Vol. 4

No. 4

Restaurants:

Caplan's Restaurant

The Friendship Club

The Kleban-Caplan Cousins Club

Calendar:

JGS-Pittsburgh Presents:

Judy Russell on the ethics of privacy, Carol Hoffman on Litvak SIG

Research Tools

Restaurants:

Caplan's Restaurant

1200 block Fifth Avenue, showing businesses including Oscar Gold Furrier, Hoffman Drugs, Caplan's Restaurant, Freedman Hats, and Schiff Bros. Music Shop, July 28, 1930.

—from Pittsburgh City Photographer Collection, University of Pittsburgh Archives & Special Collections [715.3012095.CP] (online—Historic Pittsburgh)

We looked last week at Canter’s Restaurant. Before moving to its better-known location on Atwood Street in Oakland, Canter’s spent a decade at 1229 Fifth Avenue in Uptown. The restaurateur most closely associated with that address is Louis Caplan. He ran a series of restaurants at 1229 Fifth Avenue from 1921 through 1954. After some early partnerships (first with Isadore Lampel, and then with Alex Brody), Caplan went independent. He eventually sold the restaurant business in 1946 to Sidney Feldman, Louis R. Fehervary and Frank W. Miskowicz, while retaining ownership of the building.

Caplan’s Restaurant closed in 1954. Sammy’s Steak House (formerly of Center Avenue in the Hill District) relocated to 1229 Fifth for at least one year in 1955, and then the partnership of Samuel Fibus, Charles Fenstersheib, and Irvin Linver ran the Downbeat Lounge at the location in 1958 and 1959. From 1960 through 1962, Congregation Beth Hamedrash Hagodol used the storefront while construction was underway on its Colwell Street synagogue. 

Photograph showing facade of 1229 Fifth Avenue, c1960. Sign in window reads advertises daily services of Congregation Beth Hamedrash Hagodol.

—Beth Hamedrash Hagodol-Beth Jacob Congregation Records [MSS 438]

All that information comes from the usual sources, mostly city directories and newspaper advertisements. So far we have found no menus or detailed restaurant reviews that provide a more detailed descriptions of its offerings. 

In its heyday, Caplan’s Restaurant billed itself as “the finest Kosher Style Restaurant in Pittsburgh” and regularly promoted a Passover menu each year.

Around the time Louis Caplan sold his Fifth Avenue restaurant in the mid-1940s, he and his son Jerry started Cappy’s Restaurant in the 1700 block of Murray Avenue in Squirrel Hill. Cappy’s was a different restaurant concept than Caplan’s. It served American fare, with a menu based around steaks, chops, and seafood. It was popular with local Jewish groups, which regularly gathered in its dining room for meetings. Cappy’s closed in 1962, and became one of the first kosher restaurants in the region, as we’ll see in a few weeks.

Advertisement for Caplan's Restaurant, promoting Passover menu.

—American Jewish Outlook, March 27, 1953 [Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project]

Do you remember Caplan's in Uptown or Cappy's in Squirrel Hill? Let us know.

Next week: Sammy's and the mystique of Roumanian steak

Memories: Fred O. writes: "Even though we lived closer to Hebrew National/Polonskys and Weinstein’s, Canter’s was where we went for Kosher Style in the ‘50s and ‘60s. If we attended a weekend day game at Forbes Field, it was a mandatory stop pre- or post-game. If you were lucky, you might see a Pirates player and ask for an autograph between his dinner courses…

"I’m sure I had many menu items there, but I can only recall huge corned beef sandwiches on an end heel of a rye bread, with Heinz dark brown mustard, lettuce, and tomato. I must have eaten some full course dinners there, because I always thought they had the best Russian/Thousand Island dressing in the world, although Mr. Canter always said it was Kraft bottled dressing. I asked my Mom to buy Kraft, but it was never as good as Canter’s."

All year, the Rauh Jewish Archives is highlighting Jewish restaurants in Western Pennsylvania. If you would like to donate a material from a Jewish restaurant, or just reminisce, contact the archive or call 412-454-6406.

Jewish Encyclopedia of Western Pennsylvania:

The Friendship Club

Members of the Friendship Club gathering for a Passover seder, 1952

—Ernest Nachman Papers [MSS 587]

The Friendship Club was a social organization started by Jewish refugees from Central Europe who settled in the Pittsburgh area in late 1930s and 1940s, after fleeing Nazi persecution. The club arranged social events, cultural and educational opportunities, and religious services. It began meeting in late 1935 and continued holding meetings and formally dissolved in 1979.

The Friendship Club initially met at the Y.M.&W.H.A. building on Bellefield Avenue in Oakland, as well as the private homes of members. Throughout the years, it used various spaces throughout Squirrel Hill, including the Council Lounge for Older People at 5824 Forbes Ave., the New Light Congregation synagogue at 1700 Beechwood Blvd., and a rented hall at 5857 Forbes Ave. The club was financially self sufficient and contributed to larger communal causes, especially through its Erwin Pollitzer Memorial Fund (1955).

Family Clubs

The Kleban-Caplan Cousins Club

Notice for first anniversary dinner dance of the Kleban-Caplan Cousins Club.

—Jewish Criterion, Oct. 10, 1952 [Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project]

Morris Caplan and Sarah (Kleban) Caplan lived in the East End of Pittsburgh in the early 20th century.

They had eight children, sons Aaron, Sam, Louis, and William Caplan, and daughters Bertha Silverman, Rose Gerber, H. B. Zeidenstein, and Ethel Kottler. (This Louis Caplan appears to be different than the restauranteur mentioned above.) Sarah (Kleban) Caplan had five siblings, including several who remained in this area.

Morris Caplan died in 1939. Sarah Caplan spent the next few years living with one of her children in Squirrel Hill and died in 1943.

Sometime in late 1951, the second and third generations of the Morris and Sarah Caplan family formed the Kleban-Caplan Cousins Club.

According to newspaper notices, the Kleban-Caplan Cousins Club met regularly from November 1951 through November 1955. In these early years, the club met at the Torath Chaim social hall, the Adath Jeshurun social hall, the B'nai Israel social hall, the Hotel Penn Shady, Rainbow Gardens, Delma's Restaurant, Harold's Restaurant, 1930 Wightman St. (Joe Gerber residence), and 5711 Bartlett St. (Ben Kottler residence). The club may have continued meeting through the subsequent decades. It reunited in the early 1990s for at least two annual picnics at the Henry Kaufmann Family Recreational Park.

Surnames associated with the Kleban-Caplan Cousins Club include Caplan, Cleban, Cohen, Engel, Fellman, Foreman, Gerber, Greenberg, Goldstein, Kleban, Klein, Kottler, Levy, Lipsman, Schwartz, and Zeidenstein.

If you were a member of the Kleban-Caplan Cousins Club, of if you have any information about its history and activties, please let us know.

January 29:

JGS-Pittsburgh Presents: Judy G. Russell

Genealogy by its very nature is collaborative. We need to work together and share information with others, both relatives and non-relatives if we’re to succeed in filling out our family trees. But doing family research doesn’t mean giving up all semblances of personal privacy, nor is it a license to invade the privacy of others-family or not. All researchers need to follow the rules, both legal and ethical, when we share genealogical information. In her talk, "Share and Share Alike: The Rules of Genealogical Privacy," Judy G. Russell will provide legal and ethical guidelines for seeking genealogical information.

The program is Sunday, Jan. 29 from 1-2:30 p.m. ET It's free for JGS-Pittsburgh members and $5 for the general public. Please register online. 

All attendees are encouraged to log on 30 minutes early for a virtual open house. It’s an opportunity to share genealogy stories and make new friends.

This is a virtual program. It will be recorded, and the recording will be made available for JGS-Pittsburgh members who are current on their dues.

This program is possible through the support of the William M. Lowenstein Genealogical Research Endowment Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation.

Judy G. Russell, The Legal Genealogist®, is a genealogist with a law degree who provides expert guidance through the murky territory where law and family history intersect. An internationally known lecturer and award-winning writer, she holds credentials as a Certified Genealogist® and Certified Genealogical Lecturer℠ from the Board for Certification of Genealogists®.

Her blog is at www.legalgenealogist.com.

February 12:

JGS-Pittsburgh Presents: Carol Hoffman

With almost 2.5 million Lithuanian Jewish record translations — mainly censuses and vital records — LitvakSIG’s publicly searchable “All Lithuania Database” provides the primary foundation for Litvak genealogical research. There are also additional sources online for researching your Litvak roots.

In her talk “Researching Your Roots with LitvakSIG,” Carol Hoffman will offer a comprehensive overview of the LitvakSIG (Special Interest Group) database and website, as well as other important sources. The presentation will detail the best ways to use Litvak databases and websites to achieve optimum results and to enhance your knowledge of your Litvak family information. It will also include tips for determining what records are available, for understanding search results, and for accessing information in search results. The presentation will also cover LitvakSIG and its “All Lithuania Database,” as well as other resources from JewishGen, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, YIVO and other sources.

The program is Sunday, Feb. 12 from 12-1:30 p.m. ET It's free for JGS-Pittsburgh members and $5 for the general public. Please register online. 

All attendees are encouraged to log on 30 minutes early for a virtual open house. It’s an opportunity to share genealogy stories and make new friends.

This is a virtual program. It will be recorded, and the recording will be made available for JGS-Pittsburgh members who are current on their dues.

This program is possible through the support of the William M. Lowenstein Genealogical Research Endowment Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation.

Carol Hoffman is the president of LitvakSIG, an independent non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation. She was born and raised in Pittsburgh and has lived in Israel for the past 50 years. She holds a BA and an MLSc from the University of Pittsburgh and a PhD from the University of London. She is a former rare book cataloguer, regional and college library director, and lecturer at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Haifa University. She has been the archivist for the Association of Lithuanian Jews in Israel, a cataloguer Tel Aviv Museum of Art library, and a member of the database transliteration committee Israel Genealogy Research Association (IGRA). She is a mother of three and grandmother of nine.

Research Tools

The Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project contains digitized, searchable copies of four local English-language Jewish newspapers between 1895 and 2010. It is a valuable tool for researching almost any topic about Jewish history in Western Pennsylvania. For a primer on using the website, watch our video.

Western Pennsylvania Jewish Cemetery Project

The Rauh Jewish Archives launched the Western Pennsylvania Jewish Cemetery Project in 1998 to preserve burial records from Jewish cemeteries across the region. Over a period of fifteen years, the information was compiled into a searchable, online database containing approximately 50,000 burial records from 78 Jewish cemeteries throughout the region.

Western Pennsylvania Yahrzeit Plaques Project

The Rauh Jewish Archives launched the Western Pennsylvania Yahrzeit Plaques Project in 2020. The goal was to create a comprehensive collection of burial records from memorial boards at synagogues across the region. Volunteers are currently transcribing these boards and records are being added monthly to our online database. The database currently contains almost 400 listings.

Rauh Jewish Archives Bibliography

University of Pittsburgh librarian and Rauh Jewish Archives volunteer Laurie Cohen created this comprehensive bibliography of the Rauh Jewish Archives library holdings from 1988 through 2018. It lists nearly 350 volumes arranged by type and then by subject. This a great tool to use early in your research process, as you’re surveying available resources on a given subject.