S. KRAIN STAR OF DAVID YIDDISH SELTZER BOTTLE

Description

The array of etchings and personalizations on seltzer bottles are varied and fascinating.They reflect their times.They encapsulate a moment  unique in their historical perspective, that embody an era long gone, but never forgotten.
Back in the last century there were men and women who dispensed seltzer to waiting clients. There were some of these individuals, especially in some larger metropolitan areas, who chose etchings on their bottles that reflected both their heritage and their religious devotion. Offered today is one example of such a bottle, that captures that feeling, and reflects this commitment to their traditions. This is an  icon of HISTORY.
I was recently delighted to receive a book in the mail  that was totally a suprise. Tsadik Kaplan who is a recognized authority in the field of antique Judaica, not only as a collector, but as a consultant and appraiser authored this book entitled Jewish Antiques From Menorahs To Seltzer Bottles.He  honored me and my wife by sending an autographed copy to us. Years ago he was a major purchaser of many of my now dwindling collection of Judaica seltzer bottles. My wife and I were delighted to meet with him and lend some of our expertise in the field. He had expressed his desire to write this book and we were delighted to have the pleasure to read and own it.
With his permission I have included part of this book:
During the early 20th century in New York, soda water became known as seltzer. What had previously been called a "soda siphon bottle" was now a seltzer bottle. The word seltzer comes from the German words selterser wasser, meaning mineral water from Nieder Seltzers, a village in Germany. Immigrants from Europe used the word seltzer when referring to soda water, and it quickly became part of the American vernacular.
A possible reason for the enormous following seltzer had with Jews is that it went well with the meat – heavy and starch-laden foods typically found in the Ashkenazic Jewish diet of the early 20th century. Drinking seltzer aided digestion. Even today, the ever – dwindling numbers of elderly  Jews who grew up in New York neighborhoods such as the lower East side can still remember when this seltzer was called grepsvasser or belchvasser(Yiddish terms, meaning"belch water') by their parents and grandparents.
There is always been a connection between seltzer and Jews in America. The vast majority of seltzer delivery men(Shleppers) where Jewish, however their customers, but not exclusively Jews; other clientele included Poles, Italians, and the Irish.
Thick and heavy glass bottles from Austria and Czechoslovakia were imported to hold what was lovingly called "Jewish champagne". Many
Jewish vendors of seltzer had their bottles etched with their name and
location, and some of them, proud of their heritage, would have a star of
David included in the etching.
Drinking seltzer from  seltzer bottles was widespread in 1920s and 30s New York, but because of the rise of sealed bottled carbonated beverages and that the structure in Europe during World War II, of many of the plants where the seltzer bottles had been manufactured, there was a sharp decline in the popularity of seltzer during the post world war era.
Typically, the Jewish immigrants who became seltzer vendors in America, while  proud of their heritage, would be eager to "fit in" as well, perhaps changing their first name Yitzchak to Isidore, or from Mordechai to Max. In order to scrape together a living, many would also drop a cornerstone of their religious upbringing and work on Saturday as well.
These Jews made a living in the land where "the streets are paved with gold." Their "gold" was seltzer.
T
LAST WEEK I WATCHED THE MOVIE "A FIDDLER ON THE ROOF" ON TV. IN 1972 IN MADRID SPAIN I WATCHED THE SAME MOVIE WITH A GROUP OF YOUNG PEOPLE ABOUT MY AGE WHO I WAS HANGING AROUND WITH FOR THE MOMENT. I HAD BECOME FRIENDS WITH  A GUY NAMED PAUL WHO WAS REMARKABLY HANDSOME AND FROM LIEGE, BELGIUM AND WE WERE IN A GROUP OF PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD-NONE OF WHOM I THOUGHT WAS JEWISH. I WAS TELLING EVERYONE THAT I WAS, BUT PAUL STOPPED ME IN MY TRACKS.IT WOULD SEEM THAT PAULS FATHER WHO WAS A DOCTOR HAD FLED TO ENGLAND DURING WWII BECAUSE HE WAS JEWISH AND WOULD HAVE PERISHED IN BELGIUM HAD THAT BEEN DISCOVERED. SO PAUL SAID  IT'S BEST TO KEEP IT OUR SECRET,BECAUSE  AT 19 HE AND I WERE REALLY ONLY INTERESTED IN A MOMENTARY NIGHT TO REMEMBER WITH TWO OF THE GIRLS WHO WERE REALLY CUTE.. HE ALSO SAID AND DON'T TELL THEM YOU'RE AMERICAN..HE SAID TELL HIM YOU'RE CANADIAN. THE VIET NAM WAR WAS STILL RAGING AND DESPITE THE FACT WE HAD SAVED EUROPE FROM  HITLER A GENERATION AGO, MOST HAD A SHORT MEMORY. I TOLD PAUL I WILL PROUDLY TELL THEM I FROM NEW YORK, AND IF THINGS GO AS PLANNED THEY'LL BE ABLE TO SEE  THAT I AM JEWISH, THANKS TO THE ARTISTRY OF A MOHEL WHEN I WAS  A FEW DAYS OLD.
MY GRANDPARENTS CAME TO AMERICA IN THE 1890'S TO ESCAPE EXACTLY THE RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE THAT WAS DEPICTED IN THE FILM..IN 1919 AFTER SERVING IN WWI, MY GRANDFATHER BECAME A SELTZERMAN WITH A HORSE AND WAGON. AFTER SERVING IN WII MY FATHER HEARD FROM HIS FATHER FATHER-IN-LAW ABOUT A SELTZER ROUTE FOR SALE IN THE BURGEONING BOROUGH OF THE BRONX AND HE BECAME A SELTZERMAN. SOME OF THE BOTTLES I STILL USE COME FROM MY GRANDFATHER'S TIME. MOST ARE OLDER THAN I AM, AND I'LL BE 70 ON MY NEXT BIRTHDAY..
AND AS IN THE SONG -SUNRISE SUNSET THE YEARS DO GO BY QUICKLY, AND THE WORLD KEEPS CHANGING..BUT SOME THINGS OF IMPORTANCE STILL REMAIN--LIKE THESE ANCIENT BOTTLES THAT REPRESENT HOW FORTUNATE WE ARE TO BE IN A COUNTRY WHERE WE ARE FREE TO WORSHIP AS WE WISH, IN A GREAT COUNTRY THAT WE SHOULD BE PROUD OF...
OFFERED TODAY AS PART OF THE EIGHT IS A LOVELY BOTTLE FROM  S. KRAIN OF NEW YORK. THIS IS AN INSPRIING SELTZER BOTTLE FILLED WITH JEWISH HISTORY. MR. KRAIN COMBINED A STAR OF  DAVID WITH TWO HEBREW  LETTERS PRESUMABLY HIS INITIALS IN YIDDISH. IT'S  A GREAT IMPORTANT RELIGIOUS ITEM. SLIGHT CHIP ON BOTTOM THAT IS NOT READIBLE VISIBLE AND NOTED FOR ACCURACY IN DESCRIPTION. IT IS BEAUTIFUL NONETHELESS.
ALL AUCTIONS BELONG TO MY WIFE SELTZERLADY.
I STILL DELIVER THE SELTZER.
ALL AUCTIONS BELONG TO MY WIFE SELTZERLADY.
I STILL DELIVER THE SELTZER AND WILL NEVER SELL ANY OF MY BOTTLES IF YOU OF SEE ME AROUND, BUT WILL TALK TO ALMOST ANYONE ABOUT THEM.
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THESE ARE IN FABULOUS CONDITION CONSIDERING THEIR AGE AND THAT THEY'VE BEEN USED FOR GENERATIONS. WHEN YOU DELIVER THESE BOTTLES IN WOODEN CASES OF TEN WEIGHING 70 POUNDS THEY DO GET HANDLED ROUGHLY.
AND THEY DO SHOW THEIR SIGNS OF AGE BUT THAT ONLY ADDS TO THEIR AUTHENTICITY AND DESIRABILITY..
THESE BOTTLES HAVE BEEN CLEANED THOUGHLY BY MY WIFE AND THESE ARE HER AUCTIONS.
THEY ARE MEANT FOR DISPLAY AND DECORATION..
THESE ARE VINTAGE COLLECTIBLES AND WERE IN USE TILL RECENTLY..THEY ALL HAVE A LONG AND MAGNIFIENT HISTORY OF PLEASING MANY FOR GENERATIONS. THEY ARE TIME-WORN WHICH ONLY ADDS TO THEIR AUTHENTICITY AND SENSE OF CONTINUITY WITH THE PAST FOR THOSE WHO LOOK FOR THINGS THAT ARE MEANT TO BE USED FOR A MOMENT THEN DISPOSED OF JUST AS QUICKLY.
THANK YOU.
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