This summer, I’ve been continuing to research the small-time immigrant Jewish bandleaders who played for landsmanshaftn in New York City in the early 20th century. This is a topic which I was researching at YIVO this past spring, and I photographed a lot of names in archival documents which I still haven’t done a deep dive into. Many of these bandleaders only appear one or two landsmanshaft anniversary journals, in an advertisement or musical programme; if I’m lucky enough to have a full name and home address, it’s enough to go and find out more about their lives in old directories and newspapers. In those documents I often notice family or professional ties to other old musicians.
It’s through this process that I was looking into the Greenspans, who showed up a few times in the papers of Joseph Kessler (1891-1979), a businessman and notable in the Britshaner diaspora, who led the Britshaner Bessarabian Relief Association in New York for years. Through the Greenspans, I got interested in other music events for this community and decided to write a post about it. Be forewarned, this is a long post with a lot of old newspaper advertisements in Yiddish!
Briceni and the Greenspans
Briceni, or בריטשאַן (Britshan) in Yiddish, is today in the northern tip of Moldova, on the Ukrainian border. 125 years ago, it was in the Bessarabia governorate of the Russian Empire and had under 8000 Jewish residents. Although it was small, it was right in the middle of the Ukraine-Moldova border region where many of our favourite New York klezmers came from. After the First World War, like the rest of Bessarabia, it became part of Greater Romania.
Dave Tarras, who lived in the area for a time before emigrating to the United States, released a track in 1941 called Britshaner Bulgar, which you can stream here on the Mayrent Collection, or here on YouTube. Although it was probably his own composition dedicated to the place, rather than one he heard there.
As more and more Jewish immigrants from Bricani arrived in New York City, they established mutual aid societies to support one another. The KehilaLinks page for Brichany lists a healthy number of these Britshaner landsmanshaftn in New York which were founded before World War 1. Among these are the First Britschaner Benevolent Association (1898), the First Independent Brichaner Society (1900), the Erster Independent Brichaner Unterstutzungs Verein (1901), and the Independent Britchoner Bessarabian Benevolent Association (1911). To this we can add relief associations founded to help refugees from the First and Second World Wars, various ladies’ auxiliaries, political and cultural clubs, and so on. A prominent later addition was the Bessarabier Britshaner Branch no. 608 of the Arbeter Ring (1917).
In going through the handful of Britshaner anniversary journals I could find at YIVO, I found two advertisements which I initially thought were for the same musician. This first one is from 1937:
The second is in the 1941 version of the same journal, complete with pencil marks from Mr. Kessler, who was presumably collecting the money for the ads:
It was only after I looked up their addresses in the local 802 directory that I realized these two ads were probably not for the same guy, but for father and son: Aaron Greenspan (born Briceni c. 1881, died Bronx 1938) and Jack Ramon Greenspan (born Briceni c. 1903, died Jefferson, Kentucky 1988). My guess is that Jack, who does not seem to have been a full-time musician, took over his father’s “duties” in the years after his death.
A look back at earlier Britshaner music events in NYC
Before I get to the Greenspans, who were prominent in a later era of Britshaner music in New York City, I’ll rewind to the earliest evidence I could find.
If you’ve read some of my recent posts, or know about landsmanshaftn, you probably know about the rich culture of social events they created in New York City in the early 20th century. Per Daniel Soyer in his excellent Jewish Immigrant Associations and American Identity in New York, 1880-1939:
Landslayt of all ages enjoyed themselves at the hometown association balls. These functions gave married and older immigrants a chance to indulge in the era’s passion for dancing even after they had outgrown New York’s many commercial dance halls. The affairs had something for everyone, mixing contemporary European and American dance styles with old-fashioned Jewish steps. […] the presence of several generations and the close acquaintance of many of the revelers made the society affairs settings at which young women in particular could safely enjoy themselves and meet other people their age.
[…] The functions helped boost each society’s sense of organizational elan and also attracted new members. The affairs usually featured an imposing members’ or “couples’ march,” which demonstrated ceremoniously the sponsoring group’s strength and unity. Landslayt who were not already members might attend and find inspiration to join. The balls of the Satanover Society barely covered expenses, but the “results” as reported by the arrangement committee included the number of candidates nominated, as many as twenty-two in 1913.
p.105–6.
It is in this context that you should think of these ads, which became more plentiful during periods of abundance and growth in membership. This ad from 1907 was the earliest for a Britshaner ball I found on jpress. Put on by the Britshaner Young Ladies’ Progressive Club, it cost 15 cents for ladies, 25 cents for men, featured an unnamed union orchestra, and was held in New Stanton Hall on the site of what is now the Stanton Street Synagogue.
Since the earliest Britshaner associations in New York were founded in the 1890s, I assume they held informal musical events which were not advertised or described anywhere. Perhaps after a decade of developing their organizations, and as their members became more numerous and established in America, they were able to stage larger events which advertised tickets to non-members.
A number of other ads from around 1907–8 are similar to the one above. Here’s a longer one advertising an event put on by the Britshaner Young Men’s Benevolent Association in October 1908 at the New Clinton Hall, at Clinton and Grand in the Lower East Side. It boasts that one will be sure to meet Britshaner young men and ladies, in addition to Bessarabier, Chotiner, and Yedinetser young men and ladies—Khotyn and Edineț being neighboring towns back in Bessarabia—and to reconnect with friends one hasn’t seen in some time.
The first ad I found with a named musician was this one for the Full Dress and Civic Ball put on by the same Ladies’ Progressive Club mentioned above. Again taking place at New Clinton Hall in December 1908, it promises “music by Prof. Fiedlman’s Union Orchestra.” (Fidelman was such a common name among musicians that I can’t say who he was.)
Here is presumably the same Fidelman playing for the club’s May Flower Ball in 1909 at the Lennox Assembly Rooms on East 2nd Street:
From 1910 to 1915 there were still regular notices in the NY Yiddish press for Britshaner events, but far fewer ads for balls, and none that were particularly interesting. Here are two that showed up in 1916 with new bandleaders, the Fiedler Brothers. This Full Dress and Civic Ball was put on in September by the Independent Britshaner Besarabier Benevolent Association. It took place at Beethoven Hall on East 5th Street, a common venue for Jewish events in that era. The other Fiedler Brothers civic ball two months later was put on by the Britshaner Bessarabier Progressive Young Folks, apparently a lesser-known landsmanshaft or cultural club, at the Progress Casino on Avenue A.
Working our way through the whole range of violinist family names, the next events I found in 1917 was played by the Fiedel Brothers Union Double Brass Band. I believe this was probably the family of Isaac Fiedel (clarinet, born c.1858) whose sons were all active in New York at the time: Morris (saxophone, b.1879) Max (trumpet, b.1884), Alex (cornet, b.1886), and Frank (violin, b.1898). The family moved around between southern Ukraine and northern Moldova, but several of the sons were born in Edineţ, close to Briceni, where Isaac lived until he emigrated to New York in 1912. Alex recorded a cornet solo piece for Columbia Records in 1917; you can listen to it on the Mayrent Collection. He shows up on some other klezmer albums and on some Pawlo Humeniuk Ukrainian discs decades later.
This full Dress and Civic Ball also took place at Beethoven Hall, and promised that a portion of the profits from tickets sold would go to the People’s Council, an anti-war movement at the time.
Another ball put on by the Independent Britshaner Bessarabier Benevolent Association the following year featured the music of S. Brownstein. It’s just a guess, but it could have been Sam Braunstein (clarinet/saxophone, b.1891 in Dunayivtsi, Podolia), who was active in New York at that time.
The Greenspan era
During the years after the First World War, and during the Russian Civil War, new waves of Jewish immigrants and refugees arrived in New York. A number of notable klezmer musicians, composers and Yiddish theatre bandleaders arrived during the years 1919–22, including Hirsch Gross, Dave Tarras, Joseph Cherniavsky, Morris Drutin, and Al Glaser. Aaron Greenspan also arrived from Briceni in 1920, possibly fleeing the poor conditions of early period of Romanian rule in Bessarabia. His wife Dinah and five children, including Janchel (Jack Ramon, then a teenager) followed in November and they settled in the Lower East Side.
It seems to me from the advertisements that Greenspan mostly took over the business of playing for Britshaner events for the following decades. I found a good number of them on jpress, and not all for the one he was a member of (the Independent Britshaner Bessarabian Benevolent Association). Here’s the earliest one I could find, a May Flower Ball which was put on at Beethoven Hall by the Britshaner Bessarabier Y.M.&Y.L.B.A.
He continued to play many of these May Flower Balls, as in this one put on in 1922 by the Britshaner Bessarabier branch 608 of the Arbeter Ring.
This one for the 1924 iteration of the same May ball doesn’t mention him, but I like the bowtie design. Maybe he played for it too.
This next advertisement is one of my favourites. It was the Britshaner-Bessarabier Colour-Light Ball put on by branch 608. (Per Daniel Soyer’s book, colour-light balls were pretty much what they sound like: a ball with the extra novelty of coloured lanterns.) The advertisements lists all types of dances old and new, which is rare in a newspaper ad:
Today! Today!
In the evening all the Bessarabiers will meet for the long-awaited Britshaner Bessararabian Colour Light Ball
Given by the Britshaner Branch 608, Workers Circle in the large Beethoven Hall, 210 East 5th Street.
Waltz, polka, foxtrot, tango, hora [hoyra!], krakowiak, fatapapa [?], Romanian sirbas, bulgars, shers, kozatskes, mazurkas, quadrilles, everything your heart desires. Don’t forget tonight, Shabbos, October 2.
Greenspan also played for the 10th anniversary banquet of Branch 608, the following march at Astoria Mansion on East 4th.
A blurb printed in the Morgn Frayhayt in April of the following year gives some more contexts for Branch 608’s politics:
Britshaner Ball for the coming year will take place Shabbos, April 21
The annual ball of the Britshaner Bessarabier Branch 608 Arbeter Ring will take place Shabbos, 21 April, in Beethoven Hall, 210 East 5th Street. It is to be expected that everyone Yedinetser, Chotiner, Rishkaner, Lipkaner, Noviselitser and Britshaner will come enjoy a jolly evening. The left-inclined public, which supports all left-wing and progressive organizations, will also not forget to come to the colour-light ball, which the branch has arranged, as Branch 608 of the Workers’ Circle is one of the most active branches in the country. A good Russian music band will play Russian and American dances.
Another blurb the next week explains that Greenspan’s is the Russian band which will be playing the event:
Britshaner Ball
This Shabbos evening, April 21 will be the 11th annual Color Light Ball at Beethoven Hall, 210 East 5th Street. It is to be expected that all chaverim, friends and landslayt from Bessarabia will come have a nice, jolly evening. You’ll also receive greetings from those who have come not long ago from Britshan. Music by Professor Aharon Greenspan. Tickets 75 cents, to be obtained by members of Branch 608, A.R.
This Ladies’ Auxiliary of the 1st Britshaner Farayn Grand Annual Reception and Ball at Stuyvesant Casino a few months later doesn’t specify which musician is playing:
With the start of the Great Depression, Britshaner ball advertisements largely disappeared from the Yiddish press once again. We know that they continued their activities during that era, and that musicians continued to play, but landsmanshaftn in general struggled to maintain many of the services and programming they had at the height of the 1920s. I know from anniversary journals at YIVO and NYPL that landsmanshaftn continued to celebrate each 5-year anniversary during the Great Depression with a banquet, but they did noticeably decline in the Yiddish press.
Joseph Kessler, the businessman I mentioned above, contributed a chapter to the Britshaner Yizkor (memorial) book, published in Tel Aviv in 1963. The book has been translated to English, and his chapter is available here. He notes that the Britshaner Relief organization in New York was founded in 1931 and at that time had a hard time getting donations from Britshaners in New York to send charitable support back home.
It doesn’t relate to music, but here is a blurb about one of the landsmanshaftn from December 1933 which describes how it was doing during the depression:
First Britshaner Association
The “First Britshaner Aid Association” has existed for 29 years and has a membership of 290 families. It provides 10 weeks of sick benefits and not much support for needy members. It provides annual contributions to various institutions such as: Moyshev Zkeynim Bnei and Benat Moyshe, Jewish National Orphanage, and others. Participates in “Britshaner Relief.” Contributed to the American Jewish Congress. The association also has a women’s auxiliary.
In general the ads for balls during this period tended to be fairly basic and to emphasize charity rather than partying and extravagance. This Britshaner Ball at Webster Hall on March 10 1934 says: “Come en masse and help to make the ball a success, as Peysach is very near and our poor and needy in the old home—Britshan—need our help. -The Arrangement Committee.”
This annual ball held at Irving Plaza in May 1936, put on by Britshaner Relief of New York, similarly begs one to think of the poor and needy in the old home:
This last ad I could find for a Ball for Britshaner Relief in February 1937 promises music by an unnamed large double-band:
That last ad corresponds to a journal from YIVO’s collection, the one with the single advertisement I found for Greenspan’s Orchestra.
After the war, I couldn’t find any advertisements for Britshaner balls, concerts, etc. on jpress. I wouldn’t be surprised if the landsmanshaftn continued to hire bands for their events, but they probably became more modest productions. This follows the general trend I saw in countless landsmanshaftn documents at YIVO. In a few cases I found advertisements for Britshaner musical events where one or two Yiddish singers were performing. The Britshaner Relief organization in New York continued to be very active in raising funds; per Kessler, their annual banquets in the late 1940s usually raised about 4 or 5 thousand dollars, which after the destruction of Britshan’s Jewish population during the war, often went to displaced Britshaners in Israel, or to a monument erected for the memory of those who died in New York.
From the 1950s onwards, Britshaner notices in the Yiddish press turned more and more to death notices for prominent members from an earlier era. In the Yizkor book published in ’63, Kessler noted that there were only three Britshaner landsmanshaftn left in New York: the First Britshaner Society, the Britshaner Women’s Society and the Independent Britshaner Society, which Kessler judged to be the largest of the three. Although they probably carried on for some years as benefit and burial societies, their glory days of holding extravagant balls were behind them.