One Day in 1908
Jews have been active in the Orange County business community since the very beginning, when OC’s earliest Jewish resident Benjamin Dreyfus opened Anaheim’s first general store in 1857. Fellow “members of the tribe” soon followed, filling the needs of the early OC cities they settled in; Anaheim, Santa Ana, Fullerton, Orange, and Newport Beach. In the image featured here, taken from the Anaheim Gazette on May 28, 1908, we have three large ads, from three different cities, all for Jewish-owned shops. The Misses Reinhaus Millinery (hat) store of Santa Ana is announcing its closure; it had been operating for 26 years, opening in 1882 by sisters Therese, Emilie and Pauline, and was a beloved local institution. In direct competition is the Asher & Falkenstein store (Anaheim), which is advertising “Ladies’ Hats” as well as “White Goods” (summer items for both people and the home). And not to be left out, Stern & Goodman of Fullerton is having a “Flood Sale” for every item in their store. Stern & Goodman was so successful it ended up opening four other stores throughout Orange County, making it one of the first chain stores in California. Although in competition amongst themselves, all the store owners knew each other and socialized together, as the Jewish community was quite small in the early 1900s. For example, William Falkenstein got his start at Stern & Goodman, Isadore Asher and Falkenstein were brothers-in-law, and Jacob Stern and Joseph Goodman were cousins.
Dalia Taft, Director of the Orange County Jewish Historical Society, highlights images from the archives every month. For more information, please visit https://Www.jccoc.org/Pages/Oc-Jewish-Historical-Society. You can also contact Dalia at Daliat@jccoc.org or at (949) 435-3400, Ext. 360. The Orange County Jewish Historical Society is a program of the Merage Jewish Community Center and is funded by the Jewish Community Foundation Orange County.