and Kibbutz. It’s a great history of the significance of cafeterias in NYC in general, I’ve photographed her history of Dubrow’s.  I did not know the original incorporate name was Dubrow’s Pure Food!  

I also didn’t know about the court case against the waiters union in 1932!  This reflects my cousin Joe’s oral history about union busting activity occurring in my family’s restaurant. 

Updated photos

It came to my attention a few weeks ago that the Buzznet, where I was previously storing all the Dubrow's photos, just up and disappeared from the internet. So I've now re-uploaded all the photos, and re-tagged some that I missed tagging the first time. Check them out.

Also, here's a photos of a Dubrow's matchbook from Eastern Parkway I never uploaded.   Enjoy!

New York nostalgia

Check out this great blog post about the demise of a number of familiar New York landscapes, with photos of what's there in their place.  Included is the former location of the Eastern Parkway Dubrow's, and a reprint of the Brian Merlis photo of the original Dubrow's. 

Dubrow's on StoryCorps

So, I yesterday I received a call from Michael Garofalo, who was fact-checking  a story for StoryCorps.  It's a really sweet story that involves Dubrow's Cafeteria: Apparently Van and and Shirley Harris met at the Eastern Parkway location.  Check it out!

The story mentions several colorful characters they knew at Dubrow's - anyone else heard of Herbie the Nibbler, One-Ball Barney, Mendel Berman (he had a leaky ear), or Filthy Miltie?

Eastern Parkway Dubrows, 1945

Reader Brian Merlis sent me this photo of Dubrow's on Eastern Parkway, circa about 1945. What a great find!

Dubrow's cleaning crew

Here's the picture of the 1940 cleaning crew which Henry Jablonski refers to in the interview I conducted with him. He says that he is in this picture with his father - he started his career at Dubrow's as a boy and worked as a dishwasher. His father (Henry Jablonski Sr) was a counterman.  

Mr. Jablonski is the the young-looking boy who is fourth on the right.  His father is not in this picture.  The hand-written caption on the picture also names Mike Nagreski (spelling uncertain) and Pete Kolody and "German chef."  

Dubrow's cleaning crew

Another photo from Henry Jablonski: This one is from the Eastern Parkway Dubrow's cleaning crew in 1950.  Dotty Jablonski notes that Dubrow's was closed on the day of the photo because it was a Jewish holiday.

New York Governor at Dubrow's

A little more information about Henry Jablonski.  I am going to schedule a phone call in the coming weeks, but for now here's what I know: 

Mr. Jablonski was born on October 4, 1922.   He worked at the Eastern Parkway Dubrow's from 1947 to 1973, and then at the King's Highway Dubrow's from 1973 to 1978.  

This photo was taken in the 1950's, and the caption says "Simon Stark Mrs. Dubrow Harriman."   However, with the help of Dotty Jablonski I learned that the man in the center of this photo (and in the previous photo) is none other than former New York Governor W. Averell Harriman. He served as governor from 1955-1958.  

Photo of George Dubrow

Here's another photo from Henry Jablonski's collection. The caption underneath says "Julius Steinberg George Dubrow" -- so I am not sure who the other man is or who the woman behind the counter is.  If anyone out there know, add a comment please.  I'll also be updating these posts with more information from Henry's wife as I get it.

The man in the suit is George Dubrow, and this photo was taken in 1950.  I think he looks a lot like Benjamin Dubrow.  If you click on the "family" tag beneath this post you can find an older post with a photo of the whole Dubrow family, which shows how much George and Benjamin looked alike.

End of another New York cafeteria

Continuing the theme of understanding the demise of New York City's cafeterias, I found this article about the closing of another cafeteria, Garfield's, which was located at the corner of Flatbush and Church Avenues in Brooklyn. According to the article, it officially close on July 6, 1971, "after declining business had forced its demise."

The article goes on to reference the Dubrow's on Eastern Parkway:

"Garfield's, in its heyday, was known throughout Brooklyn, mentioned in the same breath with Dubrow's on Eastern Parkway and Utica Ave and Hoffman's on Pitkin and Saratoga Avenues, which are also gone."
(New York Times, July 25, 1971)

Union Settlement Comes in War Stamps

This is the oldest article about Dubrow's I found in the New York Times database. Among other things, it adds some details to my cousin Joe's story about Dubrow's being unionized. It also says a lot about the times that the union was willing to negotiate part of their pay raise to be in war bonds.

Unions Win Pay Rise; Part In War Stamps
(New York Times, February 14, 1942)

The national defense effort received impetus from a wage settlement negotiated yesterday between Local 325 of the Cooks, Countermen, and Soda Dispensers Union, A.F. of L. and Dubrow's Cafeteria, 1110 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn. The contract stipulated that 25 cents, or about 9 percent, of a $2.75 weekly increase should be paid by the company in war savings stamps.

The 25-cent stamps in the weekly pay envelopes of the sixty employes will yield the defense effort $780 annually. The increase was granted to the employers in addition to a forty-eight hour, six-day week, a closed shop, arbitration of grievances, and vacations with pay ranging from one week for employes in service for one year, and three days for employes in service six months or less.

After the new wage agreement had been signed for the company by Louis Shapiro, counsel, and for the union by Sidney Elliot Cohn, attorney, Irving Halpern, president of Local 325 disclosed that 3,000 members of the union had invested $7,000 of their treasury's funds in defense bonds and would double the amount as soon as it was convenient for officers to make the purchase.

When Local 325 opened negotiations for a new contract it asked for a weekly increase of $3 for its sixty members employed at Dubrow's Cafeteria. The company countered with an offer of $2, and a deadlock ensued.

The war savings stamp idea was put forward as a compromise, and both sides quickly reached an agreement.

Eastern Parkway Dubrow's

I received a great link to a message board where people recalled memories of the Dubrow's on Eastern Parkway. I thought I's highlight some of the comments here, because so little has emerged about this Dubrow's - most of the stories have been about the Manhattan and King's Highway locations.

Walter starts things off by writing:
"Who remembers Dubrow's on Eastern Parkway and Utica Ave...Corned Beef, Pastrami, Chopped Liver, Chopped Herring..great bread and all the seltzer you could drink...I got heartburn just writing about this "delicious" place."

Kath replies: "Dubrow's changed the face of truth in menu laws because it's sandwich salads were not as labeled. The chicken salad had turkey scraps left over from the carving station so they had to call it poultry salad. Tuna was renamed tuna and egg salad, etc. Who cared? We loved them!"

Barbara wrote:"Kings Highway was the one I went to. Great place for people watching. Some of the strangest people I've ever observed were regulars at Dubrow's. Best bagle (sic) with lox and cream cheese for only $1.35 in the mid 70's. I remember being at a rally in front of Dubrow's for Hubert Humphrey when he was running for president in the sixties. Lot's (sic) of celebrities were there and my friend and I were almost trampled in the crowd."

Joe wrote: "how about the waffles?? best i ever had - and the coffee came with cream in little ceramic mugs - the city has lost a lot of good places to eat - the Automat was a great place - to this day i've never had macaroni and cheese or baked beans like they made them."

Another person wrote in: "And besides all the wonderful food you already mentioned they also had a rice pudding or noodle pudding with warm cherry sauce that I loved --something I can't find anymore. I used to love those cafeterias."

Finally, users named Barry and Art Weiss concluded that "The Dubrow's on Kings Highway was better."