02 October 2008

Did You Know FDR Liked Katz's?


There are pictures of everyone from Bill Clinton to Rob Reiner to Soupy Sales on the walls of Katz's Delicatessen. But here's one I never noticed until a recent visit. FDR!

I don't know about you, but FDR doesn't strike me as a pastrami-on-rye type of guy. Katz's is now a political whistle stop. Carter and Giuliani and Bloomberg have all made a stop. But in the 1930s?

The picture looks like the FDR who was elected in 1932. But honestly, it's not a photograph, but an illustration. I doubt FDR knew anything about it. It appears to be the cover of a giveaway menu or something. Roosevelt's name isn't even on it. "Compliments of Katz's Delicatessen/Known as the Best," it says. Then there's some Yiddish, that I wish I could read. Anyway, a neat artifact.

5 comments:

Erica said...

I am a Hebrew-reading, pastrami on rye-eating American...if there's any Hebrew / Yiddish you need read, I'd be happy to try and give it a go.

Anonymous said...

It's Yiddish, not Hebrew. I speak the latter but not the former. Sometimes Yiddish lettering is used to create transliterations of English words, but I can't see the second word due to the reflection on the glass.

I think it was a giveaway from the restaurant, given the context.

Brooks of Sheffield said...

Thanks for the correction, Neighborhood Threat.

RonF said...

Isn't there a park named for FDR's mother, Sara Delano Roosevelt, on Allen Street or someplace nearby? My recollection is that she was involved in a lot of charitable endeavours.

Brooks of Sheffield said...

Yes there it, ronf. On Houston, between Christie and Forsythe.