Oral history interview with Itsey and Joe Brenner, Sept. 7, 1988.

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Brenner, Itsey,. Oral history interview with Itsey and Joe Brenner, Sept. 7, 1988.

Oral history interview with Itsey and Joe Brenner, Sept. 7, 1988.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/50735841

The interview provides a history of the Brenner family's bakery enterprises in the Seattle area. Abe Brenner, father of Itsey and Joe, immigrated to the United States from Eastern Europe. He came to Seattle in 1902 and married Bessie Rosenthal in 1910. Abe started his first Seattle bakery at 12th and Jackson. In 1925 he moved the bakery to 18th and Yesler, and also started a delicatessen. The interview provides details on the process of baking various breads, the history of bagels, and the early operation of the delicatessen. The interview names customers and business associates of Abe Brenner. Topics discussed include the Great Depression years, issues with kosher certification of the bakery, Joe Brenner's introduction of pastry-making to the business, and anecdotes about Nate Halpern, supplier to the delicatessen. Abe Brenner also ran a card room, and the brothers name similar gambling establishments. After the death of his first wife, Abe Brenner married Ruth Lukoff, nee Kutoff, who joined the family business. Following Abe's death, Ruth acquired the bakery and operated it as Abe Brenner Bakery. Abe's sons, Itsey, Joe, and Charlie, opened a new store, Brenner Brothers Bakery, on Cherry Street. Abe Brenner Bakery subsequently went out of business. Brenner Brothers Bakery was ransacked in the race riots of 1967. Following several armed robberies, the family closed the Cherry Street store and reopened in Bellevue. Wholesale delivery routes now span the region from Tacoma to Everett. Abe Brenner belonged to Bikur Cholim and the children attended Talmud Torah. The brothers affiliated with different synagogues: Itsey with B'nai Torah, Joe with Bikur Cholim, and Charlie with Herzl. They were honored by Sephardic Bikur Holim for a donation to the congregation when it moved to Seward Park. The interview discusses the future of the bakery and the possibility of the younger generation taking over.

Sound recordings: 1 sound cassette : analog, mono.Transcript: 62 leaves.

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