Judy Blauer

Yoelin: We are interested in Jews at work in Oregon and the effect of being Jewish on that work, and your relationship with the general community and with building your business and networking. I will let you “take the floor” and tell me about your experiences. What type of business was the Albert’s Product Company?
BLAUER: The Albert’s Product Company was a beverage company. My grandfather Louis Albert was always referred to as the “Soda Pop King” in Portland. He invented the business and the name. He came up with “Royal Flush Beverages” and then “Ace High” which is like 7-Up. He had the only soda pop business with six flavors: orange, cherry, strawberry – they were delicious. Then eventually, he developed a pancake syrup called “Morning Dew” which was also delicious. He also did a jelly. One of my cousin’s picture was on the jar. [He] called it “Linda Jelly.” Later he developed “Portland Punch” which became very, very well known. It was made from raspberries and loganberries blended together, and it was concentrated. It was a very popular drink. Years later they used it in testing for X-rays — you know the Barium that they have to drink? They would mix it with Portland Punch. Perhaps they still do. That was the business that he began.

Yoelin: When you stated that he invented, was that just a recipe that you are speaking about, or the entire concept? Was it something unique to the Portland area or was it all over the country?
BLAUER: Well, I think these flavors were unique to Portland. I don’t know of anyone anywhere who was doing what he was doing. He started back in 1928 or ’29. Sugar was scarce, [but] he was able to somehow [to] get [it]. That was how the business evolved. There were always many trucks pulling out of that building, delivering products. That was how my father got started in the business — working for his father-in-law when he married my mother.

Yoelin: Was your grandfather born in this country?
BLAUER: No, he was born in Kiev, Russia. He migrated to Fall River, MA. That was where they sailed. He had a cousin in Portland who encouraged him to come here.

Yoelin: Do you know when that was?
BLAUER: I think that was around 1911.

Yoelin: Did he come with any family?
BLAUER: He came by himself, because he didn’t have money. I remember from some of his interviews where he said he arrived with six dollars in his pocket. Then eventually he sent for his wife. I believe that he met her in Fall River. Their three daughters were born in Portland.

Yoelin: And their names are?
BLAUER: Mildred Sax, who is still living. She is 90. Ida Sidell. And the third daughter who passed away at a very young age was named Lena Albert.

Yoelin: Is Ida still living:
BLAUER: Yes, she lives in L.A.

Yoelin: And how old is she now?
BLAUER: She is 82. And Lena was 32 when she died.

Yoelin: You mentioned that your father also went into that business. 
BLAUER: My father and my uncle both. Both men married Louis’ daughters.

Yoelin: So your uncle is…
BLAUER: That was Melvin. He was married to Ida. He has passed away. And my father was Sol Sax. He was married to Mildred. He died in 1990.

Yoelin: And Mildred is still alive? Isn’t that amazing?
BLAUER: Yes, she is at the Rose Schnitz [Cedar Sinai Park apartments].

Yoelin: I wonder if she has been interviewed.
BLAUER: I think that she was interviewed years ago for the Jews of Oregon. [Name inaudible] passed away just before the book was printed.

Yoelin: Your dad is Sol — I don’t want to jump to him just yet because I want some background about the business first. Louis Albert was in business with someone else?
BLAUER: No, he started it himself — soda pop, juices, “Portland Punch.”

Yoelin: And he delivered it to local supermarkets?
BLAUER: All over Oregon. Those trucks would roll out everyday and went all over the state.

Yoelin: Was there distribution outside of Oregon?
BLAUER: No.

Yoelin: So it was really an Oregon business, eh? Okay, I would like to ask some questions about the next generation that took over.
BLAUER: Right. Sol and Mel, those two went into the business. That had to be in the late 1930s.

Yoelin: Did they continue the same business or did they make changes?
BLAUER: The continued the same business and then eventually, with the times and competition, they moved more into vending machines. Then it became a different company called Serve-U-Matic. By that time my grandfather was out of the business. They owned machines all over the city, some at the Jewish Community Center and at lots of businesses. My father was always on call; he could have been a doctor. He would get calls at three in the morning — the machines at an all-night manufacturing company were on the blink, and he would get up and repair them. 

Yoelin: Did they make the machines?
BLAUER: No, they rented them and serviced them. They owned the machines and placed them in a business. Then they would service them. They would make sure they were stocked and working. By that time it was more than just soda pop. There was candy. My biggest thrill was when my father would come home with the boxes of candy, and we would get some. That was a big treat to go in Daddy’s truck. That went on until my dad retired. He and my uncle ran the vending business. My grandfather was a real entrepreneur. In his good days, when he was doing well, he had a lot of property. He had downtown property. He had a vision to build a spa at the Oregon Coast. He had arthritis himself, and he would go to Florida, to the salt water baths that piped in salt water from the ocean, and it would feel good, so he had this vision. He [wanted] to build [one] at Seaside. He owned a home at Seaside. He put practically everything he had into this spa, which was right at the turn-around. It was called “The Spa.” Anyone who was in Portland at the time would remember it. It was gorgeous. Individual private rooms and tubs where they pumped in ocean water. Well, Portland or Seaside wasn’t ready for this kind of thing. I don’t remember how many years it existed, but it took everything that we had. He was already getting older and he ended up selling everything, selling his home at the beach. But that was his dream. He was going to make everyone feel better.

Yoelin: When was that?
BLAUER: That was probably around 1960.

Yoelin: I was wondering how convenient it was for people to even get to the coast then.
BLAUER: Well, people went to the coast a lot. Those were the days when Seaside was booming. It was really the only coastal town that was built up. Most of us who grew up in Portland remember those days as “beach trip.” We always went. That’s where our vacation was. Of course, I spent a lot of time there because my grandfather had a house at seaside. We would spend several weeks in the summer there. That was before the spa, of course. I was already married — just married — when he built that. 

Yoelin: What other enterprises did he get involved in?
BLAUER: That was about it. He invested in a little real estate, but that was the big business.

Yoelin: So, your father and uncle got involved in the soda pop business in the late 1930s. Did they keep that business going, then, to supply the vending machines? Was the pop created for the vending machines?
BLAUER: No, no. The soda pop was much earlier. It was long before. I don’t know if they even used the soda pop in their vending machines. I think they had stopped producing by then.

Yoelin: [Question inaudible]
BLAUER: There was a huge plant on the corner of SE Grand Avenue and Salmon.

Yoelin: Oh, so it was right here in Portland.
BLAUER: Yes, and I can remember going upstairs to see those huge steel vats making the Portland Punch and the jelly and the syrups. 

Yoelin: And what happened to that part of the business? Was it sold?
BLAUER: No, it was dissolved.

Yoelin: So, moving on to the next generation — your father’s business, the vending business. Did he get involved in any other entrepreneurial enterprises?
BLAUER: No, that was it. The Serve-U-Matic was their business until they sold it and retired. My uncle moved to California and my father retired and did other things.

Yoelin: Did Mildred ever get involved in the business?
BLAUER: No.

Yoelin: And how many children did they have?
BLAUER: Two girls. Myself and Beverly Eastern.

Yoelin: Did you two ever get involved in the business?
BLAUER: When I was first married I worked there. I worked in the office. I did the books. 

Yoelin: Now, let’s go back to some of these questions that we have here. Your grandfather was brought to Oregon by a cousin. Was it just the opportunity that brought him here?
BLAUER: I think the cousin encouraged him to come, because there was a little bit of family here.

Yoelin: Did the Jewish identity impact the operation of the business at all?
BLAUER: I don’t think so. Not that I remember.

Yoelin: Was he involved in the Jewish community at all?
BLAUER: Yes. In fact, I think he was a founder of the Rose City Lodge. Which might have been the only Jewish organization at the time. At the Neveh Zedek cemetery, one whole side is the Rose City Lodge side. It all started [with] my grandmother Becky Freeman Albert.

Yoelin: [Was she a native of Oregon?]
BLAUER: No, he sent for her. They were both very involved in the Rose City Lodge. Now I can’t remember if they were among the founders or not. My grandfather was not ultra-religious, but he was very Jewish. The Rose City Lodge began in 1905. I was president of it when I was not quite 21 years old. I think there were 300-400 members. They raised money for charity and it was a social club as well. I remember as a child hearing that my parents were always doing something with the Lodge.

Yoelin: Were the charities Jewish?
BLAUER: Oh yes, it was definitely Jewish.

Yoelin: Do you think that being so involved in charitable work was part of their identity of being Jewish? Was it more for business networking?
BLAUER: Oh no, it was their identity, definitely. Especially at those times, Jews congregated together. They lived in South Portland, where most of the Jews had settled. In fact my husband grew up in South Portland. That’s where the nucleus of the community was.

Yoelin: Was your father involved in the Jewish community as well?
BLAUER: Oh yes, very involved. He was president of B’nai B’rith. He was president of the Ramblers, which was a Jewish organization for men. He was an advisor to the AZA boys. My father loved being involved. He would go sing every Monday at the Robison Home. He had a beautiful voice. 

Yoelin: Was Mel involved as well?
BLAUER: Not so much.

Yoelin: Was your mom?
BLAUER: Mother was an advisor to BBG and active in the Rose City Lodge.

Yoelin: [Did] their Jewish identity hav[e] any impact on the operation of the business?
BLAUER: That’s hard to answer. They were very Jewish. Their religion was very important to them. How it impacted their thinking is difficult to say.

Yoelin: Did they do much of their business with other Jewish businesses?
BLAUER: They were dealing with grocery stores. I don’t know that those issues would apply here.

Yoelin: [What] was the[ir] religious life [like]. Were [they] involved in a synagogue?
BLAUER: Yes, my grandfather was active at the synagogue at Shaarie Torah. It was in South Portland then. My father was not very active in synagogue, just in Jewish organizations. My mom was the same way. I was brought up at Temple [Beth Israel].

Yoelin: Have any of your children gotten involved in any of the family businesses?
BLAUER: No, there were no businesses to be involved in by the time our children were adults. When you interview Stan, you can talk about Shedrain.

Yoelin: Do you have any special memories associated with the businesses?
BLAUER: When I was a child, when the soda pop business was so active, we would go there and they had the[se] fork lifts. We would ride them in and out, around the trucks and the piled up boxes of pop. Later on, when I worked there, it was already the Serve-U-Matic and it was already different. There were fewer employees. During the years of the soda pop, there was a woman who worked for my grandfather – she probably worked for him 40 years. And I would watch her on the big, tall ladders, stirring the punch or the syrups. But once I was working there, it was strictly vending machines and there was nothing to watch. They would go out to other business to buy their stock. They went out and stocked the machines. There were three or four men who serviced the machines – my dad, my uncle, and maybe two more. I remember my father getting up in the middle of the night like a doctor. They had a vending machine at Cleveland High School. My father went there one or two days a week. The kids loved him; he was a lot of fun. They wrote a newspaper article about “Sol Sax, the king of the vending machine.” A lot of times they would borrow money from him. If they came to school without money for lunch, he would lend it to them, and they always paid him back. He was very well loved by them. South Portland, by that time, was beginning to [change]. People were moving out.

Yoelin: Is there any additional information you can give me?
BLAUER: No, I questioned my mother and I think I have covered everything. 

Yoelin: That’s fine. And thank you for these old soda bottles with the labels still on them [donated to the Oregon Jewish Museum].
BLAUER: You’re welcome.

Yoelin: Are there any incidents of antisemitism that you know of in the business?
BLAUER: I don’t remember ever hearing about anything like that.

Yoelin: Do you think that your grandfather and father did anything to help other newcomers to Portland?
BLAUER: I think so. Especially my grandfather. I wish I knew more.

Yoelin: And mom, Mildred, where was she born?
BLAUER: Here in Portland, to Becky and Louis Albert.

Yoelin: What about Sol?
BLAUER: Sol’s parents were Moses and Mary Sax. They came from Odessa, Russia. I don’t know when.

Yoelin: It’s hard, because they didn’t keep records. 
BLAUER: And you know, when we are young, we don’t ask questions. We don’t think it’s important. 

Yoelin: That’s why the Oregon Jewish Museum is here.
BLAUER: Fabulous, just fabulous. My hat goes off to those people.

Yoelin: Maybe you could tell me a little about Stan’s history to save time?
BLAUER: Stan’s parents were Meyer and Rose Blauer. Rose was born in Portland, Meyer was born in Poland. Rose was a Stein. Her parents were Sarah and Max Stein. Her father had, among other things, a second hand store. I think in South Portland. Stan is an only child.

Yoelin: What was his business?
BLAUER: Meyer and his cousin Barney Liebreich started Shedrain – an umbrella company. Now it is Sheridain Corporation. At that time it was all made.

Yoelin: Were they wooden umbrellas?
BLAUER: Ask Stan. I think he is collecting stuff. There are some great ones.

Yoelin: I think we are done then, thank you so much for doing this.