By Christina Williamson
Some people may be surprised to know that in 1900, 70 percent of Ottawa’s Jewish population lived in Lowertown. With the first Jewish family arriving in 1851 from Europe, the community grew to number 5000 by the end of the Second World War. While Ottawa’s Jewish population was small compared to those of Montreal and Toronto, it was unique in the high number of Jewish men who took up peddling to support their families.
Unlike Montreal and Toronto, Ottawa did not have a factory industry to hire the poorest Jewish immigrants. This, coupled with the relatively low cost for a peddling licence, meant that by 1939, 43 percent of hawkers and pedlars in Ottawa were Jewish. Pedlars could buy or sell any number of things, including fruits and vegetables, rags, bones or waste paper. While pedlars generally started on foot, obtaining a horse and a cart afforded them the ability to travel further and carry more wares. A horse was a significant investment and would be well cared for. Sol Gunner recalls that his father, Louis, would always ensure that his horses were fed before he came in and ate, himself. A lame horse was a very serious issue for pedlars and they were very well cared for as a result.
While there are many stories of brutal competition between pedlars in Canada’s largest urban centres, several people recall that this rivalry did not occur between Jewish pedlars. For instance, Sylvia Kershman’s father, Wolf Bodovsky, aided one newly arrived family by helping them buy a cart of apples and start selling them. Mrs. Kershman explained in an interview that “It wasn’t all about money in those days: it was survival.”
Ottawa Jewish Archives
Pedlars kept rigorously to their scheduled routes, which meant that each pedlar had an almost exclusive niche of clients. These routes were long. Louis Gunner travelled from his home on Murray Street to what is now Hintonburg, before heading south to the Glebe. He would then return north to sell his purchased scrap to the Baker Brothers on Scott Street in LeBreton Flats. In the 1900s, Lazarus Schecter, who lived on St Andrew Street, supported his large family of eight by being a recycling pedlar. He would start in Centretown, making a loop in Hull to travel south to Billings Bridge and then back north on Bank Street.
Customer pedlars provided a unique form of service. Before the 1960s, there was no credit available and married women spent their days at home, which made it difficult to buy large items from the stores. A customer pedlar resolved both of these issues. A pedlar would go from door to door and visit regular customers, carrying bundles of household goods such as towels, sheets and pillowcases. He sold these items on credit; a housewife would pay in small installments of 25 or 50 cents a week. Often they would purchase more items as time wore on and so customers continued to pay in weekly installments. The pedlars would also purchase items from department stores or wholesalers at the request of the customer, putting it on his credit on behalf of the customer.
While some pedlars led very simple lives to support their families, others managed to save enough to buy a stall in the ByWard Market or eventually a shop. Others were even more successful. Roger Greenberg, who peddled rags, bags and scrap metal, is a perfect example of this. His wife Rose, at home on Clarence Street, used the cotton sugar bags that Mr. Greenberg collected to produce linens and pillows. When the Red River flooded in Winnipeg in 1950, their bags were contracted for use as sandbags. The proceeds allowed them to move into the real estate sector, and Mr. Greenberg’s sons were therefore able to found the Minto Group in 1955.
The work of a pedlar was by no means easy. Martin Saslove worked alongside his uncle, Sam Torontow, on Saturdays at the age of twelve. He was paid one dollar per day peddling vegetables, a workday that lasted fourteen hours. However, it was not all drudgery. Sam Gelman remembers how his grandfather, Lazarus Schecter, “loved kibbitzing with people, he was very friendly and he became part of the community entertainment.” They served their mostly female clients, who were expected to be at home, caring for the children and homemaking. Lowertown’s Jewish pedlars were part of a rich community in Lowertown and the city of Ottawa as a whole.
Christina Williamson was a 2016 LCA Canada Summer Jobs Student (The article is based on interviews and documentation)