Wiezel Family

The Wiezel Family

 

Herman (1885- 1971) and Anna (1892-1976) Wiezel

Joseph Wiezel (1888-1960)

Doris Wiezel (1900-1973)

 

Herman and Anna Wiezel


Herman Wiezel was born in Tziget, Hungary to Michael and Deborah Wiezel. He had a brother, Joseph and a sister, Doris. The Wiezel brothers came to Saint John in 1903 by way of Scotland. In 1908, Herman and Joseph opened Wiezel’s Shoe Store at 241 Union Street. Their sister Doris Wiezel managed the office in the store.

At the time they opened the store, this was a mostly residential area. A story published in a shoe merchants magazine noted “The building is of brick and one of the newest in the city. It is erected on most modern lines and is especially adapted for store purposes so that the brothers have an imposing looking plate glass front with a wide range to the rear in both sections of their premises. Their shoe department is 87 feet in length and 26 feet in width, handsomely furnished throughout and having the most modern fixtures installed. There are steel ceilings throughout and beautifully appointed electrical fixtures, though, except in the evenings, there is never much need of the use of these since there is an abundance of natural light. The windows are attractively finished in oak, are frost-proof and very helpful in featuring any display lines.” These premises underwent a couple of expansions before the store was moved to the corner of Charlotte and Union Street.

The brothers advertised their business through directed signage, newspaper advertisements and a mailing list – their subscribers received regular postcards announcing specials and invitations to shop. The focus was on good prices, good quality and encouragement towards sales of shoe lines that may not have been bestsellers.

Shipments of shoes in the early days of the store consisted of large wooden crates of unsorted and unmatched shoes, mostly black and fastened by a series of buttons. Matching the shoes and assisting customers in finding the correct size were time consuming tasks, as customers may have tried several pairs before choosing the correct size.

Their shoe store became one of the largest and most enduring shoe businesses in the Maritimes. They had the goal of selling of the highest quality shoes at the lowest prices possible. The store moved to King Street in 1949. The brothers also had a store in Halifax for a few years.

 

Anna Stern Wiezel was the daughter of Samuel and Malka Stern who had a farm outside the city at South Bay. Although most of the family moved to Vineland, New Jersey in the 1920s, she and two of her sisters (Nellie Hoffman and Jennie Brownberg) stayed in Saint John when they married.

 

Herman and Anna Wiezel had three children.

 

Gladys Wiezel


Gladys Wiezel (-1974) graduated from Mount Allison University in 1938 where she studied to be a dietician. In June 1940 she married Samuel Davis. Shortly after their marriage they moved to Montreal, where her husband was working on developing aircraft for the war effort at Noorduyn. When they returned to Saint John after the war, she joined Hadassah and was well-known for her skills with knitting and sewing. For a few years in the 1960s she had a home-based business on Sixth Street designing and making ladies’ hats. They had four sons: Roy, Gary, Jan and Alan.

 





Lawrence Earl

Lawrence Earl (1915-2005)was a writer – first for the Red and Grey at Saint John High School, then for The Montreal Standard. He worked as a war correspondent in northwestern Europe from 1943 to 1945, alongside troops near the front lines and did two wartime broadcasts for the CBC.  He formally changed his name when told that if he was captured with the Jewish surname Wiezel on his identification he would probably be shot.  He married Jane Armstrong in 1943 who was a fellow reporter and war correspondent at the Standard. They lived in London, England from 1946 to the 1990s before moving to Grand Bay in retirement. His stories were published in the Montreal Standard, Time, Life, National Geographic, Saturday Evening Post, and Macleans, among others. He published seven books including The Battle of Baltinglass which won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour in 1953 and Yangtse Incident (1950) which was made into a movie that was shown at Cannes. 

Clint Wiezel



Clinton Wiezel (1922-1996) served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. In the 1950s, he made a name for himself as a portrait and commercial photographer – capturing weddings, family groups, individuals and business and work places. He took portraits of many prominent people in the city including K.C. Irving and Miller Brittain. His studio was on the third floor above Wiezel Shoe Store on King Street. He used an 8" x 10" Ansco Portrait camera (still being used by photographer James Wilson) and pioneered the dye transfer method which created long-lasting colour prints. He closed the studio in 1958 and sold life insurance. In retirement he became a herb farmer.

 




References:

  • Louis I. Michelson Archives and Research and Exhibition Files, Saint John Jewish Historical Museum
  • Marcia Koven – Weaving the Past Into the Present (Saint John: 1989 and 2008)
  • The Evening Times Globe / The Telegraph Journal (Saint John newspapers)

 

See also: Davis Family


To comment on this story please send an email to sjjhm@nbnet.nb.ca 


This project is made possible with funding from the Archaeology and Heritage Branch, Province of New Brunswick through their Exhibit Renewal Digital Component program and the unwavering support of the Jewish families who made Saint John their home.

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