London NW3,
17.2.84
Dear Ruth,
Thanks for your birthday wishes, we had a very enjoyable family lunch. I am very happy to help you with your project. I enclose two documents:
1/ The story of my life! This is what I assumed you need.
2/ I was wondering whether you would have to prepare a family tree so I have done one for you. Even if you do not need it for your project, you may find of interest.
I was very glad to hear from you, I hope you're very well.
With love to your Ma and Pa, to you, Jonathan and Benjy.
Lou.
PS if you can keep a copy of your project, I would love to see it when we are next in Israel.
Lou - Born 1904
School.
After usual period in infant school, I went to the Westminster Jews Free School. There were two schools in London for Jewish children, the Jews Free School in the East End, and the Westminster Jews Free School, situated behind Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road.
The pupils were all children of poor immigrants, but of course some were poorer than others. There was a society funded by the more wealthy London Jews for providing clothes and boots to the poor Jewish children for Rosh Hashanah. I never thought much of the suits, but I was very attracted by the boots. I told my mother that I would like to apply for a pair of boots. She was horrified at the thought that one of her children should accept charity, and very sharply talk me out of it.
At the age of 11 I left this school, and went to the Stanley, now known as Linford Stanley. On the whole this was not a good move to the secondary school, as it was strongly geared to subjects I was not interested in normally; woodwork, metalwork, ironwork and mechanical subjects associated with those activities. My interests were in literature, languages and history. Marks for each subject were totalled at the end of the term to ascertain the pupils’ position in the class. I never came top or second, but I was always in the top six.
I left school at 14 in spite of the efforts of the headmaster. My parents needed whatever help I could give economically. I suppose my deeper and wider education began after I left school.
Work and outside interests
I started work with my father in his workshop to learn bespoke jacket tailoring. At about this time I began to write song lyrics with a distant cousin, Leslie Clarke, we had two songs published.
My father was anxious to (avoid) the seasonal uncertainties of tailoring, and an opportunity arose. A cousin of his, Lewis Cantrovich, who had a fish and chip shop in Greens Court, Soho, died and his widow offered the shop to my father. So we left tailoring, and we all became fried fishmongers.
I joined my first Zionist society in 1919, and then founded, with three other friends, another Zionist society, of which I became chairman (I subsequently became president of the Association of Young Zionist societies in Great Britain, and editor of the monthly magazine, ‘The Young Zionist’).
We eventually grew out of love with the fish shop. We were always taking the smell with us, and the hours were dreadful. So we brought bought a newsagents and tobacconist in Battersea. Zig stayed in the fish shop with my father, and I went to Battersea to build it up so that we could all move to Battersea. This was accomplished.
I learnt to play the banjo and saxophone, and played two or three evenings a week in Percy Lawrence’s Band.
Then Charlie came into the business, and it was only a matter of time before Bernie would come in too. I decided that the shop was not able to support all of us, so I looked for a job, and was taken on by British Home Stores. At that time they only had eight branches, but the terms of employment demanded mobility. After some eight or nine months, I was told that I had to go to the new store in Newcastle. My mother was very upset at the idea of my leaving home and tried to dissuade me. My father on the other hand thought that it was not a bad thing. After all he had done the same when he left Poland. So I flew the nest, and did a series of new store openings in different towns, and was then appointed manager of the Newcastle store.
Then I became engaged to Mildred and we married in Newcastle.
I was promoted as supervisor of the northern area, and a few years after was brought to head office, and took charge of sales and store development.
With two colleagues I left British Home Stores, and started a small group of stores (Taylor Nottage ?). We were bought out by Great Universal Stores, and Isaac Woolfson put me in the menswear division, in a company called Rego. This was closed down, and my job was then to develop John Temple. I became joint managing director, and when I retired we had four factories and 240 shops.
On my retirement Hope Brothers asked me to join them in a consultative capacity. I was with them for four years, and decided to retire again. Six months later I was invited by the College of Distributive Trades in Leicester Square to lecture there. My subjects were ‘the organisation of shops and stores’, and ‘menswear as a commodity’. I lectured there two days a week, until the dreaded economy cuts were imposed, and the first economy was the dismissal of part-time tutors. So that ended my teaching career, and so I entered upon my retirement.
My time is now spent helping around the flat, shopping with Mildred, painting (I have exhibited at the Westminster Art Centre, the Margaret Fisher Gallery and at the Ben Uri Gallery), attending sundry committees and the board of deputies, and visiting my nieces and nephews in Israel.
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